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This chapter covers the 2 degrees of latitude on the Thai coast from just south of Phuket to the border town of Ranong in the north. It encompasses the four west coast provinces of Phuket, Phang Nga, Takua Pa and Ranong.
This whole coastline was affected to varying degrees by the December 26th 2004 tsunami. The greatest destruction and loss of life was in Khao Lak.
Although the beaches of the west coast of Phuket were reconstructed very quickly, the formally popular Khao Lak is regenerating more slowly. Much of the coastline was physically changed by the phenomenon. |
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Many diving companies use the port of Thap Lamu to service the offshore islands of the Similans and Surin. Ranong Town is the gateway to the Mergui Archipelago.
The west coast of Phuket offers some of the clearest water and most beautiful beaches in the region. Consequently, here you find the biggest concentration of hotels and beachside activity in the Andaman Sea.
The advantages to any visiting yacht are obvious. But the lure of restaurants, nightlife, shopping, etc. may be offset by the buzzing jet skis and ski-boats.
In the southwest monsoon, the anchorages are totally exposed, with a short swell (as much as 3 metres), a beach break, and the occasional strong, onshore squall. There are no recommended anchorages on this coast during the southwest season.
Although the wind usually shifts to the northeast monsoon during late November, westerly squalls can come up as late as Christmas. |
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In the northeast monsoon season, these anchorages offer perfect shelter in depths of 4-12 metres on a sandy bottom. (The best anchor to use on this coast is a Bruce or a Danforth, due to the harder sand lying just below the surface.)
The anchorages mentioned in this chapter are by no means the only ones on the west coast. Indeed, the entire west coast provides good shelter, generally speaking.
Later in the season, a low northwesterly ground swell can make the more open anchorages a little uncomfortable, though certainly not to the extent they become dangerous.
The northeast offshore breezes provide strong conditions in relatively calm seas, making for exhilarating sailing up and down the coast.
The waters between the southeast tip of Phuket and Koh Racha Yai are often confused in both seasons, particularly when you have the wind against the tide. |
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Click links below to go to anchorages |
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Racha Islands |
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| Racha Yai lies 10 miles to the south of Phuket, with Racha Noi a few miles further. In local dialect they are often pronounced, and often written, as ‘Raya’, so don’t be confused. (Racha means ‘king’, yai is ‘big’, and noi means ‘small’). |
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| There is a new 5-star resort in the North West Bay of Racha Yai which is the first development of its kind on the island. There are also a few bungalows and restaurants on Racha Yai, concentrated near the north of the island. |
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This is one of the real tropical paradises of the area. A fine white sand beach is framed by a bay fringed on both sides with coral. The clear waters are a vivid aquamarine tending to turquoise. The best anchorage is in 10-15 metres on sand and calcified coral, well away from the isolated coral heads in the inner bay. Sandy patches do exist closer in, but care must be taken to avoid damaging the reef or fouling your anchor.
The diving and snorkelling are excellent. The beach is frequented every day by diveboats and daytrippers so, if you have crew leaving, opportunities for transportation back to Phuket are many.
Around the bay are small restaurants and some bungalows and behind the white sand beach is the Racha Resort, a 5-star boutique hotel and spa. The evenings are peaceful after the day-trip boats have departed, making this a delightful night anchorage, following a spectacular sunset in this west facing bay. There are several walking tracks to other beaches and across the island. Dive tanks can be filled on the beach. |
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| This is a good lunch destination from Koh Racha Yai in the northeast monsoon. Look for a deep water anchorage in 10-20 metres close to the small gap in the island; passage through this gap in a dinghy should only be attempted at high tide. There is good diving and snorkelling along the shores on a mainly rocky bottom. Fishing, trolling and bottom, are good. |
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| Longtail daytrip boats make the journey to these islands from Phuket, and beach umbrellas are set up in anticipation. Excellent diving, snorkelling, and fishing are to be found all around this group. |
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During the southwest monsoon, the east coast of Koh Racha Yai lends shelter for overnight stops in all but the strongest conditions. There is a deep water anchorage in 10-20 metres on a broken coral and sandy bottom. A few day moorings are available but are mostly too shallow for keelboats.
It also affords access to two small beaches with excellent snorkelling and diving, although sometimes there are strong currents. A pleasant, easy 20-minute walk takes you through coconut plantations to the north and west beaches. Ashore is the Ban Raya resort. |
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| This anchorage in 15-20 metres is similar to that off Koh Racha Noi West. It makes a convenient daytime lunch stop during the southwest monsoon. The swimming, diving and snorkelling are great, with the added attraction of a sandy beach connected to a small rocky islet. |
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Nai Harn to Kata Beach |
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Anchorage is in 8-10 metres virtually anywhere in the bay. Dinghy landings can sometimes be exciting early and late in the season, because of the surf.
This southwest facing beach is particularly attractive, but with only two hotels here it is never crowded.
Phuket Town is 45 minutes away by taxi, which can be hired during daylight hours.
Le Royal Meridien Phuket Yacht Club, a splendid hotel perched on the north side of the bay, is a 5-star establishment of considerable fame. Dining in the hotel is excellent, and the evening view from the hotel’s deck is unbeatable.
This bay is one of the favourite gathering points for cruising yachts over Christmas and there are a few local style beach restaurants. |
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| There is secure anchorage in 10 metres either in front of the small resort or just to the east in front of a smaller bungalow resort. The access road passes underneath the Phuket Yacht Club. |
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| This deep, rocky bay nestles in a deep cleft in the mountainous north headland of Nai Harn, where anchorage is in about 12 metres. There is a small beach onshore with a restaurant, and only enough swinging room for two or three boats. |
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Anchorage is in 8-10 metres off the sandy beach.
Kata Noi is home to Kata Thani Hotel, which occupies most of the beach, and to other smaller bungalows on the southern hillside. Behind the hotel is a road leading to Kata and Karon Beaches, with a branch south to Nai Harn. Phuket Town is 45 minutes by road. |
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The southeast corner of the bay offers anchorage in 8-10 metres on sand.
This bay offers one of the best beaches on Phuket, with many hotels and restaurants ashore. For a passing yacht looking for a beautiful beach, with activity at a quieter pace than Patong, Kata is difficult to beat.
The Club Mediterranean covers about 60 percent of the beach, from the northern headland. Outside guests are not catered for here.
On the south side is Kata Beach Resort, a 400-plus room hotel that has hosted the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta since 1998. This 4-star resort (refurbished late 2003), with large swimming pool and gardens, is an ideal, reasonably priced holiday resort for families.
On the road behind the hotel frontage are a number of restaurants, bars, small shops and other entertainment opportunities within easy walking distance.
Beside it is The Boathouse, a long-time favourite of the yachting community. Its popularity began when owner and designer, ML Tri Devakul, one of the King’s Cup Regatta founders, gave his hotel a nautical theme. The Boathouse calls itself ‘a restaurant with a few rooms attached’ and is now so popular, the food so good, that reservations are a ‘must’ in high season. Entertainment is piano bar style. The wine cellar is one of the best on Phuket, with upwards of 250 labels. Passing yachts may call to replenish wine supplies at retail, not restaurant prices.
Diving and snorkelling around Koh Pu (Crab Island) is good. A note of caution, however: the passage between Koh Pu and the headland is not recommended without local knowledge; there is a rock awash in the channel.
You can walk to Kata Centre, with its shops, restaurants and bars, via the little road from the northeast corner of the bay. It takes about 35 minutes to Phuket Town by tuk tuk. |
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Karon to Freedom Bay |
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This lovely 2-mile sand beach, backed by salt ponds and dunes, provides protected anchorage in 6-10 metres on a sandy bottom along its entire length. For easy access to shore facilities, position (A) directly off Karon Circle is most convenient.
Karon Beach has experienced significant development, with several major high rise hotels easily recognised from far offshore. Phuket Town is about 30 minutes away by tuk tuk. |
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Anchorage is in 10 metres on a sandy bottom.
This picturesque beach, formerly known as ‘Relax Bay’, is now dominated by the Meridien Hotel, one of the island’s largest resorts with over 400 rooms and a huge pool. |
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| The hotel harbours several fine restaurants plus all the facilities of a major resort. By tuk tuk, expect to take 35 minutes to Phuket Town and 10 minutes to Patong Beach. |
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This is a favourite day excursion from Patong and Karon, since access by road is difficult. Anchor in 10 metres on sand.
A small restaurant caters to visitors. Off the small headland at the south of the bay, there is good snorkelling and diving. In the deeper water off the north headland, the diving is excellent.
To the north of this anchorage on the other sandy beach is the Patong Merlin Resort which is accessible at high tide. From this beach it is a 10-minute walk over the headland to the beaches on the southern end of Patong Bay. |
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Patong Bay |
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Patong Bay is the busiest tourist beach on Phuket, boasting hundreds of hotels ranging from 5-star resorts to lowly budget bungalows, a great variety of restaurants and a vibrant and surprising nightlife. Visitors to Patong will not find any evidence of the 2004 tsunami destruction except for monuments and tsunami escape route signage.
Supermarkets and little fresh food markets sell provisions, though prices are naturally somewhat higher here in ‘tourist-land’ than in Phuket town.
Dinghies can generally be left unguarded near the police post in the centre of the beach.
Several high-rise buildings were constructed on Patong before a height limit was imposed, clipping developers aspirations to turn this into a completely urban, high-rise resort.
Although this bay provides for all the basic needs of a cruising yacht, including a rollicking nightlife, it’s a noisy, hectic anchorage.
This is one location where fuel can be obtained from the many small vendors in the town. |
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Its gradually sloping, sandy bottom permits anchorage in 5 -15 metres anywhere in this broad bay.
Patong is the most popular anchorage on the west coast, particularly around Christmas, New Year and the Songkhran water festival.
To the south end of Patong bay is a fixed jetty and a floating jetty which is used during the high season as a transit point for visiting cruise ships and Superyachts. |
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| Anchor in 8-10 metres on a sandy bottom off one of the small beaches. This is a good stop for the night if a southwesterly swell is running early or late in the season. |
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| South Point is also a favourite daytime excursion for longtails operating from the main beach. Many divers and snorkellers come to enjoy the underwater sights within easy range of the beach facilities of Patong. |
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| Village resort and its concrete jetty. You’ll find a water hose has been laid from a hillside spring to a buoy offshore. Good tank water is usually available for a modest fee, even at the end of the dry season. |
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| Situated just inside the northernmost point in Patong, this bay has a steep coral shelf rising from a sandy bottom in about 12 metres. Lots of colourful corals and fish await the underwater explorer. |
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| This is a good haven from the northwesterly swell, which is common in February and March. Access to the beach, which is now overlooked by a villa housing development, is best at high water. |
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This mere indentation in the headland affords shelter for one or two boats.
Anchor in about 12 metres on a sandy bottom with scattered coral in front of the residential villas.
In the corner of the bay you will find a spring which is accessible by dinghy – bring your jerry cans. The spring often dries up by the end of the dry season, so don’t rely on it. |
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Patong to Ao Bang Tao |
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Anchor anywhere well out in the bay in 6-8 metres on a sandy bottom.
Kamala Beach lies in a pretty bay, with several hotel developments. There are plenty of restaurants ashore in a busy village atmosphere on the south end of the beach. The bay is easily recognised from seaward by the large structures of the Phuket Fantasea Park and the developments on the southern hill.
Kamala Dreams fronting the beach in the centre of the village is owned by a yachting veteran of 24 years in Phuket, Jan Jacobs, who has many tales of sailing the local waters. Care should be taken when coming from the south to avoid the rocky patch 300 metres off the headland. |
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Laem Sing is a beautiful bay framed by two rocky headlands. It is the favourite spot for paradise seekers and ageing hippies who prefer the short longtail ride from Patong to the gruelling bus ride to Krabi. Look for the famous Sunday afternoon parties at Ott’s Bar in the very south of the beach. Anchor in 10 metres on a sandy bottom.
There are several daytime restaurants here, in the high season, with more in nearby Surin Beach, around the headland. Surin Beach is one of the island’s only zoned public beaches. As such, it has no resorts, but many restaurants and food stalls along the beach.
One of these is the famous Diver’s Place, a casual beach bar named for its charismatic Australian owner (once Australia’s national deep diving champion). |
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Diver’s is frequented mostly by expat residents of the island, while behind the beach is a community park backed by a number of restaurants and hotels.
From this headland north, the private housing and the hotel accommodation becomes increasingly exclusive and expensive. |
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| You should anchor outside the hotel moorings (which are not available for public use) in 10 metres on a sandy bottom. This anchorage is uncomfortable when the northwesterly swell is running in February or March. |
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This secluded spot is one of the nicer bays on the west coast and is home to The Chedi Phuket and Amanpuri exclusive resorts. Yacht crews may use the hotel restaurants for that special occasion, but it is wise to make a reservation.
There is an excellent sandy beach, and good snorkelling is to be had on both points. |
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Ao Bang Tao |
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Approaching Bang Tao Bay from the south, watch out for the large rock shown 150 metres off the headland on the chart. If it is visible, vessels can pass close on either side, as there is 10 metres of water all around. At high water, however, give the headland a wide berth and proceed well north before turning into the bay.
Bang Tao has been developed by Laguna Phuket group as Asia’s first fully integrated resort complex.
This lovely 4-mile-long beach is the setting for the Bang Tao Beach Resort, Amora Beach Resort Dusit Laguna, Laguna Beach Resort, Sheraton Grand Laguna, Allamanda and Banyan Tree Resorts.
Before being reclaimed by this massive development, which began in 1989, most of the area behind the beach was a cratered wasteland, having been seriously degraded by tin mining operations.
Today, the hotels are all interconnected by inland lakes and are backed by Laguna Phuket’s golf course and huge residential development.
There are over 2,000 hotel rooms ashore, with more than 30 restaurants and bars within the Laguna Complex and golf course grounds as well as some very good locally run beach restaurants. |
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Anchor in sand in 8-10 metres northeast of the rocky outcrop on the beach. Be careful of the many floating polypropylene lines, both among the fishing boats and close to the beach when coming ashore by tender.
Only 25 minutes from the airport, this anchorage is often used as a charter departure point. |
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Anchor in 6- 8 metres on a sandy bottom in front of any of the hotels.
Ashore, you will also find several good beach restaurants catering to a wide range of budgets. Just 25 minutes from the airport, these hotels are a useful pick-up point for visitors.
All the hotels in the Laguna complex can be accessed by the free resort shuttle tuk tuks and boats on the canals.
On the very north end of Bang Tao beach, just inside the island, is a high tide river that can be accessed by dinghy leading to two huge, previously tin-dredged inland lagoons – which are earmarked as a potential site for the first west coast marina. |
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Ao Bang Tao to Sarasin Bridge |
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One mile offshore the northern tip of Bang Tao is Koh Weao and a collection of rocks, which offer the best snorkelling on this part of the coast. On the headland is the new Trisara luxury boutique resort within a private villa development. There is a floating jetty in the high season for visitors and an excellent restaurant for that very special occasion.
From Bang Tao to Nai Yang Beach, there are three idyllic white sand beaches nestled between the rocky headlands. Seldom visited by large numbers of tourists, these three hideaways are a welcome change from some other west coast beaches, where jet skis and the like can be a real nuisance.
North of Laem Sai and Nai Yang Beach, Mai Khao, a 7-mile long beach now beginning to be developed, stretches longer than any other on Phuket’s west coast. |
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A National Park borders the ocean along some of this beach. There are two hotel resorts hidden behind trees at the southern end of the beach, and the Phuket International Airport terminal can be seen, about 1 mile north of the hotel. Transport can be arranged from the hotel either to the airport or to town.
Many small, open-air restaurants and small shops line the south end of Nai Yang Beach. |
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In the middle and the largest of the three beaches on the headland, Laem Sai offers good holding in the middle of the bay in 6-10 metres on a sandy bottom.
Good snorkelling may be found on either point. Ashore, you will find a new hotel development which extends the length of the bay and a road which leads to the airport. |
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Anchor in approximately 8-10 metres on a sandy bottom to the north or south of the reef outcrop in front of the two hotels visible behind the trees.
Good facilities are available at the hotels and many local restaurants ashore, and transport to town or the airport may be arranged. |
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Look for anchorage 100 metres offshore from the little squatters’ restaurants, about 1 mile or more south of the bar marking the entrance to the bridge.
The sand bars around the channel entrance are constantly shifting, and entry is not recommended in a keeled vessel. It should not be attempted without local knowledge even in a shoal-draft boat.
The beach is steep, and the sand coarser than that on other west coast beaches. The highway runs close to the beach, near the restaurants, and local buses can be hailed heading north or south. |
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Just south of these restaurants you will find the 5-star JW Marriot Resort and time share condominiums.
Although anchorage is possible anywhere along this beach, do not anchor within half a mile of the airport runway, which is clearly visible from seaward. |
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