Sunbathers, snorkellers and hikers all give Phuket holidays the thumbs-up, thanks to its stellar crop of beaches, national parks and dive-friendly isles.
The Pearl of the Andaman
Phuket dangles off of Thailand’s south-west arm. This place is so big that it barely looks like an island, but it’s only attached to the mainland by a single stretch of tarmac. Its core’s stuffed with jungles, while the curvy coast’s padded out by suede-soft beaches. And you could pretty much paint by numbers with the islands floating off-shore.
Alphabet of beaches
There are salt-white beaches left, right and centre here. You just need to decide whether you’re after something mellow, like Bang Tao Beach, or a party animal, like Patong Beach. Tri Trang Beach is a compromise, since it’s just around the corner from Patong’s bar-jammed Bangla Road and buzzy beach. On the east side, long-tail boats ferry people over to Phang Nga Bay’s unreal limestone islands.