PHUKET · THAILAND
Limestone islands, warm sea, longtail days.
Phi Phi and Maya Bay, the Phang Nga sea caves and James Bond Island, the coral reefs off Racha and the elephants in the hills. Every island day trip and dive off Phuket, with the prices and the operator behind each.
Why Phuket
Three trips you came to the Andaman for.
Beach days and snorkel stops exist on every coast in Thailand. The sea-cave lagoons, the cliffs at Maya Bay and the warm-water reefs are why people pick this stretch of it.
The sea caves
Phang Nga’s hidden lagoons
Phang Nga Bay is a maze of limestone towers rising straight out of jade water, and the best of it is inside them. At low tide you lie back in a sea canoe and a guide paddles you through a cave mouth barely a metre high into a hong, a collapsed-roof lagoon walled by jungle and open only to the sky. James Bond Island and its leaning stack of rock sit just around the headland.
- 1 Phang Nga Bay Sea Cave Canoeing & James Bond Island by Big Boat
- 2 From Phuket: Phang Nga Bay and Canoeing Tour by Big Boat
- 3 Phuket: James Bond Island Longtail Boat and Sea Canoe Tour
The film beach
Maya Bay & the Phi Phi cliffs
Maya Bay is the curl of white sand under sheer cliffs that stood in for the beach in the film, now reopened with a daily cap so it never feels like the old crush. The day usually takes in Pileh Lagoon, a flooded canyon of impossibly green water, the snorkelling off Bamboo Island and a longtail run past Viking Cave on the way home.
- 1 Phi Phi Islands Adventure Day Trip w/ Seaview Lunch by V. Marine
- 2 Phuket: Phi Phi Islands and Maya Bay Day Trip with Lunch
- 3 Phuket: PhiPhi, Maya Bay & Khai Island Day Tour with Lunch
Under the surface
The Andaman dive sites
Warm, clear water year-round is why the site carries the name it does. Boats run south to Racha Noi and Racha Yai for the easy reefs and the turtles, out to Shark Point for the leopard sharks and soft coral, and down to the wreck of the King Cruiser ferry. First-timers do a discover dive off Coral Island; the certified head for the deeper sites.
- 1 Full-Day Beginner Scuba Course with Private Tuition, Racha Yai
- 2 Kata Beach Diving for Beginners Pool Training and 1 Beach Dive
- 3 Discover Scuba Diving 3 Dives Racha Islands
Start here
The one day most Phuket trips are built around.
If you only book one thing before you fly, more travellers pick this than anything else off the island.
The classics
Phuket's Most Popular Tours
Phi Phi, James Bond Island, the Coral Island reefs and the elephant camps. The days most people fly in for.
Where to begin
The days a Phuket trip is built around.
Phi Phi and Maya Bay, the Phang Nga sea caves, the snorkel reefs, the elephant sanctuaries, the boat cruises and the Big Buddha. The handful of days most trips are planned around, and the best way to do each.
The big day trip
How to do Phi Phi & Maya Bay.
Maya Bay reopened with a daily cap and a set route, so how you go shapes the whole day. Three ways out to the Phi Phi group from Phuket, by comfort, by speed and by crowd.
Phuket Old Town
Shophouse streets and the Sunday market.
Inland from the beaches, the old quarter is a grid of Sino-Portuguese shophouses in faded pastels, hung with lanterns and painted with street art. Thalang Road fills with food carts on a Sunday night, the coffee shops are some of the best in the south, and a walking tour ties together the tin-mining history, the shrines and the kopi.
Read the guide: the best Old Town walks & food tours →In the hills
Elephants, the right way.
The sanctuaries in the jungle above the coast have moved on from riding and shows. A morning here is feeding, walking and a mud bath alongside rescued elephants living out their days, with small groups and keepers who know each animal by name. The good camps are honest about what a visit involves; these are the ones travellers rate highest.
See the elephant sanctuary visits →The sea
Warm, clear, island-studded water.
The Andaman is bathwater-warm most of the year, the visibility runs for metres, and the horizon is broken up by limestone islands the whole way out. This is the reason Phuket exists as a holiday: you point a boat at almost any island offshore and find a beach, a reef or a hidden lagoon at the end of it. Cross it by speedboat, sail it at sunset, or slip under the surface.
Cruises & boat trips →Thai cooking
Take the recipes home with you.
Most classes start where the cooks shop: a wet market full of lemongrass, galangal and curry pastes you cannot get back home. Then it is your turn at the wok for a green curry, a pad thai and mango sticky rice, eaten at the table you cooked them on. Half a day, and the most useful souvenir you will carry out of Phuket.
- 1 Phuket Thai Cooking Class with Market Tour Option
- 2 Hands-on Thai Cooking Class Phuket with Market Tour Option!
- 3 Thai Cooking Class in Phuket
Pick your pace
As slow or as loud as you like.
Phuket runs at every speed. A slow sunset cruise and a massage, a full island-hopping day on the water, or a morning getting muddy in the hills. Pick the gear you are in.
Take it slow
Sunset sailings and slow water.A dinner cruise across the bay, a beach-club afternoon, a wander through the Old Town and a long Thai massage to finish.
The classic day out
Island hops and snorkel stops.Speedboats out to Phi Phi and Coral Island, sea kayaks into the Phang Nga lagoons, a slow morning with the elephants.
Full send
Jungle quads and zip lines.ATV trails through the rubber plantations, zip lines over the canopy, jet skis and parasails off the west-coast beaches.
Mask & fins
Over the side, into the warm.
The reefs start a short boat ride off the south coast. Coral and Racha for the easy, clear snorkelling and the turtles, the Phi Phi walls for the drop-offs and the bigger fish, Shark Point for the leopard sharks. Half-day trips suit anyone with a mask; the dive boats run out to the same water for those who want to go under it.
See all 25 snorkeling trips →By island
Pick an island, build a day.
Phi Phi for the famous beaches. Phang Nga for the sea caves. Coral and Racha for the snorkelling. Khai for the quick sandy hop. The Old Town for the food and the streets. Patong for the sunsets and the strip.
By activity
Or pick how to spend the day.
Snorkel or dive if you want the reefs. A cruise if you want the islands slow. Kayak the sea caves, ride to the elephants, climb to the Big Buddha, or save it all for a Muay Thai night and the cabaret.
Plan it
Three perfect days.
First time in Phuket? Here is a three-day run that gets you the best islands, the sea caves and a day on land without a wasted hour.
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