Nearby Islands

Wednesday, 08 July 2009 12:49

Nearby Islands

Phuket is surrounded by many smaller islands just off the coastline, some of these provide accommodation and are good destinations to get away and explore for a few days and others can be combined in a day trip from Phuket. If you want to lie on a deserted white sand beach for a few hours and imagine you are Robinson Crusoe then hire a long-tail to take you to some of the small uninhabited islands.

Koh Hae or Coral Island
Coral Island, or Koh Hae in Thai, is the ideal place for a day trip as it only takes around 30 minutes by long-tail boat or if you are a speed freak you can hire a speedboat to get you there. Boats leave from Chalong Bay or Rawai Beach. The beaches are clean and it has a richly coloured reef making it a good place for swimming, snorkelling or scuba diving. Snorkelling here is good if you have children or you are a lousy swimmer as the water is very calm, you can stand at the waters edge feeding the masses of colourful fish with bread and they will swim all around you. The beach can get quite busy during the day, when we visited it was full of Koreans looking for photo opportunities, but they usually leave by late afternoon and the island is very quiet at night. Although part of a marine preserve, you will find accommodation, restaurants, some water sports and diving available. You can also book a day trip with a tour operator.

Koh Lon
It takes around 20 minutes to reach Koh Lon from Chalong Bay by ferry leaving in the early morning, or you can take a long-tail boat. The locals, mostly Muslim, get by from fishing and farming rubber and coconut. There is a long beach on the north side of the island and some accommodation.

Koh Kaew
Koh Kaew is a 20 minute trip from Rawai beach. It has pretty beaches and colourful coral, but there is nothing to do here apart from a giant Buddha statue to go and look at.

Racha Yai & Racha Noi
Off the south coast of Phuket there are two islands, Racha Yai and Racha Noi. To get there charter a speed boat or hire a long-tail from Ao Chalong or Rawai. These are great places to go if you have a good book to read, need some sleep or just want to relax. Food and drink can be fairly expensive compared to other islands, this is because all stores have to be brought in by boat from the mainland. Racha Yai has two beaches with a few bungalows, restaurants and a resort; it is a popular spot for snorkellers because of the clear water and shallow coral reefs. If you are looking for some excellent diving go to Ao Kon Kae Bay on the east side. Follow the foot path up the hill to the viewpoint on the bay's south side and gaze at the panoramic view of the island. During the daytime the main beach can get fairly busy, especially at lunchtimes with dive boats and people out on a day trip, but this usually only lasts an hour or two and the peace in the evenings is perfect. Racha Noi has fine white powder sand and emerald green waters. It is popular with divers and fishing is fantastic here, but it has no accommodation and swimming is not a good idea.

Koh Yao Yai & Koh Yai Noi
The trip takes an hour by long-tail boat, catch it from Bang Rong Pier about 10km from the Heroines Monument. There are only a few ferries a day and everyone crams themselves on, tourists, locals, shopping, supplies; even a couple of motorbikes will find some space. Ko Yao Noi and Ko Yao Yai are large islands, but still pretty basic in accommodation and facilities. Located in Phang-Nga Bay, they have views of the well-known towering limestone rocks and are still mainly covered by forests. You will not see many people around, there are no beach chairs littering the beaches and the best way to enjoy the islands is to hire a bicycle or to walk. Ko Yao Noi is the most popular of the two islands and has the best beaches, development has been recent with a luxury resort being built and the dirt roads are slowly but surely getting replaced by tarmac, but traffic is still nominal with a few motorcycles and the rare truck around and, of course, a few tuk tuks which seem to spread like a virus. There is not a great deal of nightlife, don’t go expecting to see any bars girls or groups of lager louts about. We spent two days on Koh Yao Noi which was very quiet and unfortunately it rained the whole time so apart from eating and drinking whiskey it was lucky we had taken some good books along to read too. This is a great place to go and relax as even though it is not far from Phuket it has more of a laid back attitude, far from the crowds of Patong.