The Island of Phuket sits like a jewel in the Andaman Sea in the south of Thailand. The island’s terrain is incredibly varied, with idyllic little secluded coves, long white powdery beaches, dramatic limestone formations, mangrove forest reserves, and jungles with waterfalls and tropical vegetation of all kind. This makes Phuket a wonderful place for any action adventure.
Phuket is Thailand’s largest island (810 sq. km). Thailand’s tourist industry calls Phuket "The Pearl of the South." Although tourism is its biggest source of income (along with tin, rubber and cashew nuts), it is big enough that there are still many beautiful spots to accommodate escapists and water-sports lovers.
November to March brings beautiful sunny weather with cool trade winds blowing. Temperatures at night are around 23 degrees Celsius, and during the daytime 30 or 32 degrees Celsius. This season is our winter, their summer.
May to September, and the first half of October, are the wet season.
June, July, and August generally have fine weather with an occasional shower. At night, temperatures are around 28 degrees Celsius and during the daytime 32 or 34 degrees Celsius. Good swells for surfing roll in from the Indian Ocean, with July and August being fairly windy too.
Kata beach, one of the nicest beaches on Phuket, is on the west coast of the island on the southern part. This is one of the most popular places for surfing, with a laid-back surfing and beach lifestyle.
In Phuket there is a wide variety of accommodation, ranging from comfortable guesthouses with a swimming pool and restaurant — a very good value at roughly 450 baht to 600 baht a night — to very expensive 6-star mega-luxury hotels.
Phuket gets it’s surf from the South West monsoon, which starts in May and ends in October. This is also the rainy season in Phuket. The most rain falls in May, September, and October. During the months of June, July, and August, most of the time the weather is fine; there are occasional showers but they don’t last long.
There are many daily national and international flights to and from Phuket. Several budget airlines fly this route. Phuket is also easy to get to by bus from most places in Thailand.
