Rawai Beach

Rawai Beach is located at the southern tip of Phuket. It is much less touristy than nearby Kata and Patong beaches and an excellent place to experience some real Thai culture.

Rawai Beach is known for its seafood and scenery, but not its swimming. Like nearby Chalong Bay , the beach is littered with refuse, there are too many boats, and the shallow water is anything but crystal clear.

Rather than sand and sea, Rawai's main attraction is the food. Along the length of the beach you'll find vendors cooking up a fresh seafood storm. Rawai is best visited as a day trip, and a beachside seafood feast couple with a few cold drinks can easily stretch out to a relaxing afternoon. The prices are very reasonable, particularly at the Pakbang Food Centre toward the eastern end of the beach. Crab, prawns, and fish served with sticky rice and fresh vegetables cost a fraction of what you'd pay in Patong.

Most vendors speak at least a little English and many have simple English menus, but it's easy enough to just point out what you want. Meals are served either on small tables surrounded by recliners or on rattan mats that you can relax on all under the shade and well appointed looking out to sea. The only nuisance here is the flies and stray dogs -- they like the food too.

The island directly offshore that you can see from Rawai Beach is Koh Bon. The island is home to a beach reserved solely for the guests at the nearby Evason Phuket Resort (which has no beach of its own to speak of).

Aside from Koh Bon, there's a bunch of other islands close to Rawai Beach, including Koh Kaew, Koh Lon, Koh Aeo and Koh Hae, which is better known as Coral Island. These islands can be visited privately by chartered boat or ask around in Rawai or Ao Chalong to find out about island tours that will take you (and a bunch of like-minded souls) out to a few of them in one hit -- this will almost certainly be cheaper than doing it privately.

If you'd rather do your own thing, the longtail boats that clog Rawai beach are your best bet. You can charter a longtail just to go lay on the beach or snorkelling and fishing trips are also available and don't forget there's a few hidden away beaches on this part of Phuket's coast that are just as good as the strips of sand on the offshore islands so see what the boatman suggests.

If it's snorkelling you're after, the area to the west of Rawai Beach, towards Promthep Cape is about the best.

Getting to Rawai Beach

Rawai can be reached by songtheaw from Ranong Road in Phuket Town. The trip costs 30 baht and the songtheaws run between 07:00 and 17:30 after which you're at the mercy of tuk tuks and cabbies. In Rawai Beach the songtheaw picks up from the eastern end of the beach road. A tuk tuk from Rawai Beach to Phuket Town costs 400 baht.

Get Around

Rawai Beach is quite spread out and a scooter is highly recommended. The longer your hire period, the cheaper it becomes and is possible to hire one for around 120 baht per day. Otherwise expect to pay 150-200 baht per day depending on the type of scooter.

What to Do

Rawai beach itself is only used to moor fishing boats, long tail boats and speed boats, for snorkeling and sightseeing trips to neighboring islands and swimming there is not recommended. Mid 2007 a new pier has opened. There is a Sea Gypsy Village by the pier with shops and longtail boats for rent. Lots of seafood restaurants on the beach, this is where Phuket Town comes on the weekend for a beach party. There are a few popular cocktail bars on the beach for a limited but fun night life. There are several low end guest houses and a hotel on the beach. At the top end is the Evason Resort. Nai Harn beach is only a few minutes away by scooter or taxi or local bus and is one of the nicest beaches on the island. Popular with Thai people as well as tourists it is a protected cresent shaped beach less than 1km in length. There is also a very nice Budhist Temple there looking over the lagoon. Most of the other beaches are dominated by resorts and shopping and bars. The high end Meridian Phuket Yacht club sits on a hill at one end of the beach. In particular 'Promethep Cape' is recommended for views of the sunset over the Andaman sea. There are tourist shops and a popular restaurant with a nice view of Nai Harn beach.

See Hotels in Rawai Beach