[MerlotSweet]

Dont know which one to go to - Karon/Kata/Bang Tao/Patong?

Never been there, so no idea at all. Want one less crowded. Can really relax - swim, eat and sleep (a little bit of shopping is a bonus ).

Anyone been to Surin Beach? And is August rainy season there?

Comments appreciated

[gilleshk]

Yes it's the rainy season but it's not half as bad as it is here and rain most often comes late in the day.

If you want peace, avoid Patong, it can be a bit if a scene, it's got a big mall now and of course the girlie bars and discos.

Karon/Kata is a nice compromise, still busy, nice and easy access to Patong for shopping.

Surin/Kamala is more quiet but a little further and the northern beaches have more wave and some undertow to be careful about.

If you rent a scooter or even better, a car, you can explore all of the beaches and driving around is quite easy outside of Patong and Phuket town

[jayinhongkong]

I stayed at the Hilton near Karon last year. It was a great beach and a lot less busy than Patong. It made jet skiing a lot more fun since I didn't have to worry about running into anyone. It's worth renting a private car (with driver) from the cab stand at the Hilton. It actually worked out cheaper than taking tuk tuks and we rode in air conditioned comfort.

[MerlotSweet]

Tks gilleshk and JayinHK. Will definitely pick Karon then.

[rancid koala]

We stayed at Sheraton a few weeks ago.Beach was littered with plastic bottles, fishing line, bottle tops, bits of wood and other general rubbish. Bloody terrible!

[DaveD]

The rainy season keeps people away from Phuket for some reason, I really dont understand how the hotels do business there.

Anyway, I have always enjoyed the time as all the places are not crowded. You should be a decent swimmer though as the waves are a bit higher than usual - but it's real fun.

Karon / Kata / Kata Noi are all amazing beaches... Avoid Patong as it's too hectic and the beach is not too nice.
Hotels are dirt cheap all around the island in the low season, a good site is wotif.com, great deals.
My favourite in Karon: Moevenpick Resort, really nice.

If you want your own pool villa for around 3000 THB go to Bang Tao, very nice developments there.

Enjoy!

[wtbhotia]

I stayed at the Amari Orchard Coral Beach Resort next to patong beach, it was great, they have their own private beach, also a pier which has a restaurant, and below the pier is great for snorkeling which u can rent in the hotel. great place and if you want shopping and night life, then 3-5 min tuk tuk ride down to patong beach only cost 100 baht.

rent the scooters or jeeps and travel around its great fun and cheap, the hotel has parking which is free. i rented both and drove around phuket, dont forget to carry your license with you regardless which country its from, we got stopped at a police road block and i forgot to carry mine and was fined 300 baht and made to sign a form which was all in Thai, after that was allowed to carry on driving. it was like paying for day pass.

[MerlotSweet]

Heard a lot about booking rooms on Asiarooms.com. Is this site reliable enough?

[gunsnroses]

May be I am off the mark here, but just been to Ko Samet island near Rayong and its lovely and not very crowded, plus you can do all sorts of water sports there. Can stay at Jep's for 1500BHT a night on a weekday, its beautiful...

[DaveD]

Originally Posted by MerlotRed

Heard a lot about booking rooms on Asiarooms.com. Is this site reliable enough?

Asiarooms was cheaper a couple of years ago. Latestays.com or Wotif.com seem to be better and cheaper now.
I also find the asiarooms pricing rather obscure, you often have a huge table with dozens of different date ranges...

AR pretends that their rates were only available for travel agents before, but that's crap...