phuket magazine

Accommodation at the Southern End of the Island:

Nai Harn; Rawai; Chalong.

Phuket is a big island with many different beaches, each with its own unique atmosphere. At the bottom end of the island end we find Nai Harn Beach facing Southwest, a classic topical beach with crystal clear water ideal for swimming. Just around the corner from here, at Rawai and further eastwards, everything changes. The water off the beaches becomes shallow and unattractive for swimming, and in the bays like Chalong is it murky. The beautiful swimming beaches end at Nai Harn.

 

Nai Harn Accommodation

This classic beach is set back in a deep bay formed by mountainous headlands and a hilly island. From the beach only one building is visible, and this is the strikingly designed Phuket Yacht Club Hotel. Enjoying one of the most beautiful locations on Phuket, this resort actually lays back against the hillside into which it is sculpted. The views from the hotel are simply stunning. While it is on the headland, guests can still step from hotel to the sand.
Despite the name this is strictly a hotel, not a yacht club. In the winter season many yachts come to anchor in the perfect anchorage that Nai Harn bay affords, right in front of the hotel.

At the back of the beach and out of sight is The Sands, privately owned apartments available for rental.

Also back from the beach a little is a new set of rooms that is to open within 2001. Otherwise there are no other accommodations at Nai Harn.

Under and Beyond the Yacht Club Hotel

This is quite confusing, but the public road runs directly under the Phuket Yacht Club Hotel, emerging from under the hotel’s basement and continuing on for a kilometre or two, where it accesses two small, and very private resorts, The Jungle Beach Resort and Ao Saen Bungalows. When one approaches the Yacht Club’s barrier gate, the guards always open to allow the public to pass.

Long-Term Accommodation in the Nai Harn Area

Some bungalows and houses for rent can be found in the back streets of Nai Harn. Being quiet and green, this is a popular residential area for expatriate foreigners working in Phuket. One would have to hunt through the back roads looking for signs to find this kind of accommodation.

Bungalows at Rawai

Rawai, as mentioned above, lacks a beautiful swimming beach; the sand is narrow, the water shallow, and the bottom scattered with rocks and coral. But the sand here has been turned into a kilometre-long, under-the-trees restaurant. There are probably 20 or more vendors and casual restaurants here which are favourites for the local Thais. On weekends they are packed. Rawai has a very different, Thai family atmosphere.

Across the road from Rawai beach are a few relatively cheap bungalows.

The Evason

This was the first international-class resort on Phuket Island, originally called the Phuket Island Resort. It sits atop its own headland on the southeast corner of the island, surveying the offshore islands. This is the headland separating Rawai Beach and Chalong Bay, and the hotel access is from the Chalong-Rawai road, half a kilometre from the water at Rawai.
At first it may seem a strange location to build the very first resort on Phuket - far from the classic tropical beaches of Phuket’s West coast. But this resort has other benefits, first of which is peace and tranquillity to enjoy its magnificent views. The hotel has its own beach club on a nearby island, connected by a shuttle service.

Chalong Bay; the boat harbour –
bungalows, bungalows, bungalows

There is no swimming beach along this bay, the main boat anchorage in Phuket, so no major resorts have been established here. But a whole host of bungalows offer cheap accommodation in this area, another one favoured by resident foreigners for its non-commercial, residential feel. Anyone staying in this area will almost certainly need to rent a vehicle of some sort, since the various bungalows are scattered and isolated. Several of the nicest are found between the road running from Chalong five-way circle to Rawai and the shore of the bay.

Jimmy's Lighthouse, a popular restaurant and yachtsmen's haunt overlooking Chalong Bay, also has a few nice rooms with good views over the harbour.

The writer of this web site, John Everingham, also lives in Chalong, in the Phuket Fishing Lodge which offers long-term rooms at the best prices.

Since both Rawai and Chalong are residential areas for both Thais and foreign expats there are many good restaurants and bakeries in this part of the island.