I have been to Thailand on holiday a grand total of 5 times so far in life (lucky girl). There is a lot to enjoy- culture, amazing food, amazing beaches, friendly people, excellent diving. These reasons make it one of the more popular Asian holiday destinations for Australian's.
So when we wanted to plan a week holiday with my parents it was the obvious choice.
The big question was where in Thailand we would go.
Phuket has never really been on my radar as somewhere I wanted to go in Thailand. I thought it was big, and touristy and that the beaches had been spoilt by tourism. In some ways that still holds true. But it also had a lot of EXACTLY what we were after and was a lot easier to get to and enjoy from where we are in Laos.
Still, even once we decided on Phuket there is a plethora of places to stay. In fact if you go to Agoda and type in Phuket it will tell you there are 1465 hotels to choose from. How do you even begin?
I spent more hours researching Phuket than I care to let on. It was tricky- we wanted somewhere nice, with a pool and very close to the beach (or on the beach). But we also wanted it to be within a village so that we could leave our resort and eat in other restaurants or explore other shops without having to get in taxi. Oh, and we wanted the resort to be quite and not next door to a party place.
In the end we decided on Kamala beach, and more specifically the Sunwing Beach resort. Kamala beach is one beach north of Patong and is known for being a bit quieter but also having a variety of accommodation. Unfortunately the combination of being shoulder season and the recent political unrest in Thailand meant that all of Phuket was pretty quiet and many restaurants in Kamala were closed.
That said we still managed to find some gems both locally and further afield.
We did two day trips during our 8 day stay. We hired a taxi for a day to take us on a tour of the island. Essentially we went to Phuket aquarium, a few different beaches and a few gorgeous look outs. The other day trip was to Phang Nga Bay to go sea canoeing into some caves and lagoons. We had brilliant weather and everyone (especially bea) enjoyed the canoeing and going into the dark caves and popping out the other side in a lagoon. The trip was topped off for Bea by seeing a monkey outside one of the caves- the sight of it causing her to actually squeal in excitement!
The other days were spent doing a mix of the following: in the pool, at the beach, having a massage, shopping, eating and generally hanging out together. Tough times.
We did two day trips during our 8 day stay. We hired a taxi for a day to take us on a tour of the island. Essentially we went to Phuket aquarium, a few different beaches and a few gorgeous look outs. The other day trip was to Phang Nga Bay to go sea canoeing into some caves and lagoons. We had brilliant weather and everyone (especially bea) enjoyed the canoeing and going into the dark caves and popping out the other side in a lagoon. The trip was topped off for Bea by seeing a monkey outside one of the caves- the sight of it causing her to actually squeal in excitement!
The other days were spent doing a mix of the following: in the pool, at the beach, having a massage, shopping, eating and generally hanging out together. Tough times.
Anyway, it was a great holiday and we came back feeling refreshed from the soft sand, sea breeze, and fresh seafood.
Sunset walks/runs along the beach are the best aren't they?
View from a view point on our taxi tour day
White sandy beach stop on our day trip to Phang Nga Bay
Canoeing into this cave and then out the other side into a lagoon
One of the 7 pools at our resort, Sunwing Kamala Beach
Seafood on the beach- what the best holidays are made of!
Sunwing Kamala Beach mascot Lolo, Bea was so excited!
Life is tough when you have to curl up with Nana on a couch and read some books
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