Patong Beach

North to south, three different beaches

North end

The quiet end, near the Novotel, with cleaner water. The best stretch for a swim.

Center

Facing the restaurants and bars, the busiest part, very crowded in high season. Loungers, jet skis and parasailing.

South end

Where longtails leave for Freedom Beach around the headland.

Come here for convenience and company, not for solitude. Patong is Phuket's busiest and best-known beach, 3 km of soft sand on the Andaman with warm water in front and a wall of restaurants, shops and bars behind it. Loungers, umbrellas, jet skis and parasailing run along most of it, and Bangla Road, the island's nightlife strip, is a few blocks back from the sand.

The beach has three different moods. The center, facing the restaurants and bars, is the busiest and gets very crowded in high season. The north end is quieter and has cleaner water, and the south end is where longtails leave for Freedom Beach around the headland. If you want to swim rather than people-watch, head north.

What Patong does well is put everything in one place. You can walk to dinner, a massage and a beer without arranging transport, and hotels come in every price range, which makes it an easy first base for day trips elsewhere on the island. It's 37 km from Phuket airport, about 45 to 60 minutes by car, and the ฿100 airport Smart Bus stops here.

December to March are the driest months. From May to October the southwest monsoon brings surf and rip currents to this coast, and when the red flags go up, stay out of the water. December and January bring the biggest crowds and the highest room rates.