Mai Khao Beach is a beautiful nine kilometer stretch of sand and sea, making it the longest of all the Phuket beaches. Despite the fact that it is the longest beach, it is also one of the most undeveloped of the major beaches. There are a couple high end resorts located along the beach and the Phuket International Airport on the south end, but very little else. It is one of only four beaches located in the Sirinath National Park.
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Explore KrabiThe beach is golden sand that is a bit stony to walk on, but is overall pretty nice. The seabed is fairly deep and is a great place to go swimming. Due to the beaches location within the national park, there has been little development to interrupt the natural beauty of the place. This has also resulted in the water quality along Mai Khao Beach to be very good.
Between the months of November and February, sea turtles lay their eggs along Mai Khao Beach. If you happen to be visiting during this time of year, please be respectful of the turtles. Their numbers have been decreasing every year. Every year there are a number of baby turtle releasing events that attempt to replenish their population.
On the northern end of the beach there are a number of local restaurants serving up Thai food and drinks at a pretty standard price. It is a good place to spend a relaxing lunch appreciating the views of the beach and the beautiful Andaman Sea.
There are four up market 5 star resorts located along Mai Khao Beach. Anantara Phuket Resort, JW Marriott Resort & Spa, Sala Phuket Resort and Spa and West Sands Phuket. They all market themselves as luxury resorts, so expect to pay a price to match.
With such a limited amount of surrounding development, Mai Khao Beach is one of the most beautiful of all the major Phuket beaches and is definitely worth a look. The nine kilometer stretch of relatively untouched beachfront is somewhat of an enigma in the otherwise touristy western Phuket coast. It is a great place to spend a relaxing day.
Beach Activities
The fact that Mai Khao Beach is located in the Sirinath National Park means that there are not beach activities. This helps to add to the natural beauty of the place, but can mean a boring trip to the beach.
Getting There
There are a few ways to access Mai Khao Beach, the easiest being from the far north or the far south. In the north, the beach can be accessed from Thepkrassatri Road which is located just before the Sarasin Bridge. In the south you can drive to Nai Yang and then turn into the national park. Entering the beach through the national park may result in a fee being charged. There are also a number of smaller roads along the central part of the beach that are less clearly marked.
Swimmers Beware
During the rainy months of the year, Mai Khao Beach can be quite dangerous to those who are unaware how to stay safe on Phuket beaches. Always be aware of the flags posted on the beach, these indicators of the oceans dangers could save your life.
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Dear Lawrence,
We plan to visit the Anantare Resort Mai Kao beach which is close to the airport: any risk for plane noice or view of landing/leaving planes? thanks and great 2013
The flight pattern for all aircraft is directly over Mai Khao Beach, so you will definitely have some noise impact. Fortunately, the beach is rather large and the Anantare Resort is located on the more northerly portion of the beach, so the noise will be limited. With that being said, it is a lot of fun to stand near the runway and watch as the planes come in extremely low over the beach.
Is the beach near to commercial places? I’m sure people would want to visit those places to after their long day beach activities.
@Timothy : There isn’t up near Mai Khao Beach that I would consider commercial. The majority of the beach is within a national park, so there is no development at all. There are four major resorts on the southern end of the beach where you can eat and catch a drink. If you want to go shopping or something, you’ll need get off the beach a bit.
I would love to see a turtle spawning. It’s sad that numbers are depleting. Not only do sea turtles have to be weary of would-be predators, but humans also cause a great threat. It’s hard to imagine that people actually kill turtles for their meat.
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