Patong Beach is the most famous, or should we say infamous, of all of the Phuket beaches. This three kilometer stretch of golden sand is the busiest beach on the island. Most travel sites rank Patong Beach as one of the top beaches in Phuket, but we disagree. Although it is a nice beach, there are a few beaches within close proximity that are far nicer.
Top Phuket Beach Resorts
Best Patong Resorts
Top Bangkok HotelsAs we said already, the beach itself is pretty nice, although it was much nicer once upon a time. Currently, it has been polluted and trashed, due to the huge number of visitors every year. It still retains a bit of it’s former beauty, but it is nothing like it use to be. It is a great beach for swimming, but like we said, the water can be a bit polluted at times. This typically occurs after a heavy storm where a lot of water must drain out of the city into the ocean.
There is an endless line of sun loungers many rows deep so you shouldn’t have trouble finding a place to sit unless the beach is extremely busy. The cost of a chair is about 100 baht. Like all of the major beaches in Phuket, you can order drinks from your chair and they will be delivered to you. There are also beach vendors that hawk their wares, occasionally you can find some good deals as these people have relatively no overhead.
There is a road that runs the entire length of the beach, and the opposite side of the road is littered with bars, restaurants, shops, everything a visiting tourist would desire. All of these amenities are within easy access of the beach.
Beach Activities
Patong Beach is the busiest beach on Phuket Island. You can rent and do practically any water-sport imaginable at Patong Beach. Whether you want to rent jet-ski’s or surfboards, take a ride on the banana boat, or go snorkeling, everything you need is available for rent. Just be aware of the notorious jet-ski scams if you choose to rent a jet-ski.
Getting There
Patong Beach is likely the easiest beach to get to on the entire island. It is the busiest tourist destination, so if you are coming to Phuket, you will likely be staying there anyway. If you happen to be staying outside of Patong, there are plenty of signs pointing the way, and everyone knows the way should you get lost.
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which “notorious jet-ski scams” are you referring to? thanks
First of all, I am not saying that all vendors will try to scam you, just that the possibility exists, so to be safe, you are better off just not renting jet-ski’s to begin with or at least be aware of it. With that being said, this is how the scam will typically go down. Basically, a customer will rent a jet-ski and upon returning it, they will be charged a huge fee for supposed damages. They pull this off with doctored before/after photos of the jet-ski, or by having previous damage repaired with water soluble glue so the previous damage returns once the jet-ski hits the water. You can search “Thailand Jet Ski Scam” on YouTube and get a number of videos. I think the majority of the videos are from Pattaya which is even worse than Patong, but it’s the same scam in both places.