questions for those of you that have been to Phuket

Snarkys · #1 10/04/2005, 01:11 PM

I'm seriously thinking about taking a trip to phuket. I know a bunch of you have been there before so i thought id ask a few questions .

what is the best time of year to go?

what area should i stay in and what are some of your favorite hotels ? do you stay in just one or move around a bit ?

what is there to do while you are there ? what are the absolutely cant miss items. how long should my trip be to do these things? btw we have never dived but would love to snorkel.

once you are there is it really really cheap ?

most people speak english ?

lastly , having been there and other places , is there somewhere else you would rather go ?

http://www.phuket.com/

mbbowman · #2 10/18/2005, 10:23 PM

I havent been there but I'd really check out the place you're hoping to go first. The Tsunami destroyed a lot of that area so depending on where exactly you want to go there might not be much there...

Snarkys · #3 10/19/2005, 09:28 AM

thats what i was wondering about

i-WERKS · #4 10/25/2005, 09:16 PM

I've been there last year in October before the tsunami hit. We joined a tour from Hongkong for about $250 CAD for a week including a hotel (not oceanside). It included most meals so I didn't really get a feel for the cost.
There's lots to do there. We went to a shooting range, drove an ATV down a trail right next to elephants, saw a show at the monkey school.
The highlight of the trip was snorkeling at Koh Khai Island. It was unbelievable. Clear water, lots of different fish and corals as far as you can swim. About 50 feet out, you can no longer see the sandbed. It's all covered with corals and flourescent dots of sea urchins.

The locals can understand english so communitcating won't be too hard. If everything goes as planned. I should be there again in May.

Ton-up-Tuk · #5 10/27/2005, 07:47 AM

I have been several times (six in fact) you will not be disappointed, everything cheap (never accept their prices you must barter for everything), everyone understands english,hotels are readily available best area's in my opinion are patong,karon and kata.best for snorkling (i dived every other day) is get a longtailed boat from patong beach to freedom beach or paradise beach.nice boat ride perfect beaches and superb snorkling!!
Mike from UK

::PixelFish:: · #6 11/17/2005, 05:52 PM

I'm heading there in 3 weeks. Phuket has completely recovered from the tsunami so you won't have a problem there. Hotel prices are really good right now because they are trying to attrack tourists but it won't last very long because foreign tourists are heading back there in droves. Asian tourists don't seem to want to go there anymore because they believe there are too many ghosts.

There are a lot of cheap hotels in the busy beach areas of Phuket. We went the other direction and chose to stay in northern Phuket on Mai Khao beach where the sea turtles come to lay their eggs. We're very excited to see them.

As for stuff to do, Phuket has a lot of outdoor activities but we're going mainly for the beach and snorkeling because we're only going to be there 3 days. We're planning on taking a trip to the Similan Islands from Phuket which is supposedly on of the top 10 diving sites in the world. We only snorkel as well but if you wanted to you could take a diving course while there.

::PixelFish:: · #7 11/17/2005, 06:06 PM

I'm heading there in 3 weeks. Phuket has completely recovered from the tsunami so you won't have a problem there. Hotel prices are really good right now because they are trying to attrack tourists but it won't last very long because foreign tourists are heading back there in droves. Asian tourists don't seem to want to go there anymore because they believe there are too many ghosts.

There are a lot of cheap hotels in the busy beach areas of Phuket. We went the other direction and chose to stay in northern Phuket on Mai Khao beach where the sea turtles come to lay their eggs. We're very excited to see them.

As for stuff to do, Phuket has a lot of outdoor activities but we're going mainly for the beach and snorkeling because we're only going to be there 3 days. We're planning on taking a trip to the Similan Islands from Phuket which is supposedly on of the top 10 diving sites in the world. We only snorkel as well but if you wanted to you could take a diving course while there.