Nai Thon beach, #Phuket #Thailand

Nai thon Beach is one of these little known beaches on the west coast of Phuket,

far from the crowded areas such as Patong Beach or Kata Beach.

People coming here are searching for a peaceful place

with just enough facilities and hotels not to feel too remote.

Phuket being such a small island you always can rent a car

and drive to Patong for a fun night out or further south for a discovery day.

The beach is an amazing long and wide strip well shaded by tall trees

and divided in two by a small rock formation.

Walk beyond these rocks to reach a more private area of Nai thon.

The sand is smooth and swimming is great during high season. Loungers, umbrellas

and drinks are available as well as several small restaurants.

Some of them start to look trendy, a sign of increasing popularity

and already new hotels are building nearby such as Pullman.

No Jetskies  or parasailing in sight yet, only few long tails boats bobbing here

and there and beach vendors are still discreet.

parking your car is easy in the shade of trees anywhere along the beach.

Across the road are few more bars, restaurants, a mini mart and even a tailor and a dive shop.

This is definitely a high season kind of beach, it looks

and feels quite abandoned during low season

and swimming is not recommended (July to November)

The easiest way to reach there is to drive to the airport

and turn left at the T intersection just before reaching it,

then drive few kilometers and turn right at the signs pointing to ‘Andaman White Beach Resort’

and Trisara Phuket Resort. The closest beach, not to miss,

is the secret Banana Beach, just 3 kilometers away.

The Banana Beach, #Phuket

Banana Beach in Phuket – Phuket is a world famous holiday destination and every corner

of this tiny tropical island has been explored, invaded, sold, developed and exploited.

Yet the tiny Banana beach is hiding itself from the crowd, but it won’t last long.

Considering that Banana Beach is pretty large with shallow clear blue waters,

large palm trees and an excellent sand quality,

it is a mystery why it hasn’t been developed like the rest of the island.

It’s not totally deserted though, a restaurant has been there

as long as I can remember… which is almost two decades.

 They can serve you a great seafood lunch, probably caught no far from here.

Price is a bit higher than other restaurants,

but once you see them carrying everything down the hill,

you’ll forgive them.  Added to that, there are not many places in Phuket

where you still can have a peaceful lunch on the beach

with your feet in the sand in the shade of coconut trees!

 

 Banana Beach is pretty hard to find if you don’t know where to look.

Just finding the road passing by its entrance is tricky for most visitors.

The best way is to go to the airport, and when you are almost there,

at the T-junction turn left instead of right as you would for Phuket Airport.

Drive 2 or 3 km, then take the intersection on the right and follow the signs to Naithon Beach.

If you are lucky or if you planned well, it will be low tide, sky will be spotless

and Banana Beach will then take its full spend our.

Such a great place to spend an afternoon, swimming is great, snorkeling is good

and you can even get a beach chair and an umbrella.

A couple of longtail boats are gently bobbing on the clear water….

and only a handful of lucky tourists are enjoying the privilege of ‘knowing’,

what more can you ask for? In low season, it might feel a bit abandoned,

but I still like to go down there, these are places that will changes sooner than later.