To continue the must visit offshore islands in part 1. In this article, I am going talk about its another 3 offshore islands you cannot miss around Phuket Island.
Located in the southern part of Thailand, Phuket Island is the largest island in Thailand. Since there are many natural beach and coconut trees, it is also well-known as “the Pearl in the Andaman sea”. Clear water with blue sky, live performance and reasonable price are main reasons why it has attracted so many tourists from all over the world. There are three beaches that have been developed relatively well – Patong beach, Karon beach, and Kata beach. You can enjoy many water activities such as surfing here. At night, you can enjoy yourself in bars and watch some live performance. Also, the seafood feast and Thai Massage would also give you a different experience. Apart from Phuket Island, there are also around 30 small islands nearby, which has also attracted a lot of tourists every day.
Phuket Island is located in the tropical area. There are two seasons – the hot and the raining seasons. The hot season is from December to March, with the average temperature being 25 C to 33 C. It is recommended to travel during this period.
Family Vacation – Egg Island
Featues: not far from Phuket Island, you can feed the fishes, there are many fishes that are not afraid of people, shallow water, suitable for children
Egg Island has the shape of an egg and the soft and white sand is like the shell of the egg, hence the name.
It is a great place for children to either play in the water or feed the fish. There are many small fishes swimming in the shoal. Those fishes are not afraid of people. They can just swim by your face or around your legs, which are just like the natural version of fish spa. Therefore, it has attracted a lot of families from home and abroad.
There are three beaches on the island, which is a Y shape if you connect all those beaches together.
Ship companies: Sea Star (including entry fee, which is used to protect the environment), Crystal Sea (including entry fee), Sea Angel Boat (excluding entry fee)
Travel tips:
Since there are many small corals, in order for children to get hurt, it is recommended to buy shoes for them.
Transportation: 30 minutes away from Phuket Island by speed boat. You can just book daytime trip.
For the young who love culture and arts – Tachai Island
Features: primitive, fairy tale, great place to take wedding photos, short opened duration, far
The coast line is longer than that of Similan Islands. The environment here is better preserved. The sand on the beach is light pink. The water is quite pure. You could feel like you are in a fairy tale just from a swing. It is Tachai Island, which is also known as Virgin Island by the local.
Ship companies: Sea star, Wow Andaman, Love Andaman, etc. Those are companies which have a high reputation in the market. Take the example of Wow Andaman. It focuses on the European and American market. Its package includes three meals a day.
Travel tips:
1. Although it is a bit far from Phuket Island, the stunning view is worthy of the efforts.
2. The island is possible to close for good in the near future. So if you would like to visit, now is a better time
3. The island is opened in October
Transportation: it takes around 3 hours to get to this island from Patong Beach
On-water amusement park – Coral Island
Features: many on-water activities, surfing, water motor speed boat, deep dying, seawalker.
The sand is moon white and the water is sapphire blue here. You can see the underwater world clearly several meters beneath the surface. You would have the vacation atmosphere when you see many beach chairs and colorfulumbrellas. However, there are something more worthy than just relaxing on the beach – many on-water activities. For example, surfing, water motor speed boat, deep dying etc.
In terms of distance, it only takes around 40 minutes to get to Coral Island from the south part of Phuket Island. It is a great place to go for those who would suffer serious seasickness when takes long distance trip.
Ship companies and daytime trip: Bing Diving, In See, Nikorn Marine etc. Among those companies, both Bing Diving and In see provides “Coral Island + Racha Island” package with different features. As for Bing Diving, you would get two deep diving experience, with one happening in the best diving spot near Racha Island. In addition, you would get to enjoy Banana Boat (an on-water activity) for free once (the fee would usually be 550 B once). You would also enjoy the sunset view on Promthep Cape on the return trip. As for In See, the trip is arranged for those who cannot get up early in the morning. As for Nikorn Marine, you can enjoy more on-water activities.
Travel tips:
1. Among all the activities, sky-skiing is the most interesting one.
2. There is little wave near Coral Island but many small fishes and other sea creatures.
3. It is recommended to book the activity in advance because the price would be a bit lower. As for the price on spot: sky-skiing is 800 B, deep diving is 2100 B, motor speed boat is 900 B, seawalker is around 1600 B.
More information about sightseeing and other notes would be introduced in the next article.
