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Originally Posted by Engine09
Anyone have good info on Phuket?
Where to avoid, where to stay, which little islands to hit. Thanks!
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I've been to Phuket a couple times in the past 5 years. The answers to your questions really depend on what kind of vacation you want to have. Phuket offers a wide variety of experiences!
Patong Beach is the centre of the action, if you want nightlife and crowds and walkable experiences, that's where you want to be. But be careful about choosing your hotel. Something a little to the side or away from the ocean tends to be newer and cleaner.
Otherwise, there are resorts all over the island catering to all price points and types of travelers.
I recommend being on the west side of the island because of the sunsets at the beach. Stunning stuff.
Last trip I stayed in the north, near the airport. More relaxing and quieter, but further from where most of the "stuff" is. Whenever we wanted to go somewhere, it meant getting a taxi or hire a ride and traffic can be bad. You don't want to spend half your day in a car. Lots of tourists like to rent motorcycles and maybe you do too, but I prefer to leave the island alive.
As for the little islands, there's a pretty basic tour that goes to Phi Phi Island and monkey beach and all the other tourist traps in the ocean. It's a fun day overall but those places are all incredibly crowded now.
Phuket is a big place with a lot of choice, so don't try to do too much. Leave some downtime to just explore and eat some local fruit and get a massage by the beach.