3 days in Phuket

Be at the Big Buddha when it opens, at 9 am. The white marble statue stands 45 m high on Nakkerd Hill, between Kata and Chalong. It reopened on 3 March 2026, after the landslide of August 2024 that killed 13 people in Kata, below the hill; only the statue, the main stairway, the temple area and the terraces were open as of March 2026.

The lane up from Chaofa West Road is steep and narrow in places: go by taxi or with a driver who waits, rather than on a scooter you are not used to. Cover shoulders and knees, and take your shoes off in the indoor shrines.

Open every day until 6 pm, last entry around 5.30 pm. Entry was free in the first month after the reopening, with donations welcome; we found no confirmed fee since.

Down to Wat Chalong, about 8 km away by road, before the late-morning crowds. Its tall chedi holds a relic of the Buddha, and the gilded statues of the two monks the temple is revered for stand inside. The buildings are open from about 7 am to 5 pm, and entry is free.

You will hear firecrackers, set off in a brick oven as thanks when a wish made here comes true, at no fixed time. They can startle small children.

Phuket Town and the Old Town are about 8 km further north. Have lunch there, then spend the hottest hours indoors: the Thai Hua Museum on Krabi Road, in the island's first Chinese-language school, is open from 9 am to 5 pm. Guides disagree on its closing day, so call ahead if your date is fixed.

From about 4 pm, when many shops reopen, walk the streets: Thalang Road, Soi Romanee across to Dibuk Road, then Krabi Road and the houses of the tin families. The stops are a few hundred metres apart.

The Old Town is not a place to spend a hot midday on foot, and many shops close in the hottest part of the afternoon.

On a Sunday, stay for Lard Yai, the walking street on Thalang Road, from about 4 pm to about 10 pm. Come at 4 to walk, at 7 for the atmosphere; it is busiest from 6 to 9 pm, and very full.

From Monday to Saturday, Chillva Market on Yaowarat Road, from 5 to 11 pm. On a Saturday, if you have transport, the Naka weekend market south of the town, from 4 to 10 pm.

The blue songthaews between Phuket Town and the beaches run from about 6 am to 6 pm, and never between beaches. For the way back in the evening, count on Grab or a taxi.

The famous day, for Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi Leh. Day trips leave mostly from the east-coast marinas, by speedboat, and last 8 to 11 hours door to door.

At Maya Bay you land at a pontoon at Loh Samah, on the other side of the island, and walk five to ten minutes on a boardwalk; swimming is forbidden. Standard trips reach it between about 9.30 and 11 am, according to one guide; trips that leave at dawn arrive first.

Maya Bay closes every year from 1 August to 30 September; Phi Phi trips still run then, and see it from the water or skip it. The park fee, 400 baht for a foreign adult, is often left out of cheaper trips and then paid in cash on the day.

The other day at sea: limestone towers in a sheltered bay, James Bond Island (Khao Phing Kan), lunch at Koh Panyee, a fishing village on stilts, and a canoe into the hongs, lagoons ringed by cliffs and reached through a cave. On most trips a crew member paddles for you.

The day lasts 8 to 10 hours, depending on the boat. James Bond Island is busiest from about 10 am to 1 pm, and several guides advise leaving around 8 am. The tide decides when you canoe, so the order of the stops can change on the day.

Not for you if you are claustrophobic: some caves are very low. The park fee is often included, but not always: check your booking.

Phi Phi if Maya Bay is the reason you came and you do not mind crowds or the open sea. Phang Nga Bay if you would rather stay in calm water, or travel with someone who gets seasick: one guide advises a big boat rather than a speedboat for them.

The southwest monsoon makes the open sea rough, and speedboats to the far islands are the first to be cancelled, according to one operator: check the day before. Phang Nga Bay, sheltered on three sides, is the sea day to choose then; one tour company presents it as such.

One national-parks website lists the Phang Nga Bay park as closed from 16 May to 14 October, which the trips on sale almost every day contradict: check that yours is running. If your boat is cancelled, swap this day with day 3, which needs no boat.

You will be back late, and tired. A market near your hotel is enough: in Kata, Kata Night Market, every day until about 11 pm; in Patong, the Bangla night market, every day from 6 pm.

Bring cash in small notes: at Kata Night Market, foreign cards are refused.

A beach. From December to March, Nai Harn, a bay with a lake behind it and no town around it, or Kata, about a kilometre of sand with lifeguards. Swim between the two red and yellow flags, and never when the red flag is up: it means swimming is forbidden.

From May to October, the west-coast beaches have big waves and rip currents on many days. Swim only where lifeguards are watching, or not at all: on the day, the flag on the beach matters more than any guide. In November and April, watch the flags.

Lifeguards work in the daytime only. No flag does not mean the sea is safe; it usually means nobody is watching.

Up to the Windmill viewpoint, beyond Nai Harn towards Promthep: a short dirt track to a hilltop with a white wind turbine, a sala (an open shelter) and a drinks stand, and the view over Ya Nui and Koh Man.

Below it, Ya Nui is a small cove, very busy for its size.

Not on a scooter if you are not at ease on a dirt track.

Promthep Cape, at the southern tip of the island, free and open at all hours. Sunset is between about 6 and 6.50 pm depending on the month, earliest in November and latest in July, and tour buses come for it: arrive at least 30 minutes early.

Near the lighthouse, a shrine to Brahma is surrounded by elephant statues offered as thanks for a wish granted; do not handle the offerings. The path down towards the tip is steep, rocky and optional, and you need daylight to climb back.

The car park and the road out are jammed at sunset. If you came by taxi, agree the way back with your driver before you walk off.

Seafood at the Rawai market, on Wiset Road next to the pier: you buy by weight at the stalls on one side of the street, and a restaurant on the other side cooks it. It is busiest around 7 pm.

Agree the price per kilo before anything is packed, watch the weighing, and ask the cooking charge before you hand over your bag.