Phuket Islands

Around Phuket lies one of Asia’s most spectacular island seascapes. The limestone towers of Phang Nga Bay, the beaches of Phi Phi, the coral gardens of the Similans and countless hidden anchorages compose an archipelago where longtail boats, dive sites and castaway bays extend the island experience far beyond a single shore.

Phuket sits at the centre of a wide marine world. To the north-east, Phang Nga Bay rises in hundreds of limestone karsts, among them Koh Panyee, a stilt village of Muslim fishermen, and the islet popularly called James Bond Island. In the bay lie Koh Yao Noi and Koh Yao Yai, rural islands of rubber plantations and rice; south of Phuket rise Koh Racha Yai and Racha Noi, and to the south-east the Phi Phi islands.

Further out, off the coast of Phang Nga province to the north-west, the Similan Islands form a national park of granite boulders and reefs, among the finest dive sites in Thailand, with the Surin Islands beyond. The rhythm of the region is set by the sea: fishing boats at dawn, tides that empty and fill the hongs, the hidden lagoons inside the karst, and sea-caves reached only by canoe.

The Andaman coast follows the monsoon. The best period runs from November to April, when the north-east monsoon brings dry weather, calm seas and excellent visibility; December to February is the peak. The Similan and Surin national parks open to visitors only in this season, roughly mid-October to mid-May, and close during the wet months to let the reefs recover.

From May to October the south-west monsoon brings rain, stronger swell and rougher crossings, and some boat routes are reduced; it is also a greener, quieter season. The Phuket Vegetarian Festival, held in the ninth lunar month and usually falling in October, and Loy Krathong in November, when candlelit offerings float on the water, mark the turn of the seasons.

Only a few resorts on the islands themselves stand out. On Koh Yao Noi, Six Senses Yao Noi spreads its pool villas over a hillside above Phang Nga Bay, facing the limestone karsts; on Koh Racha Yai, south of Phuket, The Racha lines a white-sand bay with contemporary villas; and on the quieter northern shore of Phi Phi Don, OUTRIGGER Phi Phi Island Resort, the former Zeavola, keeps its villas among the gardens behind Laem Tong beach.

LVXVRY books Six Senses Yao Noi through IHG Destined — at the official hotel rate, with the privileges the programme attaches to the stay. For The Racha and the Outrigger, LVXVRY advises on and arranges the stay, and many travellers combine an island with a few nights on Phuket’s west coast, linked by private speedboat.