The Ultimate Guide to Phuket Surf

Khao Lak

Travel two hours north of Phuket on the main coast road and you’ll come to a string of beaches that get some good monsoon swell. The best is Khuk Khak at the north end of the region. It’s a good option for surifng and staying in bargain five-star hotels that cost just a fraction of what they would in the Thai peak season.

Check out our complete guide to surfing in Khao Lak

Airport Reef (Nai Yang Reef)

The very first surf spot at the north end of Phuket has been named after the airport. It’s easy to see why – the planes whiz over the beachfront from morning until night. Sometimes, they get so close to the water that you can see the surface rippling under the jet engines. Oddly, the whole area is protected by the Sirinat National Park. The northern part is a wide bay known as Nai Yang that stretches on to the very tip of Phuket itself. There are some okayish shorebreaks here that change in character with the moving sandbanks from season to season. The real draw is the out-at-sea reef of coral that gives the occasional head-high A-frame set when there’s something bigger in the forecast. It’s one of the rare intermediate+ spots of the island, mainly because there’s a 1,000-meter paddle from shore to break and you can’t use the longboats as a shortcut since they don’t usually go out if it’s too rough.

Nai Thon

We love the northern beaches of Phuket because they are nowhere near as busy as the ones you get further south. Nai Thon is a prime example of that. Two craggy heads poke out on either side to envelop the bay in jungle-topped mountains. Sometimes, there can be decent rights at the north end and good mirroring lefts at the south end, but you do need a touch of extra power in the swell to get it to come through properly. The good news here is that you should be alone on the wave.

Bang Tao

Bang Tao Bay is a wide scythe of sand that carves along the middle of western Phuket. It’s usually too affected by the wind to give any good, glassy surf. However, long-period sets can refract nicely into the northern headlands to give quality logger rights, though they are rare. More often, you’ll be doing battle with the mushburgers of the middle and the southern end of the beach, which has more consistency but little shape. It’s hardly a wonder that Bang Tao is a favorite of windsurfers.

Pansea Beach

One of the best right-hand waves on the island comes off the reef cluster that hugs the northern headland of Pansea Beach. Sadly, you’re getting into the province of luxury hotels here and there are frequent reports of staff at the nearby Amanpuri and Surin Hotel trying to stop surfers from getting to the break. It’s worth going stealth and trying to get through when there’s some decent size (something like 4 foot+) in the forecast because you can score a nice shoulder with a good wall for ripping for about 30-40 meters. Lip out at the right time, though, because rides finish up on shallow sections of rock.

Surin Beach

Surin Beach has a rep for being one of the deluxe corners of Phuket. You’ll need to navigate gardens of swaying coconut palms and infinity pools to make it to the shore here. The best waves form on the southern and northern headlands. The center of the beach slopes real fast into the Andaman, so gets sucky and shorebreaky, especially on a high tide.

Kamala Beach

A fringing of well-placed reefs help to hold the sandbars in place at Kamala Beach. It’s the first of the more famous bays that get good swell exposure on the southern side of Phuket. There’s also a decent range of different types of waves to be hand up and down its length.

It all starts in the best of the lot, at the north end of the beach just outside the InterContinental Phuket Resort. 4-8-footer swell days will come in there, form on the headland point, and hold well to offer night right handers into the sand. Smaller days see them get cruisy and slow for learner groups. It’s one of the longer rides going in these parts. The middle of the bay is given over to a run of mellow beach peaks that chop and change as the sandbanks switch position – there’s less reef protection.

The south end of Kamala Beach fragments into cobblestone sections and smaller coves. There’s a fantastic left hand point that can get working during bigger storm swells there. It’s experts only and reminds us of a sucky Sri Lankan outer reef, which rises and quickly tapers off onto a small shoulder that allows for a couple of rips.

Kalim Beach

Kalim has some quality because it’s a pure reef break – not sandbars held in place by outer reefs. Capable of channeling the biggest of the wet-season swells into waves that hold at overhead levels, it’s a rare performance wave in the Land of Smiles. It’s really a right but some like to whip down the steep left and lip back over. The regular direction takes you onto a steep water face that can even hollow out as it curls. Local crews will always have their eyes on this so don’t expect to be lonesome when it’s working its magic.

Patong

Our advice? Skip Patong. This isn’t the nicest beach in Phuket and really it’s all about go-go bars, drinking bouts, and sexpat crowds. We don’t like it and not many people we know do. There are some cruisy little waves that can make it into the big bay, but they are rarely rideable and love a closeout.

Relax Beach

The money spot here is the point break left that works off the rocks at the southern end of the bay. Again, you might have to do battle with the guards at the lux hotels but it’s worth it when there’s about 5-7 foot in a SW swell since the wave is a ripple goofy ride that’s got lip turns and even air potential.

Karon Beach

If you’re coming to hit the Phuket surf as a total learner (and we’d say this is a top place to get your first surfs under your belt in Asia) then it’s likely that Karon Beach will be on the menu. There’s extra protection from the dominant SW here so swells that do make it around the headland tend to be tempered and small. Sometimes it can be a crumbly left-right peeler for the longboarders.

Kata Beach

Kata Beach is where Phuket surfing began. It’s still one of the most popular spots on the island and the place we’d probably say to begin. Hey, there was even a pro event held here in the early naughties. It’s since gone, but Quiksilver don’t often mess about with venue selection ya’know? Anyway, it’s all about the sandbanks. The best line up in neat rows to the south end of Kata, helping to plump up even 2-3 foot swells into something steeper and fast. This is one of the few places where you can rent boards right on the sand a la Kuta Bali. The main hazard is the steep drop in on some waves and the constant jet skis driven by people who have no idea what they’re doing!

Kata Noi

Kata Noi draws a good crowd of returnee rippers with its right-hand point break. There are some other peaks to be chased here but that’s really where the magic happens. It works on the northern headland and gives a wave that reminds us of a mellow Sri Lankan bay wave like Hiriketiya. It’s soft but not so soft you can’t cutback and draw lines. If there’s localism, this is where you’ll encounter it.

Nai Harn Beach

Nai Harn Beach can also lay claim to a place in the top surf spots of Phuket. It’s one of the more southerly of the bays here so hoovers up any swell and converts that into a pretty impressive consistency, at least for the Land of Smiles. The good are split between the north head, which offers a more crumbly right hander and the south. The latter is something you might not expect of Thailand’s surf. It’s occasionally hollow, gets fast, and can even barrel on the biggest of days. Paddle out next to the lagoon at the end of Nai Harn.