Paradise Beach
Finding a quiet beach in Phuket is not so hard really. Get away from the main beaches (Patong, Karon, Kata) and none of them are too crazy. Hey, in the summer season (May - October) even the main beaches are not too jammed! The busiest of all Phuket beaches is Patong. I tend to avoid Patong wherever possible. Not my cup of tea. But just about 4km away from the south end of Patong, over the little bridge and past the entrance to the Amari, along the winding road that leads past the Merlin Beach Resort, then over a hill on a narrow, steep path, wide enough for a car (just about!)... then you come to Paradise Beach. Slightly corny name, but we like Paradise Beach. The land is privately owned and I am amazed the owner has not sold out to a resort. It's been kept simple. Some beach chairs, some shaded areas where you can sit and eat, a small restaurant, a volleyball court and an old mooring buoy hung from a tree. My daughter loves swinging from that!
In low season, it's very quiet. We mostly go in low season. During the high season, they do have a deal with one Patong resort to bring guests over, but even still, since there is no busy road, no hawkers, no jetskis, no tuk tuks, it's nice enough in high season too. It's well kept, beach is always clean.. only the toilets are a bit lacking. If you want to rinse off after a swim in the sea there is a pipe connected to a tap hanging over a rock at one end of the beach.
We often go and meet friends there and a few hours pass quickly with some cold drinks. The food is decent, not expensive, although we moan that it could be cheaper! You can sit in the shade and the kids can play safely on the beach. My kids like to go hunting for little hermit crabs which they keep in buckets (and set free again later).
From Paradise Beach you can just about see one end of Patong across the bay. The water is normally quite clear, you can snorkel here. Swimming is OK, but you have to be aware that at low tide it can be rocky underfoot. At high tide, it's great.
• Paradise Beach Location on Google Earth
I hope they manage to keep it simple and inexpensive, there is always the temptation here for land and restaurant owners to cater to people with more money than brains. Tourist prices don't suit us - we are not on holiday here! So far, Paradise Beach has retained it's independence, they do things their way and I wish there were more little spots like this. Well, there are a few - here's some other quiet places we like:
• Layan Beach
• Ao Sane Beach
• The Beach Bar
• Bang Rong Floating Restaurant
In low season, it's very quiet. We mostly go in low season. During the high season, they do have a deal with one Patong resort to bring guests over, but even still, since there is no busy road, no hawkers, no jetskis, no tuk tuks, it's nice enough in high season too. It's well kept, beach is always clean.. only the toilets are a bit lacking. If you want to rinse off after a swim in the sea there is a pipe connected to a tap hanging over a rock at one end of the beach.
We often go and meet friends there and a few hours pass quickly with some cold drinks. The food is decent, not expensive, although we moan that it could be cheaper! You can sit in the shade and the kids can play safely on the beach. My kids like to go hunting for little hermit crabs which they keep in buckets (and set free again later).
From Paradise Beach you can just about see one end of Patong across the bay. The water is normally quite clear, you can snorkel here. Swimming is OK, but you have to be aware that at low tide it can be rocky underfoot. At high tide, it's great.
• Paradise Beach Location on Google Earth
I hope they manage to keep it simple and inexpensive, there is always the temptation here for land and restaurant owners to cater to people with more money than brains. Tourist prices don't suit us - we are not on holiday here! So far, Paradise Beach has retained it's independence, they do things their way and I wish there were more little spots like this. Well, there are a few - here's some other quiet places we like:
• Layan Beach
• Ao Sane Beach
• The Beach Bar
• Bang Rong Floating Restaurant
Paradise Beach | Jamie's Phuket Blog
Comments on Paradise Beach
Please do add your comment or ask a question!
Jamie I have been reading your blog for a long time and really enjoy it. I have noticed that many other blogs have begun to include in there reviews of locations the GPS coordinates. I was wondering if you would be doing the same. I have found it much easier to find things by using the coordinates. Thanks Mike
I don't plan to add GPS coordinates, but for Paradise beach I have added a Google Earth placemark -
Paradise Beach Placemark
I went through the blog and added about 50 placemarks last year, but do need to add some more.
The beaches look so beautiful - especially when compared with Patong. Now all I need is the courage to hire a car and drive to these spots. We usually spend our holidays at Karon and walk everywhere or else catch the baht bus. Just hate giving the tuk tuks any business as they are such robbers.
What a beautiful write up on the beauty of the 'real' Phuket.
I'm not much of a tourist type of person, so the one time I went to Phuket I felt that it wasn't my type of place.
But your posts have me thinking a bit differently.
Hi Jamie,
I've alluded to this beach a couple of times in posts but never let the cat out of the bag. It's an amazing place and one I spend a lot of time at when I'm in Patong - to get away from Patong!
I'm sure you've been there, but if you walk down the left side of the beach and over the hill... to the left, there is this huge area of gigantic rounded boulders that are fun to walk around on. More private for topless if you want.
Great post Jamie...
Fortunately Vern, not that many people read this blog... even less can be bothered trying to find hidden beaches. Those that find Paradise are those who deserve to find Paradise...
It's quite a hazardous motorbike trip up and down the dirt sections - and the concrete sections too if your tires are all muddied up after the dirt! Some caution should be taken during rainy periods as it must be treacherous.
I find myself holding back writing about a lot of the amazing spots I've found in Thailand - for fear they get overrun with 60 year olds with 19 year old girlfriends.
Paradise is a great little beach. The owners told me they all survived the tsunami by running up the hill behind them. Great for them!
It's a nice out of the way beach with a great atmosphere if not too many people.
Anyway again, great post.
Great place and much better than Patong Beach, also a great place to go for a ride to on you scooter as open road and not busy.
It's a terrific beach, but I've always wondered if they have any legal right to demand money to walk on it. It was my understanding that all Thai beaches are the property of His Majesty, and that he allows the public on any beach free of charge.
Yet the last couple of times that I have shown friends Paradise Beach money has been demanded just to look at/walk on the beach (I don't mean to hire a chair there).
Is this legal?
Hi Mike..
I have never been asked for money there other than for the food and drink. We don't hire chairs, if we go then we sit at a table and the kids play on the beach. We would normally only go in low season, as I know it does get plenty of people in high season. Legal to charge you? Well, to get to the actual sand you have to pass through private land. If you just sit down and buy a beer nobody will bother you. If you start an argument about the King owning beaches, different story. The land fronting the beach is private and they have the right to charge you for entering. If this is not acceptable, if you just want to sit on a beach and pay nothing, choose a different beach...
Hi Jamie,
Thanks for your answer. This is just for your info. - not really necessary to clutter your blog with it.
Firstly, the visits I refer to were also both in the low season.
I didn't (and would never) "want to sit on a beach and pay nothing" (well not in Phuket,anyway). I just wanted to show the beach to some friends because their adult kids had enjoyed it on a previous trip. I had no intention of staying more than a minute or two as I was on my way to Khao Lak for lunch and sightseeing there.
The instant my friend, a lady in her sixties, set foot on the sand she was accosted by a tattooed guy shouting "must pay if you go on beach". It was only then that I went over "to start an argument about the King owning beaches".
I quite accept that the land owner has a right to charge for access through his property and/or parking on it, but strangely enough there was no attempt to charge until my friend put a foot on the sand (she had been going to take a picture of the rocks at the end of the beach).
In over 30 years of many visits to Thailand I've never come across such a rude and aggressive Thai, nor one so petty as to attempt to charge for a minute or so's viewing of a public beach (regardless of whether or not he had any right to). My wife tells me that this guy's attitude might have caused a slight variation in my own (normal saintly, non-aggressive) behaviour (the words in parentheses are mine not hers).
Anyway, I enjoy your blog, and your Trip Advisor posts.
Regards,Mike