We are planning our first trip to Thailand in early August for a week and would like to stay in Phuket. We noticed during our trip to Bali last year our 2 kids (8 and 4yo) enjoyed staying at the beach and pool at the resort the most intead of touring around. We are thinking about spending 2-3nights at a hotel on the Patong beach (would love to hear suggestions). We can go to phi phi island and maybe take a safari tour. For the next 5 nights we can station at club med where there is a nice kids club and I heard lots of activities for adults as well. Club med is pretty pricey and we are looking at other options, maybe marriott's beach club (anyone know if it's only for Marriott vacation club members) or other resorts. Does anyone have suggestions on where to stay for our trip and where to find good tours? Are there drivers we can hire or is it safer to go with a tour group? Which beaches do you like and where should we go for shopping?

Thanks!

i wouldn't bother with Patong beach, as the 'beach' isn't clean for swimming, IMO. I don't care for the rest of patong's offerings either, over touristy and overpriced. i'm a fan of kata beach, very swimmable, less rips and plan swimming around ebb tide, less large waves and mild rips if caught in one. keep an eye on the 8 yr old. the 4 yr old shouldn't be able to get into trouble.

i like the sugar palm resort, very short stroll to beach, nice pool, quiet. food options nearby and last time there (2 yrs / 1100 baht), the brekkie buffet was nice. should be nice promotion in august, less than 1500 baht a night.

the club med is also at kata beach, a huge place, but no real beach view, even though parallel to beach. not a good value. since 4 of you, i would simply rent a car when wanting to tour someplace and do it on your own. thai drivers aren't the safest and i personally would avoid them. the island is easy to negotiate.

haven't been to PP since 2000, so surely things have changed considerably, and since the tsunami. was quite beautiful and quiet back then. also, since august is rainy season and sometimes some rough seas, that ferries done't operate in. so if considering PP, i would go straight away and save phuket for latter part, just in case seas are rough, and you can't get back for travelling to flights out.

tours i have no experience with, so can't help there.

DO NOT SWIM AT KARON BEACH, thought the red flags will be out all day everyday, and there is a reason, the rips are deadly this time of year, and NO LIFEGUARDS.

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Mainly agree with La, except for the ferry to PP warning: it happens on maybe 2 days a year they can't run because of the weather, so I wouldn't be overly concerned with that (except: don't book on the final day of your stay). If going to Phi Phi I would consider doing a 1 night stay there in stead of a daytrip.

Regarding accommodation, Marriott is far, far away from everything and anything else, take that into account when making your decisions.

In August: don't count on swimming in the sea because of the sea conditions that time of year. If it is possible consider that a big bonus. Kata Beach is your best chance of receiving that bonus.

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Diving Phuket and Similans

Thank you La and Stevenl! I know August is rain season in Tailand, but I read the rain during that month is usually in short bursts. Is the weather really that bad during August that we can't enjoy the beach? We are thinking about staying 2-3nights at the Holiday Inn on Patong which is closer to the town. For these 3 days, we are planning Phi Phi tour, Safari and maybe shopping and won't be spending too much time on the beach. I didn't realize that the Patong beach isn't good for swimming. We would like to stay in a different resort for 4-5 nights for the later part of the trip where there is a nice beach and many kids activities. How is the beach in club med? I don't really mind if I can't see the beach from the resort as long as it's easily accessible. What about the east side of Phuket? I found many resorts and villas with much better deals over that area - why are they much cheaper?

Thank you La and Stevenl. I know August is rain season, but I read the rain usually comes in short bursts and is mostly in the mornings. Is the weather really that bad that we can't enjoy the beach. We are thinking about staying in Holiday Inn Putong for the first 2-3nights while going to Phi Phi, safari tour and shopping. I read the Holiday Inn is close to town and pretty convenient. We won't have too much time on the Putong beach, but I didn't know the beach there is not good for swimming. We plan to stay in a different resort on Kata beach for the next 4-5 nights so the kids can enjoy the beach. How is the sand on Kata beach? We would like to find a resort with nice sandy beach, great kids club and many fun activities since we will mainly be staying in the resort for those days. I noticed the resorts/villas on the east of Phuket have much better deals. They are a lot cheaper and have bigger rooms. Does anyone know why? Are the beaches there not as good?

Sorry I double posted. I couldn't find by 1st reply and thought it was lost.

No nice beaches or any activities on the east side.

Patong Beach is far from the nicest beach on Phuket IMO, plus in August it is far from the best beach for swimming. Kata Beach, where Club Med is located is much nicer and better from swimming in August. Club Med is right on the beach, just one small road in between resort and beach.

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Diving Phuket and Similans

I have had this happen a few times myself. I have written out a post and hit "Submit Reply" and nothing shows up. Then you wonder if you hit delete or screwed up somehow and do a second post just in case.

Sometimes it happens in replies that have several links that the computer may kick out as advertising until a live person gives the okay. I think new posters have a screening process.

Yep. As a new member when you hit "Submit" you should see a message displayed that says "your post will not be displayed until it has been moderated" or words to that effect. Problem is, it doesn't display for long so you have to read fast The reason for it is to stop spammers from clogging the forums. We get dozens of people every week signing up just to promote tour companies, websites etc, particularly from Vietnam. If I just allowed them on the forums then it would be a mess, so I have to moderate each and every post.

Sometimes Koonel when there is a post with a lot of links in, it triggers the moderation too, even if you are an established member. So if your post ever doesn't display, don't worry - it's usually there, it's just in the moderation queue for some reason.

cheers!
Steve

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