Phuket nearby islands - Phuket Travel Guide

Phuket Island has so much to offer to tourists; in spit of this, the small islands surrounding Phuket are also popular. These islands, located at a distance of one or two hours by boat offers excellent diving and snorkeling facilities. Some of them do not have even these facilities, but tourists go there to escape from the crowded beaches of Phuket.

Koh Hae (Coral Island)

Coral Island lies on the southwest of Phuket at a distance of 10 miles. It is one of the most developed among the islands surrounding Phuket. Coral Island Resort, a luxury resort is the major building on the island. There are a few budget hotels and restaurants here. Coral Island is named so due to the presence of numerous coral reefs of varying sizes and shapes around the island. In the sea surrounding the island, you will find many exotic varieties of colorful fishes. All these make swimming, scuba diving and snorkeling popular activities in this island.

Over years, the coral reefs have depleted due to pilferage by people, too much boat activity and natural calamities like storms. People are cutting off pieces from reefs here, little by little. Environmental activists are trying to bring awareness among the authorities, local people and tourists to check this damage. When you visit Coral Islands, make sure that you are not making the matters worse. Try to remain friendly to the nature. It will be there for future generations only if we allow it.

Other water activities in this island are banana boat and parasailing. There are short-term classes offered for scuba diving at the Coral Island Resort. They even provide appropriate gear and guide joint diving expeditions for family and couples. For a day’s trip, there are enough restaurants ranging from luxury to budget. For hiking enthusiasts, there are jungle trails extending from Banana Beach to Long Beach. Bikers also use this trail.

Koh Lone

Koh Lone or Koh Lohn or simply Lone Island is a quiet isolated island suitable for a lazy holiday away from crowds. This island is populated mostly by fishermen. There are no proper roads or means of transport on many parts of the island. The only mode of transport here is boat, which takes you from island to island. There are a few resorts here, but no entertainment facilities or nightlife. It is quite different from the well-developed tourism infrastructure of Phuket beaches like Patong and Kata. If you want to spend the entire day lying on the beach sand, this is the right place for you. There are a few smaller islands surrounding Lone Island. The water between these islands is comparatively safe for diving. Koh Lone lets the visitor enjoy the tranquility, without any interruption. Many nature lovers come here to live through this wonderful experience. Koh Lone is an excellent specimen of a virgin tropical island.

Koh Naka Yai

Koh Naka Yai was a small fishing village, until a few years ago. A few developers are building this island into an eco-friendly tourist location. Koh Naka Yai is now the hub of eco-tourism, with activities like cycling, hiking, sailing and fishing. The place has winding tracks through the lush green forests for hiking and cycling. The forest is abundant in wildlife, which attracts many visitors. Cultural festivals are organized here for the benefit of tourists. The island has a luxury resort, Koh Naka Resort that offers all facilities to visitors. The best attraction of the island is its vast stretches of unspoiled beaches. This place is ideal for those who want to spend their vacation idling on the beach and enjoy the exotic views across the sea.

Koh Naka Noi

Koh Naka Noi is the smaller twin of the Naka islands. Like the other Naka Island, this is also being developed into an eco-friendly tourist destination. The island offers enough opportunities for visitors to explore its jungles with abundant wildlife and the surrounding sea with its rich and colorful marine life. Koh Naka Noi has vast virgin beaches ideal for swimming and sunbathing. One major tourist attraction of the island is its pearl farm. Tours are conducted for the visitors, explaining how pearls are cultured, harvested and extracted. There is a pearl shop here for the benefit of the tourists.

Koh Racha

Koh Racha consists of two islands, Koh Racha Yai and Koh Racha Noi. Koh Racha Noi is a tiny island with rocky beaches and scattered tide pools. It is difficult to access and hence not much frequented by tourists. Adventurous divers and odd tourists visit this island at times. In comparison, Koh Racha Yai is much larger and has two long beaches. It has a few luxury resorts, the most famous being The Racha. It is frequented by the rich and famous from all over the world. The island has budget accommodations as well. There are a few restaurants and bars here for the visitors. One of the two beaches is shallow and is suitable for swimming and other activities except boating. The other beach has depth, which makes it ideal for boating. The beautiful beaches of Koh Racha Yai are attracting tourists, though the island doesn’t have any transport facilities. The only way to get around is by walking.

Rang Yai Island

The entire island belongs to a private company. The resort here has a few bungalows spread around the island, with a golf course and few other activities. The island is very small and can be covered on foot in half an hour. There is a pearl farm with an outlet selling pearls, which is a major tourist attraction. Other activities here are hiking, cycling and swimming. Cycles are available for hire here. Snorkeling is not popular, as the water is muddy and not clear around the island. The beach is beautiful with excellent views. Visitors come here to laze around the beach. To visit the island, you need to contact the resort for permission. Their web site is www.rangyaiisland-phuket.com. The resort organizes wedding functions as well.

Koh Mai Thon

This is home to the ultra luxury Maiton Island Resort, where you will be pampered silly with every luxury imaginable. If you have money to throw away and enjoy the attention, this is the right place for you. You can visit the island for a day trip as well. Mai Thon is a small but beautiful island offering a variety of activities for visitors. As the island gets very few visitors, you can have the island practically to yourself during your visit. The sea surrounding the island is teeming with coral reefs and colorful tropical fishes. This is a favorite spot with tourists for diving and snorkeling. Fishing and lounging are the activities for those who want to be as lazy as possible. Mai Thon is excellent for swimming as the water here is crystal clear and quite safe for a family outing.

Koh Bon

Koh Bon is a beautiful tiny island, excellent for diving, snorkeling and swimming. Coral reefs are plentiful around here. Swimming with manta rays is a popular activity here. Manta Rays are seen close to the land during the summer months of April and May. Koh Bon Pinnacle located on the western coast of the island is challenging for experienced divers. Beginners should stay from here, as this lies exposed to deep sea. Night diving is possible here near a small cove. There is a huge coral wall on the southern side of the island, which was surprisingly left unaffected by Tsunami. You can watch many varieties of sharks and moray eels at close range. However, Evason Phuket Resort and Spa own the major portion of the island with all the facilities and the only accommodation. The facilities are reserved only for resort guests. You can visit the island as a guest of the resort. They offer only one type of accommodation – the Honeymoon Suite. If you do not want to spend this much, but still want to do diving and other activities, you can reach the island in a boat from Phuket Island and enjoy the activities here. However, you have to use the boat for resting and can use only those portions of the island that have unrestricted access.

Koh Maphrao (Coconut Island)

Coconut Island is the least developed islands around here. There is no electricity here, which makes it impossible for guests to stay. The local people staying in the island use solar panel to generate electricity. You can visit the island for day trips. Longtail boats are used to transport visitors to and from the island. You go back a few decades when you arrive there. This is exactly the attraction of the place. The few tourists who come here do so to experience its perfectly unspoiled atmosphere and beauty. However, majority of tourists to Phuket doesn’t attempt to reach the place because of their ignorance about the place. There are no restaurants, shops, or facilities for any sort of activities. If you want to stay overnight here, you can hire a room with basic facilities. The island has few small beaches, which is used by the fishermen inhabiting the place. With the Coconut Island not taken over by any major developers, this is the right time to enjoy its serene beauty and quiet atmosphere. If you are told that Patong Beach looked like this thirty years back, would you believe it? Believe it or not – it is true.

Koh Tapao Yai

Koh Tapao Yai is the bigger of the twin islands. It has longer beaches and facilities for diving and snorkeling. There are a few medium range hotels and resorts here. Many tourists come here on the way to Koh Tapao Noi, which is home to rare hornbill birds. Earlier, irresponsible tourists vastly damaged the beaches and the coral reefs surrounding the island. Now, with the awareness increasing about conserving the ecosystem and environment, tourists are behaving in a mature way in most of the places. Efforts are afoot to develop the island into an epicenter of eco-tourism with more resorts and better facilities. Until then, tourists can enjoy the unspoiled beauty of the island.

Koh Tapao Noi

Tourists did not know the existence of this island for many decades. This may change soon with the Royal Thai Navy planning to develop the island into an eco-tourism destination. The island is known for the rare hornbill birds. You can go hiking along the jungle tracks to sight these wonderful birds. Surprisingly, this bird is not seen much in other island around here. They have even adapted well to the miniscule population inhabiting the island. However, if the tourism infrastructure is developed and more tourists start arriving, the ecosystem may get damaged, which may endanger the birds. At present, the tourists coming to the island feed the birds banana and rice, which is not their food. Authorities seem not to be bothered about all that is happening now or what may happen in future.
There is an old lighthouse built in 1890 when King Rama V ruled the region. It was built to warn ships from coming too close to island. The lighthouse is still operational and those in-charge are planning to develop trails around the jungle to help tourist to watch the exotic hornbills and other wild animals.