Rawai Beach is Phuket’s most southerly beach and least visited on the Island. Tourists seem to prefer the beautiful Nai Harn Beach, which is just five minutes away. Rawai Beach is more popular with the locals, who come to relax and take it easy in particular at the weekends, there are many venders selling original Thai food here which attracts the locals as they come to sit under the palms trees and enjoy the day.
Rawai is easy to find and very easy to get to, from the Chalong circle (roundabout) you head south down the road sign posted, you guessed it Rawai Beach. Just keep on going till you come to the end, you can’t miss it, for if you don’t stop at the pier at the end of the road there will be a big splash. Just joking of course just follow the road round.
It is also a very pleasant ride taking a different over the hills of Kata, past the view point up at the top, carry on down the through the winding road which brings you pass the elephant trek stations and out into Nai Harn, then simply follow the signs for Rawai Beach.
The beach is not as pretty as some of the beaches on Phuket. It is quite stony and when its low tide is quite muddy. There are not many deckchairs here either, as the beach is on the southernmost tip of the island an is home to more fishing boats than tourists; it is one of only a very small number of beaches here that run from west to east, most others run north to south.
It is a wonderful little area, it’s a little cooler here too, as it lies in the shadow of the hills and the palm trees offer a lot of protection from the sun too. Beware though sitting under coconut trees anywhere; falling coconuts can really put a dint in your head if they land on you. I was once hit on the leg as I walked by a coconut tree, much to the amusements of some friends.
You can find many long-tail boats moored up here and they will take you to the many small islands around the south coast -for a small fee of course. Koh Bon Island, Coral Island, Koh Keaw, Racha Yai Island and many others are all accessible form Rawai. There are also some very hard to reach little coves and beaches near Rawai and the long-tail boats are an exceptional way of reaching them.
There is not much in the way of beach activities in Rawai, so no Jet skis, Parasailing or any of that carry on, but there are loads of restaurants and bars. Towards the end of the beach heading west, there will be local fishermen mending their boats and nets in preparation for their next fishing trip. At the other end of the beach there are several seafood restaurants and small seafood market stalls where the local sea gypsies sell their latest catches.
There are quite a few street venders selling barbecue and fried chicken, sticky rice, fish, shellfish, squid of course, som tam, lots of different varieties of fruit, all these little stalls are parked up along the beach road.
On the opposite side of the road to the beach there are loads of little shops, restaurants and bars, serving all manner of food and drinks. There are several dive shops here too. There is even a Sea Shell Shop selling Sea Shells near the Sea Shore. You could spend all day and night here, there are loads to keep you amused, watered and fed.
In fact, it is quite possible to visit several beaches in the area such as Nai Harn and Ya Nui, also the view from the top of the viewpoints of Kata and Promthep Cape are wonderful, especially for watching the setting sun. The roads are reasonably quite here so hiring a motorbike is a great way to get around, just don’t forget your helmet.
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