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LAST UPDATE: Thursday October 23, 2003

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One of the Longest Beaches - and a Scattering of Hotels:
 

Karon is another of the beautiful, west-coast beaches that have made Phuket famous. This beach is the first one south of Patong, and is separated from Patong by a large headland. A road connects them, and one can drive from Karon to Patong in 15 minutes. South of Karon is Kata. Only a small headland separates these two, and they are often spoken of as one unit, Kata-Karon.

The hotels here have formed a tourism development association, and are attempting to keep all sex industry away from their beaches and to avoid the kind of over-development that has replaced the green of Patong with concrete. They are trying to develop Kata-Karon beaches as a family-oriented resort.

Karon beach is one of the longest of the island’s beaches, about 4 kilometres. Kata is just half of that length. A road runs the entire length of Karon beach, just behind a line of sand dunes. All hotels are set back from the road, but in every case it is just a brief walk to the sand. There is still a lot of green space separating the hotels here, leaving this beach far from crowded, and there are always stretches of Karon with hardly anyone at all. When down on the sand, one sees virtually none of the hotels or development which are blocked by the dunes.

While Karon is no remote get-away, the sparce number of people in the water, the dunes that cut off the beach and the open space around the hotels help create a relaxed pace here.

There are some beer bars about Karon, some with hostesses, but it is not a bawdy scene on the Patong type. Near the northern end there is a cluster of shops, tailors, open-air beer bars and many restaurants. At the south end of Karon, beyond the Thavorn Palm Beach hotel, there is another strip of beer bars though they are not very obvious.

Dining by the ocean, taking in the sunsets A quiet table within view of the ocean, cool drinks and hot seafood - particularly at sunset - represent some of the best times to be had here on Phuket, and Karon offers many opportunities.
High on our list of view-dining suggestions are the restaurants in resorts on Karon's two headlands, north and south, that give great, uninterrupted views over the ocean and beach. One the Rock, right where the sand of Karon runs out at the south end, is the most famous and certainly worth a visit. At the other end it's the Central Karon Village, with a good restautant and great views. In the middle of the beach the Long Beach Terrace is high enough to look right over the road and sand dunes to the ocean and the setting sun.

One of the Longest Beaches - and a Scattering of Hotels:
Karon is another of the beautiful, west-coast beaches that have made Phuket famous. This beach is the first one south of Patong, and is separated from Patong by a large headland. A road connects them, and one can drive from Karon to Patong in 15 minutes. South of Karon is Kata. Only a small headland separates these two, and they are often spoken of as one unit, Kata-Karon.

The hotels here have formed a tourism development association, and are attempting to keep all sex industry away from their beaches and to avoid the kind of over-development that has replaced the green of Patong with concrete. They are trying to develop Kata-Karon beaches as a family-oriented resort.

Karon beach is one of the longest of the island’s beaches, about 4 kilometres. Kata is just half of that length. A road runs the entire length of Karon beach, just behind a line of sand dunes. All hotels are set back from the road, but in every case it is just a brief walk to the sand. There is still a lot of green space separating the hotels here, leaving this beach far from crowded, and there are always stretches of Karon with hardly anyone at all. When down on the sand, one sees virtually none of the hotels or development which are blocked by the dunes.

While Karon is no remote get-away, the sparce number of people in the water, the dunes that cut off the beach and the open space around the hotels help create a relaxed pace here.

There are some beer bars about Karon, some with hostesses, but it is not a bawdy scene on the Patong type. Near the northern end there is a cluster of shops, tailors, open-air beer bars and many restaurants. At the south end of Karon, beyond the Thavorn Palm Beach hotel, there is another strip of beer bars though they are not very obvious.

Dining by the ocean, taking in the sunsets A quiet table within view of the ocean, cool drinks and hot seafood - particularly at sunset - represent some of the best times to be had here on Phuket, and Karon offers many opportunities.
High on our list of view-dining suggestions are the restaurants in resorts on Karon's two headlands, north and south, that give great, uninterrupted views over the ocean and beach. One the Rock, right where the sand of Karon runs out at the south end, is the most famous and certainly worth a visit. At the other end it's the Central Karon Village, with a good restautant and great views. In the middle of the beach the Long Beach Terrace is high enough to look right over the road and sand dunes to the ocean and the setting sun.

For accommodation information on - and more photos of - Karon and its hotels go to KataKaron.com