| Tips for a fun stay in Phuket
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| Aleney de Winter and her
kids, Rafferty and Marlo,
share their tips for a fun
family stay in Phuket. | | |
| With its balmy evening
breezes, inviting turquoise
seas and patches of perfect
shoreline that are suitable
for every member of the
clan, fun-filled Phuket provides a warm and
wonderful tropical escape for families year
round. And, if you can tear yourself away from
those beautiful beaches, there are heaps of
activities and events in and around Phuket to
keep kids – and their parents – entertained.
But don’t just take my word on Phuket with
kids; here Rafferty (9) and Marlo (6) share the
inside story on Phuket by kids and why they
think it is fab for families.
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| Terrific temples
Phuket is home to mosques, churches and
some 40 elaborate Buddhist temples. To avoid
suffering temple fatigue, don’t try to pack in too
many. Wat Chalong is Phuket‘s biggest and
most important temple, said to shelter relics
from the Buddha. Other worthy contenders
are Wat Suwan Khuha with its 15-metre
reclining Buddha, rock formations and a colony
of bats, and Wat Suwan Khiri Khet, home to
Karon Temple Market, an assortment of
chickens and dogs, and naga (serpents) who
wind their colourful way around the temple. | | |
| “At Wat Chalong monks blessed me
and fireworks exploded to ward off
bad spirits. We met a dog who had
eyebrows drawn on him.” - Rafferty
“The temple in Karon Beach [Wat
Suwan Khiri Khet] was really pretty
and there were chickens everywhere
for me to play with.” - Marlo | | |
|  | | Image credit © Aleney de Winter |
| Water Worlds
If youï're beached out but still want to get wet,
Splash Jungle Water Park has loads of wild
water slides, thrill slides, a wave pool plus an
aqua-play kid zone with tipping buckets, slides
and climbing nets. Professional lifeguards are
on standby to ensure a safe and good time.
There's also a lazy river for folks who'd prefer to
kick back. Another top spot to cool off is the
Rawai Water Park, which features five play
areas, a shallow play pool with slides and
fountains and a shaded play zone.
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| "Rawai Water Park was lots of fun
but I like Splash Jungle because I
cuddled with my mummy on the
lazy river." - Marlo
"Splash Jungle Water Park is insane
fun. I kept trying to beat my top
speed on the Tube Slide, which was
about three seconds." - Rafferty | | |
|  | | Image credit © Aleney de Winter |
| Brilliant beaches
There are few destinations on the planet that
offer the abundance of picture-perfect,
easy-to-access beaches that Phuket does. But
they’re not all created equal when it comes to
kids. Along with great swimming, Karon Beach
and Kata Beach both offer an awesome
selection of water sport options, including sea
kayaking, SUPing and kite surfing. Rawai
Beach’s turquoise water and white sand make
it a blissful place for swimming, but as a
working beach the kids will also get to see the
local fishermen tending to their nets and boats.
And a visit to Rawai Beach’s Sea Gypsies Fish
Market for super fresh seafood is a must.
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| “I liked Rawai Beach because the
water was super blue and warm.
Plus there are loads of cool long-tail
boats that you can hire.” - Rafferty
“The beaches were so nice. Some of
them didn’t have a lot of people and
the sunsets were really orange. I
loved doing cartwheels.” - Marlo | | |
|  | | Image credit © Aleney de Winter |
| Day tripping
Take a day trip to explore Phang Nga
Bay’s caves, hidden lagoons and James Bond
Island by speedboat or sea kayak. Head to
Koh Phi Phi and the blue water beauty of Maya
Bay. If the idea of a long boat ride puts you off,
Khai Nok is just off the coast or, from Rawai
Beach, hire a long-tail boat to snorkel the
waters of Coral Island and Racha Island.
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| "Snorkelling at Koh Phi Phi is the
best. The water was so clear that I
could see gazillions of fish all around
me." - Rafferty
"I liked collecting treasures on Koh
Khai Nok and there were so many
fish in the water that kept nibbling
my legs." - Marlo | | |
| Fun festivals
The people of Phuket love a party with many
festivals throughout the year, but the biggest of
them all is Songkran. Running from 13 to 15
April, the New Year festival is the country's
most important (and soggiest) holiday and,
though it comes from gentle Buddhist
beginnings, it has morphed into a nationwide,
take-no-prisoners water fight. But things can
get a little wild for kids on the tourist-packed
beaches, so we suggest opting for safe in-hotel
celebrations or to join the melee in Phuket Old
Town, where an exuberant army of locals - all
armed with neon water pistols and buckets of
iced water - happily soak passers-by.
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“I loved visiting the temple with all
the monks, but the best thing was
throwing ice water on my mum and
hearing her scream.” - Marlo
“I always knew that Songkran was an epic
water fight, and it is so much fun throwing
water all over everyone, but what I didn’t know
until we visited was that it had a deep-rooted
spiritual meaning, which was just as cool.” - Rafferty | | |
|  | | Image credit © Aleney de Winter |
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This article appeared in volume 52 of Holidays with Kids magazine. To subscribe to the latest issue, click here. | | |
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