Naithon Beach

Naithon Beach is one of our favourite beaches in Phuket, located in the North West of the island, North of Bang Tao and a bit South of Nai Yang. It's not that easy to get to. The roads around there are narrow and winding, and it's quite a way off the main airport road. For now it stays pretty quiet, though last week we noticed new building work going on. There are just a few hotels, such as the Naithonburi, and not a huge selection of places to eat. For the most part, there is just a single row of buildings along the beach road, and while there are beach chairs along the sand, plenty of the beach is left "au naturel".

(Update 2010 - Naithon is more heavily developed now, but compared to the main beaches (Patong, Karon, Kata) it's still way quieter.



It's not a long beach, you can walk from one end to the other in about 10 minutes. The sand is slightly squeaky. We like this area of Phuket, away from the main tourist beaches. The hills are still green, and the valleys are full of rubber plantations. The roads wind up and down, the views are sometimes stunning...Naithon is a great place to stay if you like it quiet. We stopped there last week for a walk on the beach and a bit of lunch. In the restaurant only 2 tables were occupied, the food was decent (nothing flashy here) and despite being by the road, it was peaceful. There's not much traffic, though most of what we saw was building related, so if more construction starts, Naithon could get noisier. Time to make hay while the sun shines...