Kata and Karon Beach, Phuket

Karon Beach Phuket has a very long and wide sandy beach. The resort area is a lot quieter than Patong which is located to the north of Karon Beach. Hotels and resorts are located acrosss the beach road from the beach at Karon except for the Karon Beach Resort. There are now a large number of restaurants in Karon as well as shopping both at the north end near Karon Circle, at the south part and also some shops along the main beach road at Karon.

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Kata village is split into two areas: Kata centre and Kata south.
Kata centre is a cozy area with a lot of small restaurants and cheaper guesthouses. This area has no beach, but you can choose to walk 5-10 minutes to reach the "Kata south" or walk 10 minutes to the north to reach Karon beach. Kata centre is a good place for families with small children. Some places in this area are good for children, like f.ex Dinasour Park restaurant. I like to stay in Kata centre when I'm in Phuket, and I have stayed there 5 times.

The beach of Kata is very nice. The sand quality is soft, and there are a lot of water activities along the beach. Some larger resorts are spread besides this area. But you will also find some cheaper guesthouses in the area behind.

Karon beach is located south of Patong. It's a long and wide beach with some large resorts and many small hotels and guesthouses. The central part of Karon houses the biggest hotels.

Karon area is melting together with Kata village at the southern part of the beach. This place has many budget guesthouses, restaurants and bars. I like the south-end of the beach.

Karon beach has unfortunately light incidents of jellyfish with burning fibres. I felt an intense itching on my back when I was swimming there in March 2005.

we stayed at Karon beach and we were so happy we chose there, we found Patong Beach too busy, Karon is better for families, you can easliy go on a scooter of a tuk tuk to Patong beach, there was heaps of shopping here and plenty of bars and restaruants.

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Kata beach is split into two with Kata Yai Beach to the north, and the smaller and more secluded Kata Noi to the south. Kata Yai is a particularly scenic beach, with squeaky soft sand and gentle lapping waves. Kata Yai, like Karon Beach to the north, is a hit with families. A small islet sits off its northern headland and when the waters are calm, able swimmers can make it across for a spot of not unreasonable snorkelling. Kata Noi is a contrast to big sister Kata Yai. This lovely little beach is hidden away over the headland to the south and gets but a fraction of the crowds you'll see elsewhere. This is in part because the beach is dominated by a massive resort owned by the Kata Thani group, but there is also a smattering of budget accommodation just off the beach.

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Karon is the second largest of Phuket's tourist beaches, some 20 kilometres from Phuket Town and is located just south of Patong. Large resort complexes line the road behind the shoreline, but the long, broad 3km long beach itself has no development. The sand is very white, and squeaks audibly when walked upon. The southern point has a fine coral reef stretching toward Kata and Bu Island.

There are three main districts along the beach: the north, centre, and south.

At the northern end, most of the accommodations and restaurants are scattered near the round-about and on the sois running off Patak Rd. Heading south on the beach road are a handful of low-key self-contained resorts. Continuing south you'll see a supermarket that marks the turn-off for Luang Pho Chuan Rd. There's a few mid-range places around here and, at the far end, a cluster of budget guesthouses and dorms. Further south on the beach road, just before Karon fuses with Kata, is a small group of mid and upper range resorts on southern headlands. Most of the entertainment and restaurant options are on Patak and Luang Pho Chuan Rds. There is some nightlife but nowhere near what's on offer in Patong.

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Karon town is quiet with a few resturants and cheap places to stay. Up towards the beach are more resturants and more expensive hotels but these are all quite spread out. The beach is very long, a good few kms and beware it is dangerous to swim here at certain times of year so you either have to take the risk or travel somewhere else.
Although quiet i found this a very central and convenient place to use as a base. Patong is about 7kms away and Kata about 5kms. The local Tuk Tuks are very expensive about 500 TB to Patong so we hired scooters at £2 a day each ( this is based on the exchange rate being 62 TB to the £ ).
Easily accessable from here by scooter is Phuket city, all of the south Phuket, Patong Beach, Kata Beach and a fabulous place to take an elephant ride is called Kok Chang ( near Kata beach on the way to Karen veiwpoint ) where they have a bar with if you are lucky 2 resident monkeys who will sit with you. Elephant rides are 1000 TB for one hour but you can get shorter rides.
There are many fabulous beaches within reach and a good temple called Wat Chalong

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I spent 4 nights at Kata Beach, choosing it in preference to Patong area for a more quiet and less busy beach and scene. I can't say I was dissapointed with this choice, as the beach here is quite nice and there is everything you need here. Kata Beach is more popular with the older crowd, and this is grossly evident on the beach. However if you're a young person in the need for some socializing Patong is just a short tuk tuk ride away. And if you don't want to go far, Kata Beach has some great nightlife as well. Kata has great resteraunts on the beach, scuba diving training facility, a nice beach and great hotels.