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Rawai holds the distinction of being the very first tourist beach
on Phuket. Years ago, people from Phuket Town would drive the 17km
to Rawai on weekends to while away the afternoon underneath the beach's
causarina trees rather than risk the (then) dangerous drive over the
hill to Phuket's west coast.
Nowadays Rawai is a 'working beach' and a launching point for day
boat excursions out to Phuket's surrounding islands. Many longtail
boats available for hire line its shores, where you can arrange a
trip to Coral Island, Koh
Lone or Racha Island,or a fishing
or snorkel
trip. The beach is also used as a mooring point for the many fishermen
who live in the area.
Rawai is home to the five-star resorts, Evason
and Mangosteen and
quite a few of Phuket's foreign expat population live in the area,
lending a bohemian and laid-back flavour to the way of life there.
Favourite nighttime haunts are Friendship Beach, towards Chalong,
and Rawai's beachfront bars.
Up the hill going westward out of the village lies Cape Phromthep,
one of Phuket's most famous viewpoints.
Here's the full list of hotels in Rawai and surrounding areas.
If you need some help deciding on an area or need to know where
to start you could try our e-concierge guide to
Rawai hotels. Alternatively you can find hotels
by price, hotels by location
or hotels on a map. See also
our Last Minute
Hotels in the Rawai area.
The Beach (our guide
for all you beach lovers)
Casuarina-lined Rawai Beach has its charms but is not as high up
on tourists' must-do lists as Phuket's fabulous west coast beaches.
Now not a beach for sunbathing and swimming, it wasn't always like
that; before the road over Patong Hill was built Rawai was the beach
of choice for family Sunday outings from Phuket Town and the tradition
of sitting under the trees, casually eating and drinking has remained,
making Sundays busy here.
More laid back than west coast beaches, Rawai is home to many foreign
expats and therefore has an intimate feel to its nightlife.
Full of bars of varying types, barhopping is a popular activity. See inside for the full details.
As Rawai has many more repeat customers than Phuket's tourist beaches,
the dining-out scene here is a whole different kettle of fish.
A wealth of different restaurants exist in Rawai, many of which
are small friendly places. The variety of food is exceptional, highly
recommended is M&M's Spagatteria on the seafront. See inside for full details.
Shopping in Rawai
Rawai is not a major shopping destination, although Phromtep Cape
has a large range of souvenir shops for batik, shells, T-shirts
and holiday paraphernalia. There are a few 'antique' shops and art galleries and Rawai Shell
Museum certainly is the place to go if you are looking to buy shells
but for bargain copied clothes, DVD's, jewellry and other items
you'll have to look elsewhere. |
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