Rawai Beach Guide

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.

Alphabetical List of all the Hotels in Rawai

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 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 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.

Rawai Beach Nightlife

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.

Rawai Beach Restaurants, Food & Dining

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.

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.

To Nai Harn Beach

To Phuket Town

All Phuket Beaches:

Patong Beach · Karon Beach · Kata Beach · Kata Noi · Kamala Bay · Laem Singh · Surin · Pansea · Banana Rock Beach · Bang Tao · Nai Thon · Nai Yang · Mai Khao · Paradise Beach · Emerald Beach · Laem Ka Beach · Ao Sane Beach · Ya Nui Harn · Nai Harn · Rawai · Chalong Bay · Panwa Beach · Cape Panwa · Beyond Phuket

More Beaches in Asia :

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