Day 1:
We arrived at the Phuket International Airport very early in the morning. Before you fully exit the terminal building you see different taxi vendors with price listing. The prices for airport taxis in Phuket are outrageous compared to Bangkok. If you google “Phuket Airport Taxi Mafia” you will know what I mean.
Anyways, after getting various quotes from 900 THB to 700 THB we finally settled on an operator offering the latter. For the first night we were staying at the Doubletree Resort on Surin Beach and the next night was in Le Meridien near Karon Beach. The drive to the Doubletree resort takes about 35 minutes from the airport.
After checking-in and freshening up in the room we decided to head out to the beach. The Surin Beach is located right across the street from the Doubletree Resort and after walking down this path through a field you arrive at this beautiful beach. There are lots of palm trees providing shade and no less than 10 restaurants/Beach club lining the road before the beach. There are even some massage ladies sitting there for a traditional thai massage right on the beach.
The water was very clear and warm for swimming.
After swimming for around 3 hours we finally went back to the hotel for lunch and some rest. In the evening, we walked back to the beach. There was music blaring from the restaurants and the beach clubs.
We headed out close to the water and sat there for a while (the mosquitoes do bug you a lot!!).
Day 2:
After breakfast in the morning we checked out of the hotel and took a cab to the Le Meridien resort near Karon Beach. After checking in and dropping our luggage in the room we headed straight to the beach. The Le Meridien resort has the only private beach on this island. This clean, beautiful beach free of any souvenirs sellers or restaurants. There are no rocks or pebbles on the ground and it was wonderful swimming there.
After spending a couple of hours at the beach, we went back to the room. After shower we explored the hotel property in the evening and then had dinner at the on-property restaurant. Karen ended up having severe food poisoning from the food that night and she just stayed in the room for the remaining part of the Phuket trip.
Day 3:
Next morning while Karen was feeling better but not good enough to go to the beach, I went to the beach and spent a couple of hours in the water.
Pretty soon it was 12 PM and time to head out to the airport. Both me and Karen had a wonderful time here in Phuket (other than the food-poisoning part) and we would definitely be back again.