Have experienced surfers on hearing California, Hawaii, Bali, Australia, Vietnam. Among fans of conquering the water element, the largest island of Thailand Phuket is not in demand. It is believed that the waves here are low, and not steep. Is it so? It turns out that you can catch a good surf in Phuket.
About surfing in Thailand learned relatively recently, ten years ago. And almost immediately on one of the beaches of Phuket, they began to organize international competitions in this sport. Like mushrooms after rain, surfboards appeared on the western tip of the island, board rental points, training grounds with an artificial wave. And fans of this water sport reached out to Thailand. In this article we will reveal all the intricacies of surfing in Phuket: when to go, which beach to prefer, where to go to school on the art of conquering the waves. We supplemented our story with reviews of athletes, both aces and beginners.
Phuket surf season
The island is located in the Andaman Sea, not far from mainland Thailand. The specifics of the location of Phuket is such that the stable trade winds, which in the famous surf spots of the world heave huge waves, do not produce this on the Thai island. You need to “catch” a good surf here. When does high-wave lovers come to the island? Surfing in Phuket in January is simply not possible. In the high season, the Andaman Sea is a quiet expanse, which the seals really like.
But you can use the calm time for training on an artificial wave. A season suitable for surfing begins in May and ends in October. Then the Andaman Sea is transformed. The southwest monsoon drives serious shores to the shore. You can surf in Phuket in December (especially at the beginning of the month), November and April. Thus, the best time to practice this sport coincides with the rainy season. But this does not mean that you will have to swim in the rain, amid the brilliance of lightning. Sustained storms can last for weeks, while it rains mostly at night and in the evening.
Paradise for beginners
Phuket is considered the capital of Thai surfing. Unlike other coasts, on the island during the rainy season the ramparts reach significant heights. Maybe three meters will not be enough for an ace, but for a beginner, this is just right. The advantage of surfing in Phuket is that the wavelength reaches one hundred meters, and its bend allows you to slide on it for a long time. A fall off the coast is not a disaster. Firstly, the shafts go at a distance from each other and you will not be covered by the next wave. And secondly, the bottom here is sandy, soft, without corals.
A nice bonus for beginners is also the fact that Phuket has a solid training base. And it's not just Thai Thai-speaking trainers. You can master the art of board control in special tidal wave pools. Four days of training for two hours - and you can already go to sea. It is warm in any season. So to buy a bathing suit in the Andaman Sea is useless. On the contrary, it is better to ride a board along the waves in shorts, a T-shirt and a cap with a visor so as not to get sunburned under the equatorial sun.
Schools
Anyone who can ski can learn the basics of surfing on their own. You just need to do it near the shore, where the wave is not high, copying the movements of professionals. The best place for self-study is the beaches of "Kata", "Kamala" and "Kalim". There the waves are long, offshore 1.5-2 m in height, the shafts go in regular, predictable rows. But it’s better to take at least a few lessons from an experienced instructor.
The best surf school in Phuket is called Serf House. It is located on Kata Beach. Education in it is more expensive than in other places of the island (about two thousand rubles against 1600), but here you can study in any weather, even if the sea is completely calm. Indeed, in the "Surf House" the right wave creates a generator. The school has a rule: on Fridays from 9 to 11 for women, classes are free. To instruct in surfing instructors are taken children from six years old. But provided that during classes parents will be nearby.
Surf equipment
It is best for beginners to rent a board first, and then, having decided which one is more suitable for weight and height, acquire their own. Equipment rental is available on all beaches where surfing is practiced. In December, in Phuket, you can only rent a board in Kata, as there is a year-round school there.
In other seasons, surfing equipment is available at water equipment rental centers, the so-called Beach Clubs. It’s worth renting a board 300 rubles per hour. If you take it for a longer time, the price decreases. A brand new board can be purchased at the Cobra specialty store in Chalong and, of course, on Kata Beach.
Surf competition
If you consider yourself an ace in the art of riding the waves, you can take part in one of the three annual international tournaments in Phuket. Kata Beach has been practicing surfing for more than ten years. Therefore, there is nothing surprising in the fact that it was there that they began to hold international competitions for the first time. In late August and until mid-September, craftsmen from all over the world come to Kata. The winner of the contest receives a check for one hundred thousand baht (more than 200,000 rubles)!
Late for Kata Beach Tournament? Do not be discouraged: from mid-September, surfing competitions begin on Kalim Beach. And those who arrived in Phuket at the very beginning of the low (of course, not for athletes, but for beach goers) season can compete in the ability to control a board on Kamala Beach. Here, the annual surfing competition is held for the sixth year in June. You won’t get a significant amount for the victory, but the tournament is accompanied by vivid, memorable shows and holiday processions.
What a suitable beach should be
Phuket is a very large island. But since the big waves there are not provided by the trade winds, but by the summer monsoons, only the south-west coast is suitable for athletes. But here, not all beaches are good for surfing. In Phuket, there are coasts open to the sea, for example, Karon, where the storm can go in earnest, and closed by small islands and rocks. There are beaches where the bottom goes down steeply. And therefore, the waves break, and do not run smoothly to the shore.
To understand the conditions that a good surf beach should have, let’s explain two more professional terms. A “break” is a grassroots obstacle that a wave bumps into. It can be a coral reef, sandbank, some kind of artificial barrier. Another term is Swell. It comes from the English verb to swell, which means "swell." Swell in the jargon of surfers is a series of long and high, regular waveforms that are generated from long-range stable winds (and not from its individual gusts).
Overview of Phuket Beaches
Surfing is possible on the entire southwest coast. But not everywhere he will bring so many positive emotions, as on Kata Beach. From May to October, here regularly and for a week to ten days, you can find a good swell from two meters high. Kata is a fairly long beach several kilometers long. Look for the best skiing on its south end, opposite the Kata Beach Resort. There is a coastal break, and the waves do not break for a very long time.
One of the distinctive features of Kata Beach is its excellent leisure and service infrastructure for surfers. The school mentioned above is considered the best in Phuket. Add to this the surf clubs, where club card holders can enjoy a free cocktail and chat, exchange experiences, equipment rental points and instructor services. On "Kate" there are also activities not associated with water sports: a beach volleyball court, cafes, showers, toilets, etc.
Patong beach
Surfing in Thailand, in Phuket is mainly done by young people, most often guys. They are looking for places to stay in budget hotels or guesthouses, and where there is a lot of evening entertainment. And in the abundance of the latter, the town of Patong in Phuket is inferior only to Pattaya. Is it worth it to be torn between evening life and surfing?
Will I have to go to Kata Beach every morning? Not at all. In the northern part of Patong's city beach, Swell, as noted by surfers in reviews, is pretty decent. The waves, however, rarely reach a height of two meters, but they are fast, open to the wind, and break the coast. Patong Beach is good for beginners and those who do not like to take risks. The disadvantage of the beach is its pollution and turbidity of the water.
Surin Beach
Judging by the reviews, this coast is ideal for training beginners. It is even surprising that there is no official surf school in the Surin area. In Phuket, however, this beach even hosts competitions, although not every year. In the center of Surin Beach there is a pile of pitfalls, so you should avoid this place so as not to get injured.
The southern and northern outskirts are quite safe, but the bottom goes steeply, and therefore the waves can rise and break before reaching the shore. Good swell must be caught at high tide. Surfers warn: at the very northern end of the beach there is a sandbank with a left-side fast wave. During storms, shafts can reach two meters in height.
Kalim Beach
According to reviews, surfing in Phuket is ideal on three beaches. These are Kata, Kalim and Kamala. The last two beaches share the second place on ideal swells. Kalim Beach is good for both professionals and beginners. This natural extension of Patong city beach is protected from the open sea by a prominent cape. In addition, the coral reef dampens the waves a bit. But the southwestern monsoon in the rainy season generates here shafts up to two meters high, and up to three in storms.
The advantage of Kalima is the perfectly correct wave. If you move towards the cape, a ride on it can last up to a hundred meters. A fly in the ointment on the Kalim Beach is a coral reef that lies close to the shore and at shallow depths. In the high season for surfers, there are many skiers on the beach.
Kamala Beach
The advantage of this place is the stable sandbanks. There is a coral reef, but it lies farther from the coast. The beach is open, but in the north there is a promontory break that attracts experienced surfers. This natural factor probably led to the fact that for the sixth year in a row there have been competitions in board skating in Kamala Beach. But less experienced surfers will find a suitable wave on this beach.
A characteristic feature of "Kamala" - steady swells, which increase closer to the coast. It is easy to manage the board here, because the shafts are even, going one after another at a distance. A plus of Kamala Beach, as well as Kalima, is a developed infrastructure for surfers. There is a rental of equipment, you can find instructors.
Overview of other Phuket beaches
The part of Kata Beach, called Kata Noi, is good for surfing, but only in the north, where the cape is. However, the waves here are quite fast. The same can be said of Laem Singh Beach. Here you need to catch swells during high tides. On Mao High Beach, the bottom is dropping steeply. Because of this, a coastal break occurs. But with a northwest wind, surfing can be nice.
The best beach in southern Phuket is Nai Harn Beach. Here, the Andaman Sea merges with the open Indian Ocean. This beach has nice swells that can be too fast.
Whatever beach you come to on the southwestern coast of the island in low season, you will enjoy exciting skiing!