If you’re in Phuket and want an alternative to Patong Beach or don’t have time to visit Phi Phi islands, Kata Beach is a nice little beach. My friends and I were staying at the Amari Phuket hotel and didn’t make it in time to visit Phi Phi Islands on our first day, so the travel agent at the hotel suggested visiting the nearby Kata Beach. Amari Phuket is located right by Patong Beach, but we wanted something a little more secluded, so we tried Kata Beach. It was a quick 20-minute drive and the beaches were much prettier than the beaches along Patong.

We stopped by a convenient store first and bought some drinks and snacks before we headed to relax on the beach. There were tons of beach chairs with umbrellas and since they were only 300 Baht (~$9 USD) for the day, we decided to rent them. It was a smart choice for us to get those umbrella shades because the sun was brutal on the beach.

The beach was relatively peaceful, except for the locals that walk by and try to sell you everything from sundresses to ice cream to beach mats. I was a bit annoyed at first, but my friends didn’t seem to mind it. They looked at some sun dresses and bought a beautiful beach mat and henna tattoos.

I wasn’t interested in anything until I saw a man carrying a LEMUR!! I absolutely love lemurs and the man saw the look in my eyes and headed towards me. He asked if I wanted to hold it, but I was skeptical at first because I wasn’t sure what he was going to charge me. I asked him if the lemur was his pet because I was also concerned that this might be some sort of animal abuse, but he seemed to be a good man and let me hold the lemur first before taking any photos. I could tell that the lemur really loved his owner because he kept looking at him and held his hands out to him when he was ready to be handed back. He was the cutest thing.

There were also a bunch of activities going on around the beach such as jet skiing and parasailing. We considered doing parasailing, but by the time we decided to do it, the winds picked up, so it was too dangerous and they had to shut down for the day. There were also tents set up where you could get massages, but by the time we decided to do that, we were too late because there was about a 30-minute wait and we had to leave within the hour.

So, if you are pondering what activities to do on the beach, make sure you make your decision quickly or else you’ll miss out. Although we missed out on the activities, we still had a great time swimming and sunbathing on the beach.

If you want to get cocktails or food, there are several restaurants across the street like Surf House Phuket where you can also watch customers try their hand at flowboarding.

I’m usually not the type that likes to hang out at the beach all day, but Kata Beach had a lot more to offer than I had thought, so I really enjoyed my day here.

Camera equipment used: Sony a7S II, Sony Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm f/4, GoPro HERO5 Black