[Phuket, Thailand 2018] 4 Days 3 Nights in Phuket

By Elin Chow - Sunday, August 05, 2018


Photo By: Elin Chow

My husband and I visited Phuket last month again. It was quite an impromptu trip because we did not intend to travel this year. We booked our flight and accommodation only a month before our trip. But luckily, flight and accommodation prices were not too high because it was not a peak travelling season.


The first thing we do when we arrived at Phuket Airport was to get a local SIM card with data. There are three major cell network in Thailand - True Move H, Dtac and AIS. Buy a SIM card in Phuket is simple. Al three cell phone companies have booths located beside each other in the arrival hall, offering tourist-focused package aimed at short term visitors.

We decided to get our SIM card from True Move H as they were having a 3 or 4 days promotion for only 150 Baht. The package includes unlimited 4G internet (capped at 1GB) and 50 Baht call and text credit, which we feel was a pretty good deal.

Ayala Kamala Resort & Spa
Official Website: Ayara Kamala Resort & Spa

For our 4 days 3 nights trip to Phuket, we decided to splurge on a nice hotel room again since we will be spending most of our time in our room. We were visiting Phuket without a plan as the main objective of the trip was to get away from the busy city life and relax.

For our trip to the island last year, we stayed at Cape Sienna Hotel & Villas, a 5-star hotel located at the beginning of Millionaire Mile, along Kamala Bay. I must say that we had a truly enjoyable stay at Cape Sienna, and would gladly love to stay at this hotel again. We love the peace and tranquility that Kamala offers because it is so much less crowded and touristy than Patong.

But as much as we love Cape Sienna, we decided to stay in a different hotel in Kamala this time for a different experience. After reading of reviews online, we finally booked a 4 days 3 nights honeymoon package in a Deluxe Ocean View room with Ayara Kamala Resort & Spa.

Ayara was having great promotion on all their rooms during our stay period, so we feel it was a good chance for us to try this resort out.


Our room package includes a private round trip transfer from the airport to resort to airport. We have already made arrangement for an airport pickup with the resort prior our trip. Upon arrival, we greeted by a driver from Ayara who drove us to the resort.


Check in was fast and efficient and we have our deluxe sea view room upgraded to the Grand Thai Ocean View & Spa Bath Room as included in our room package. We were transported to our room by a buggy car. It was a quite bumpy and uncomfortable ride due to the uneven and steep granite stone road.


We were awed by the size of of the room. The Grand Thai Ocean View & Spa Bath Room is delightfully spacious, featuring separate sleeping and living area, a generously sized bathroom that is almost the same size as the bedroom and a small balcony that overlooks the sea. The sea view was actually not very impressive because it was partially blocked by trees. To be honest, I prefer Cape Sienna to Ayara because of its better location, service and view that it offers.

Kamala Beach

Ayara is in a very inconvenient location, so we have to rely very much on the resort's free shuttle to get to the beach. Kamala beach is located about 15 minutes drive away from the resort.


Kamala beach is a quiet town with the streets lined with restaurants and shops selling everything from beachwear, sunglasses and typical tourist accessories. The atmosphere is pretty laid-back and not overrun with tourists and motor vehicles. Unlike Patong, there are not much partying, drinking or dancing. Of course, there are still quite a few bars in Kamala where you can enjoy a drink or two, but without the chaotic vibe.

Kamala beach itself is quite enclosed and is surrounded by a beautiful fishing village and forested hills in the backdrop. Measuring about 2 m long, the lovely beach boast golden soft sand and clear blue water, making it one of the most beautiful places in Phuket.

Lining along the footpath of the beach, you will find a number of cheap guesthouses and mid-range resorts that will suit all budgets. But recently, several upscale hotels have been developed to take advantage of the increased tourist traffic. I believe Kamala will not remain quiet and peaceful for long.


Compared to other beaches in Phuket, there are not much water activities here and there are no public toilet on the beach, which can be a little inconvenient if you are not staying at one of the beachfront hotels. But it is certainly not a bad thing too. This means that you will get the crowds and noise that you would at Patong beach.

The sea water is very calm and gentle at Kamala beach, making it perfect for swimming all year round. But snorkeling spots are pretty limited. All along the beach, you will also find plentiful of beach chairs and sun loungers and umbrella available for rent. But if you do not wish to spend a single penny, you can simply find a peaceful spot and lay your towel down on the sand and sunbathe.


Kamala beach is more suitable for people seeking for a relaxed holiday under the sun. It is a great place to unwind without the noise and over development. Swimming, sunbathing and reading are probably the more popular activities here. If you are feeling tired, there are also massage station set up under the palm trees right on the sand offering on the spot massage at an affordable price.


Finding an empty spot on the beach to sit was not difficult since the beach was usually not crowded with people. We spent the rest of the evening sitting on the sand waiting for the sun to set.


Sun set is the gorgeous time of the day. All around us was silent except for the sound of the waves hitting on the shore continuously one after another. As the sun gradually descends into the ocean, the sky burst into hues of orange. It was so beautiful.

D-Sky Bar & Restaurant 
Facebook: D-Sky Bar & Restaurant

There are enough restaurants and bars in Kamala for choice, but definitely not enough to overwhelm if you compared to surrounding towns. Most of the restaurant in Kamala start to get busy after sunset and close fairly early since the towns does not get as many tourists as Patong.


After sun set, we decided to have our dinner at D-Sky Bar & Restaurant because it seemed like a good place to eat.


D-Sky has a large food menu and offers quite a variety of food choices as well as alcohol.  . The restaurant serves breakfast. lunch and dinner with both Thai and Western food options available.

Asparagus
Stir-Fry Beef
Thai Steamed Squid
Seafood Glass Noodles Soup
The taste of food was average but prices were fairly reasonable. The ambience was also lovely and service was great. It is a great place to meet, chat and dine together and have a drink together.

After dinner, we headed over to the nearest 7 eleven to get some snacks and drink before we boarded the shuttle bus back to the resort. Back in our room, I took a deep soak in the jacuzzi tub and feel refreshed. The rest of the night chilling in our bed before we turn in for the night.

Siladon Spa

A spa visit is a must when you visit Phuket. For us, Siladon Spa is always our choice because of they always have this"buy 1 get 1 free" promotion on all spa package, which is a great deal. Furthermore, we always have a great experience here. The therapists were very skilled and always made us feel so comfortable during the treatment.

I usually book their 4 hours spa package but I only booked a 2 hours Siladon Refresh Couple spa package this time because my husband feels that 4 hours is a bit too long. The Siladon Refresh package costs 4,200 Baht for 2 persons, which includes body scrub and aroma oil massage. The promotion is valid for direct booking only. Anyone who are interested can book your desired spa package either via its website or email.

The other thing I really like about Siladon Spa is that they provide complimentary one-way pick up from any hotel to the spa for all guests who have booked any spa treatment from them because transportation is very expensive in Phuket. The complimentary one-way pick up enable us to save some money on transportation cost.

Siladon Spa is nestled high up in the hills of Patong bay. It takes about 30 minutes drive to get from Kamala to Patong. The driver pickup arranged by Siladon Spa is always very punctual and friendly.

We were greeted warmly with smiles upon arrival, and asked to take a seat at the reception to confirm our booking and choose from the aroma oil that we prefer. Once everything is confirmed, complimentary tea and wet towels were served while the therapists prepare the room for our treatment.


Once we finished our tea, the therapists ushered us into one of the treatment room where we were asked to change into the disposable underwear and bathrobes provided. The treatment starts with a warm foot scrub, followed by a full body scrub. Then we asked to take a shower and change into a new set underwear before continuing with the massage.

Mango rice and tea were served right after our treatment. This is seriously the most delicious mango sticky rice we have ever eaten. We love it so much!

If you want, they can also help you to arrange a return journey, or to anywhere else for an additional fee. So we requested the reception lady to help us arrange a taxi to Banzaan Fresh Market. The driver was already waiting for us when we finished our treatment. It costs 250 Baht to get to Banzaan Fresh Market. Quite expensive for a 15 minutes journey.

Banzaan Fresh Market

Banzaan Fresh Market is situated in the heart of Patong, just opposite the road from Bangla Boxing Stadium and Jungceylon shopping mall. It is a must visit place for us every time we visit Phuket, even though it is a big tourist trap. We came here for a good seafood lunch because it is the nearest place from Kamala where we enjoy fresh and live seafood in Phuket.


We randomly approached a stall and took our pick. It was hard to choose what to eat because there are just too many choices. In the end, we were offered 2,500 Baht for 4 large sized mantis prawns, 6 scallops and a few tiger prawns. Wow! That  was ridiculously overpriced! "1,300 Baht", we offered. The vendor did not say anything but went on to add in some clams (Lala) and asked for 1,500 Baht.  We agreed  because we feel the price was fairly reasonable even though it was still a little overpriced. 

We took the escalator up to the second floor where you will find rows of rows of stalls offering cooking services. "Hello, Miss. We cook seafood," all the vendors started to call us out the moment we walked in with a large bag of raw seafood.


So we randomly walked to one of the stalls and passed the vendor the bag of seafood. The vendor quoted us 750 Baht to cook our seafood. That was too expensive! We did not try to haggle the price last time because we did not know that the price was negotiable. "550 Baht", we offered and surprisingly, the vendor accepted our offer. 

Tiger Prawns

Mantis Prawns

Lala

Scallops







In total, we spent 2,050 Baht for this meal. The seafood were very fresh and well-cooked. I really
love how the Thai prepare and cook the food. In fact, I noticed that every stall cook the seafood in the same way, so the biggest difference may be the price only.

After a satisfying lunch, we decided to head back to Kamala Beach since it was still quite early. So we walked to Jungceylon mall to look for a taxi. We were quoted 500 Baht to get from Jungceylon mall to Kamala beach. It was ridiculously expensive but we were told that all taxi rides to Kamala are fixed at 500 Baht. So there are basically no room for negotiation.

We already knew that from our trip to the island last year that taxis in Phuket are notorious for ripping people off. It is either that you accept it or leave it. We have no choice but to accept the inflated price.

It was around 5.30 pm when we arrived at Kamala Beach. The beach was not crowded and it was easy for us to find an empty spot to sit and wait for the sun to set.


After sunset, we headed over to the 7-eleven and bought some instant noodles and snacks for dinner before boarding the free shuttle bus back to the resort. Yes, we had instant noodles for dinner that night because we were still feeling full after a heavy lunch.

Our Last Day

We did not have any plan for this particular day. Or we just did not want to do anything. So we decided to go for the complimentary 90 minutes massage as included in our room package. We have a massage appointment with Ratana Spa at 12 pm. Upon arrival, we were warmly greeted by the staffs with tea served immediately after.


We spent the rest of the afternoon lazing around in our room after the massage. It was a hot and humid day and we ended up falling asleep in our cozy bed.

We woke up well-rested and decided to enjoy our complimentary afternoon tea (included in room's package) at The Cradle Restaurant. After finishing the afternoon tea, we walked to the lobby and waited for the shuttle bus to Kamala beach just to catch the sunset and have dinner. The beach was as peaceful as usual and not crowded.

Dinner at Salt & Pepper Steakhouse

We walked around and eventually decided to have western food for dinner. While strolling along the beach, we came upon a steakhouse called "Salt & Pepper" and decided to try it out.

Salt & Pepper Steakhouse is a beach front restaurant that serves a variety of food, from international and swedish specialities, pizza to local Thai dishes and Australian steaks. Other than that, they offers starters, desserts and cocktails as well.


The restaurant was empty when we arrived, so we get to choose wherever we would like to sit. Atmosphere was really good but there were a lot of mosquitos. It was not the restaurant's fault, so do remember to apply lots of insect repellent.




Both of us ordered steaks. Prices were reasonable, though not cheap, and food was excellent. The steaks were nicely cooked but service was pretty slow. We have to call out to the waiters for a few times to ask for the bill before they finally brought it to us, which caused us to miss the free shuttle back to the resort. I believe that we waited 20 minutes just for the bill and another 10 minutes for the change. We were frustrated because we have to spend 250 Baht on a Tuk Tuk ride to get back to the resort.


Our last night in Phuket was spent in our room drinking cheap alcohol and eating snacks. We finally get to try the Spy winer cooler that we bought on our last night. It was pretty good, and cheap too.


This was how we ended our 4 days 3 nights trip to Phuket. Overall, it was quite a relaxing but boring trip. I might not visit Phuket so soon again.

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1 comments

  1. True Move H as they were having a 3 or 4 days promotion for only 150 Baht.

    ReplyDelete