Kamala



Kamala (กมลา) is on the west coast of Phuket, just to the north of Patong, and immediately south of Surin Beach. Kamala is one of the quieter areas on Phuket's famed west coast. Although the southern end of the beach can get busy in the high season, the northern end is peaceful all year round.

Understand
"Rim Haad" (Beach Road), at the southern end, has a number of small 20-30 room hotels for the low/mid-budget traveller. Friendly service and village feel and a diversity of restaurants and small bars can be found on this small road. Cheaper food options/market stalls can be found on the main Kamala Rd.

Get in
By taxi, 500-600 baht from the airport.

See
The only two tourist attractions Kamala has to offer (besides the beach) are the FantaSea show and the Buddhist temple at the south end of the beach.

The popular Phuket FantaSea is located in Kamala. Phuket FantaSea is a 140 acre cultural theme park that combines the rich heritage of Thailand with 3D effects and animals. The park has a 4000-seat restaurant offering a buffet of Thai and international cuisine and a shopping street offering local products. The park operates daily except Thursdays and opens at 20:30.

The Kamala wat is located at the south end of the beach and is almost unnoticeable. The temple and its grounds have been restored since the Boxing Day tsunami and resident monks welcome curious foreigners. A memorial tree is placed in the garden with a dedication plaque and the walls of the main temple are a beautifully decorated story of Buddha. Visiting this wat can be an enlightening cultural experience. Pictures and events of the tsunami are displayed on a board for foreigners to see and the monks allow photos of the grounds as long as you're in the company of a local.Kamala Beach - panoramio.jpg

At the middle of the beach, there is a small park with a tsunami monument.

Do
If you are looking to spend most of the time on the beach enjoying the sea, this is a very good place to be. Beach is quite nice and is not too crowded. Sea floor is nice and sandy. In the afternoons the water spectacularly recedes leaving a blanket of rocks at the left end of the beach for local fishing and a beautiful swimming area at the right end of the beach.

On the beach, you won't be able to get around a Thai massage. These are offered at small stalls along the beach, and the rate seems fixed (300 baht/hour). Even if you're not comfortable with a full body massage, don't miss out on a heavenly foot massage. Get one daily and help support the local economy while enjoying a pampering.

If more entertainment is desired you can take a taxi to Patong; however taxis are unreasonably expensive ~500 baht one-way (but less if you bargain). Tuk-tuks to Patong cost around 300 baht. Some of the hotels provide an affordable shuttle to Patong. Catching the local open-sided bus to Phuket Town or further is a cheaper way to get out of Kamala! It is how locals get around. In Kamala the bus runs every hour and passes along the main road. You need only to flag it down and jump through the back. You pay the driver at the end of your journey.

Kamala Dive Center has half-day trips to dive sites around Kamala, like Kamala Rock, a boulder site with plenty of fish, Ko Weo- a small reef island, Tin Lizzy - a wreck of a dredger, and Tai Pau, a shallow sand bottom site. The dives are done by longboat and are often quite enjoyable with fewer divers and more fish as compared to other Phuket diving options.

Buy
Kamala has some small minimarkets, including a 7-Eleven. There are quite a few souvenir shops on the road, along with some tour offices where you can book lots of different tours for diving or beach watching.

Most noticeable are about 20 to 30 tailors (including two just outside the Kamala Bay Garden Resort), which all try to guess your nationality and offer the "best and cheapest suits in Western fashion". Before entering one of them, you should be well aware what you want and what you are willing to pay for it. Upon delivery, you should check all the seams.

Eat
There are quite a few restaurants directly on the beach. Usually they show some fresh fish and seafood on ice, where you can choose exactly what to eat. One of them offers a weekly barbecue, all you can eat. You should make a reservation in time to get a table, but actually, it's not worth it. In the village you also find an abundance of restaurants, also with the seafood in the front on ice. Those which offer fewer Western dishes often have the best Thai dishes.



Drink
There are several bars in Kamala, all touristy. For example, the Welsh Bar and the Aussie Bar are bars that have a certain patriotic atmosphere but are rather quiet in the off season. Bob's Bar is on the main road, towards the south end of the beach.

Sleep
Kamala beach has a lot of small bungalows and huts directly on the beach, at about 1,600 to 2,000 baht per night in the high season. If you don't want to book one of the bigger hotels, you should start with one night booked in advance and then look for accommodation yourself. Don't let some agency at the airport book rooms for you.

Connect
Most Internet providers charge 1 baht/minute, usually with a minimum charge of 10 baht.

Jackie Lee Tours charges 1 baht/minute and no minimum, and all the usual tours and events can also be booked here.

25 baht/hour in Kamala at 78/6 main road, opposite Club Euro. Coffee or tea, 10 baht.

Stay healthy
The only medical service centre is Kamala Clinic on Kamala main road. It operates daily 16:00-20:00.

Go next

 * Laem Sing, the next beach heading north
 * Surin, the next beach with a village, about 1 km beyond Laem Sing