Kata Beach
Club Med occupy most of the central seafront, only separated from the beach by a narrow public road.
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| Kata Beach. Photo: Kjell Engvoldsen |
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KATA BEACH
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Kata is a broad and curving beach with soft white sand, an evergreen small island out in the bay named Poo and lush green hills in the background.
The 1,4 km long beach is located in a protected bay with calm crystal clear water and is more child friendly than Karon and Kata Noi where the water get deep fast. But the northern end of the beach can at times have smelly water with low visibility.
As one of the finest and most popular beaches in Phuket, sunbeds fills up quickly and are limited to two rows. So it is best to come early if you want a sunbed in the most popular areas of the beach.
There are plenty of water activities along the beach like Hobie Cats, windsurfing, jet skies, parasailing, banana boats and so on.
The annual Phuket Surfing Contest is taking place on this beach in September when the waves are large.
In raining season or low season (May-Oct) the sea are often rough on the west coast, and great care should be taken. If the red flag is up, swimming should not take place!
One of the best shallow coral reefs on Phuket Island is to be found north of Club Med, around 150 meters off the beach stretching toward the small Poo island.
Visibility at the reef vary from 1 meter on a bad day to 15 meters on perfect days. If you are lucky you can spot a sea turtle swimming along the reef, definitely a highlight of any day.
Avoid standing on rocks when snorkeling since it's easy to overlook a perfect camouflaged poison stonefish that can be found at Kata Reef.
For children the best place to see fish in shallow water is at the most southern end of the beach, along the rocks. Unlike at Kata Reef, it is not necessary to swim far to see tropical fish in all sizes and colors.
Kata Mama Seafood located at the southern end serve very good Thai food at low prices.
17 March 2007