By The Beautiful Andaman Sea – Phuket Island Today
Sunny Phuket island has an abundance of exceptional white sandy beaches. The winding coastal road along the western shore of the 540 square kilometer island offer stunning view and some of the world’s finest beaches.
Today, more than a month has past sine the infamous tsunami struck. The beaches have all been cleaned of debris and have returned to their pristine, glistening, natural condition. The water is sparkling clean. The sun is shining brilliantly. On every one of the beaches sun lounging chairs under colorful umbrellas and kiosks offering drinks, snacks and massage service have returned. The peninsulas that divide the bays were out of the reach of the harmful rush of water with the damage confined to sea level, beachfront property.

Patong Beach, the most famous beach, especially for its night life, offers a lively dance floor show, a glittering stage show, discotheques and fantastic food. A floating pier bobs gently at the north end of the bay. Long tail boats, cruise boats, day trippers and yachts dot the bay with a few jet skies dashing about. The beach promenade is intact. The famous bargains are on offer from sidewalk vendors along the road opposite. The atmosphere is cheerful and all along the long stretch of the beachfront, broad banners proudly proclaim victory over nature, welcoming all visitors to their reopened businesses. And for the rest of Patong, which is very large, it’s business as usual. On the north headland of Patong, the famous restaurants and private oceanfront villas are intact. The resorts that sweep up the slopes opposite the water are fine and operating as normal.

Kamala Bay Beach is cleaned and there are sun-beds and umbrellas. However the bay is very shallow, with 300 meters of exposed coral showing in the low tide. The area is the pocket of native culture as opposed to the international flavor of the other beaches.

To the north, Surin Beach is absolutely serene. The deeper bay and the slope of the shoreline along Surin and Bang-Tao beach, resulted in the swell only reaching to the sea wall of Surin and to the edges of the extensive lagoon dotted, resort and residential estates of Bang-Tao. The hotels, golf courses and other holiday facilities in the entire area are operating normally.

In northern 10 kilometers of beaches, from Nai Yang Beach up to Sirinath National Park, the protected marine and coastal area, you can rent a beach chair and enjoy barbeque seafood in the shade.

To the south, Karon Beach seafront accommodation is set back from the road and remained out of reach. The smaller roads that bisect the district leading back to the main road, and the main road as well as the headlands on each end are opened. The newly built amphitheatre and park that encircles the lagoon at the north end looks pristine. The long beach is very beautiful.

Kata Beach has only a few seafront properties, which are set back from the shoreline. There are resorts and restaurants directly on the beach at the south. The shops and restaurants behind these are sheltered and operating normally. The bay is abuzz with activities with divers exploring the shore reefs, the odd jet-ski zipping about, inflatable yacht tenders ferrying sailors to the shore, and visitors enjoying the wonderful sea.

Naiharn Beach and Rawai Beach in the very south are largely residential areas. The beachside restaurants at Naiharn are set upon high ground with slope down to the sea. Naiharn bay is pretty as a picture, with a number of yachts resting on the calm sea. In Rawai restaurants are located across the street from the waterfront in rustic open air restaurants and offer mats and service on the sand as well. Speed boats and longtail boats await guests for trips to nearby islands and fishing excursions.

With the exception of Kamala Bay and the beachfront of Patong, businesses in Phuket have not suffered very much from the natural disaster.
Enticing promotional discounts are on offer everywhere and visitors are slowly returning to enjoy their holidays by the beautiful Andaman Sea.

The Gentle Andaman Sea
The Andaman Sea is and astonishing underwater environment. The underwater visibility often exceeds 30 meters and can extend to 45 meters. It’s warm, with an average temperature of 28 degrees. There is an abundance of colorful marine life with shoals of snappers and angelfish, multicolored parrot fish, beautiful patterned butterfly fish, and soaring stingrays swimming amid magnificent coral gardens and fabulous rock formations. No wonder Thailand’s Kingdom under the sea rates among the top ten dive destinations of the world.

It would be naïve to think that the recent tsunami would leave no trace. It is estimated that as much as 2 % of the shallow coral fringe reefs receive some damage and some rubble was pushed along the sea bottom to rest at the base of rocky outcrops. In some places delicate sea fans and soft corals were swept away. Much of the marine sites that were bruised and scraped will recover in time. The remaining 98 % of the undamaged reefs hold their place among the world most pristine and beautiful underwater environments of the world.

Come and take look yourself. There are luxury live-aboard cruises and boats with a reputation for combining adventure with fun. For the novice, there are numerous reputable instructors from international organizations to teach you in every major language spoken. For those who are more
comfortable on the surface, there are guided snorkeling tours.

The Mergui Archepelego in Myanmar,with plankton rich waters offers the chance to dive with nurse sharks, silver tips and huge whale sharks. The sea mouth Richelieu Rock near to Surin island, and the island of Koh Bon and Koh Ta Chai, 90 kilometers north of Similan Islands, are playground for exotic whales sharks and manta rays. The nine Similan Islands, declared a Marine National Park in 1982, offer the ultimate swim-throughs, wall and drift dives. Phuket’s west coast is a delight for a casual day off the land. You can just walk in form your nearby hotel and shed the weight of the world off your back.

Day excursions from Phuket for diving, fishing, canoeing and sailing include on-board dining as part of the package. The picturesque Phi Phi Islands, 2 hours due east from Phuket display colorful walls of soft coral and along the way you can drop into the popular Shark Point, a submerged pinnacle dotted with sea anemones and home to lazy leopard sharks or the King Cruiser Wreck, an 85 meters catamaran that is now a teeming nursery for sea life. Racha Island, 90 minutes south of Phuket is calm and clear year round and for the sports fisherman there is an abundance of gamefish such as sailfish and barracuda. To the south 90 kilometers from Phuket are Hin Daeng and Hin Muang, red and purple sea mounts with incredible drop-offs and majestic hard and soft coral gardens. Scheduled trips to all of these locations continued with uninterrupted. Some last minute booking promotions are available.

Sea canoes and kayaks, sailing charters, wind-surfers, sunset dinner cruises on float serenely on the gentle sea, the beautiful Andaman Sea waiting for you.