Karon

Karon covers a large area from Freedom Beach, in the north, to Ao Sane Beach, in the south part of the district. It is about thirteen kilometres in length from top to bottom and about four kilometres wide at its largest part from east to west. All in all the area covers over twenty kilometres of beautiful Phuket coastline. Highways 4028 and 4233 are the major roads through Karon. It is easy to reach Karon Beach and the village by using one of the local buses which travel between here and Patong Beach during daytime. Karon Beach is a lovely white sand beach just over three-kilometres-long on the southwest coast of Phuket and is very popular during high season. This beach enjoys the distinction of being the third biggest (longest) beach in Phuket. The beach is excellent for swimming, and snorkelling is pretty good at the southern end near the rocks. The road alongside the beach is long and excellent for running, walking, pushing a stroller or just sitting around and watching people and birds go by. At the north end of Karon Beach is Nong Harn Lake Park which is the largest and nicest beach-side park on the island. They have excellent paths for jogging, cycling, rollerblading or just walking around. It is ideal for families with kids as there are some playground apparatus such as swings and slides, they’ll surely enjoy. On the south end of the beach is another kid's favourite, the Dino Park Mini Golf facility. Kids can get all-day tickets to play as much as they want, enough to keep busy for a couple of hours. There is also decent food and snacks available at the restaurant. There is a lot of shopping opportunities to be found along the beach and even more just inland. Take one of the streets leading away from the beach and you’ll probably come upon luxury resorts, hostels and hotels of all sorts, coffee shops, ice-cream shops and tourist stores of every kind. Karon Village is especially large and has just about anything you’d ever need during a visit to Phuket. Karon encompasses Kata Beach and Kata Village as well. In the centre of Karon Village, you will find great choices for dining, shopping and nightlife entertainment opportunities – some of Phuket’s best bars are in this area, though they are really busy mainly during high season. There are quite a few expats living in Karon and Kata, as the area is a bit quieter and less expensive than life in the forever busy Patong Beach area. A few restaurants to try in Karon: - Highway Curry offers Indian and Thai Cuisine on Patak Road, up near the mountains. It has great reviews, with authentic Thai and Indian food served for lunch and dinner. - Karlsson Restaurant & Steakhouse gets good ratings for food and service. The restaurant is open-to-the-air and sometimes gets good breezes. It's located just off the beach in the centre of Karon Beach. - On the Rock Restaurant is located at the southern end of Karon Beach, on the rocky bit. It's a restaurant that gets exceptionally high ratings for food and service, with amazing views, large portions, but with prices slightly higher than the average food cost in Karon. The view and cuisine quality is worth it to most people. There are also a few nice resorts to stay in Karon, such as the Centara Villas Phuket, the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa and the Mandarava Resort & Spa, to name but a few.