phuket- weather in early may, late night safety, itinerary?
Replies: 11 - Last Post: Apr 28, 2012 7:45 AM Last Post By: jm110
jump to
phuket- weather in early may, late night safety, itinerary?
hi all,i'm thinking of heading to phuket the last week of april/first week of may as a part of a quick 2 week trip through SE asia, and have a few questions.
1) weather- from online descriptions, that'll be shoulder monsoon season, but based on current weather forecasts it seems like thunderstorms are already fairly frequent. i've read that the storms tend to be pretty quick, but does that mean that going in the water would be dangerous and that the weather will be overcast half the time? i was hoping to relax on the beach, check out cool scenery, and maybe squeeze in a little snorkeling or kayaking, but if all of that would be difficult, i don't know if i should go somewhere else?
2) late night transportation / safety / accommodations- in order to save on travel time, i'm thinking of a late night flight from chiang mai to phuket that gets in at 0100. as a solo female traveler, is this a bad idea? any recommendations for places to stay with hotel transfer that i could arrange in advance? i prefer budget accommodations, but willing to splurge for safety, cleanliness, opportunity to meet other travelers, and ease in setting up tours to other locations.
3) itinerary- with only 2-3 days in the area, and with the constraint of flying out of phuket again on a late night flight on the last day, what are good places to go to? would it be possible to easily get in/out of places like krabi/ao nang, ko phi phi, etc? looking for places with good tourism infrastructure but on the quieter side (zero interest in hitting up crazy parties).
thanks in advance!
1
"late night transportation / safety / accommodations-"Transportation late at night, say after 6-8pm, to and from Phuket Airport is not going to be cheap. The airport bus no longer runs and thus you'll need to take a taxi or arrange transport through your hotel. A taxi will be about 800 baht. There are some resorts with free airport shuttles but they are not cheap places to stay so they won't be in your preference for budget accommodations.
With only 2-3 days in the area, I'm not sure you'll be able to do more than one thing like either Ao Nang or Ko Phi Phi. Trying to do both would just chew up a lot of your time in travel.
2
You could stay in Krabi town and get to Ao Nang and Koh Phi Phi easily from there in the time you have. Krabi is also cheap, has lots of travellers and I believe you can fly to Krabi airport from CM, but you need to check this.5
thanks all for the quick responses!as a solo traveler arriving late, i'm definitely willing to splurge to get around safely- squidstrips, are there any particular phuket town resorts you'd recommend that offer transfer services from the airport?
from what i've been reading, i agree that heading straight to ko phi phi / ao nang might be the best for me. is phuket town the best starting point for these destinations? or are there other places closer to the airport that have ferries that leave for these places? alternatively, any thoughts on going to the surin or similan islands instead, especially at that time of year? would these be easier or more difficult to reach from phuket?
6
Krabi is a better place to stay than Phuket for easy access these destinations.8
to answer your question about the weather...i have been in phuket for 2 days now, and it has been raining a lot, in the middle of the day no less! otherwise very cloudy, just a bit of sunshine in the morning...locals tell me to expect rain every day from now on...too bad, i was hoping to work on my tan on my last week in thailand :(9
There will certainly be rain. There always is, but it becomes a factor of how much?It is very normal here in Khao Lak to have afternoon thunderstorms almost every day. This is simply part of life in a tropical country. IT is when the monsoons start that things change from afternoon thunderstorms to all day rains and the associated winds.
If you are considering the Similan/Surin Islands - please be aware that the Parks shut down on May1st and it is illegal to venture that way. This is due to the possibility of monsoons starting.
11
Thanks everyone for the responses. Based on your weather reports, I decided to change my plans and spent some time off the coast of Cambodia- Sihanoukville/Koh Rong had mostly sunny weather 2 out of the 3 days that I was there, although I think it did rain most of the last day.
