Mai Khao Beach ⛱️

Sala Phuket Resort

Sala Phuket Resort and Spa is one of our all-time favourite hideaways in Phuket. This hotel is a resort dedicated to couples, with a private pool in each villa for total privacy. Such a feature doesn’t come cheap but still is affordable. Read more

Range: 5-star
Swimming pools: 1 (plus 1 in each villa)
Restaurants and bars: 2
Distance to the beach: on the beach!

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Renaissance Phuket

Renaissance Phuket is a great luxury resort if you want to enjoy the relaxing side of a tropical island and still have the option to drive to discover the restless nights of Patong Beach. With so many restaurants and outlets, you can choose to chill in the resort or use it as a base to explore the north of Phuket. Read more

Range: 5-star
Swimming pools: 2
Restaurants and bars: 2
Distance to the beach: on the beach!

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JW Marriott Phuket

JW Marriott Phuket is an immense resort with a more traditional layout. It has many excellent restaurants, vast conference rooms, and the best for families: it has a fantastic kids club!

Range: 5-star
Swimming pools: 3 pools (2,810 sqm)
Restaurants and bars: 10
Distance to the beach: on the beach!

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 The Beach

The immense and natural beach is obviously the main reason why travellers choose to visit or even stay here. The beach is an eleven-kilometre-long stripe of white sand with a clear warm blue ocean during the high season. The sand is a little more coarse than on the southern beaches, but it is still soft and beautiful. The beach has remained untouched, and there are no jet skis, parasailing, beach chairs or vendors.

Plane Spotting

Then our favourite spot is to watch the planes landing at the very end of the runway of Phuket International Airport. It’s a bit of a walk in the sun, but it is awe-inspiring and loud. They get close to the beach, as you can see in the photos, and watching these monsters casting their massive shadow on the turquoise water is just amazing.

Baan Ar Jor House Museum

Baan Ar Jor is a hotel, a restaurant and a museum with a long history that started in 1936. This house has always been one of Phuket’s most mysterious old mansions, standing lonely near Mai Khao Beach in the north of Phuket.

Splash Jungle Waterpark

Splash Jungle Water Park is a popular theme park on Mai Khao Beach, just next to Phuket International Airport. It’s not huge and a bit pricey, but it’s a great way to spend the day with the kids and the family, having fun, eating or even drinking in the water of the pool bar.

M Beach Club

The M Beach Club is a beachfront bar located in the JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa on Mai Khao Beach in the north of Phuket. It’s an ideal spot for spending an afternoon or winding down your day, particularly if you are a fortunate guest of one of the luxury resorts on this magnificent beach. Although the club is not situated directly on the beach, it’s a great place to enjoy sunset cocktails by the sea and appreciate cool DJ tunes. As it’s away from the crowded beaches of south Phuket, it caters more to travellers staying in the Mai Khao area and the guests of JW Marriott Phuket Resort.

Wat Mai Khao

Wat Mai Khao Temple is lesser known but worth a photo. The temple itself is tucked away from the road. It doesn’t have any particular architectural interest, but it hides a little treasure: a small bird sanctuary hidden in the park behind it. Surrounded by a protective wall, a small lake with trees growing in the water is the shelter for many white birds, probably cattle egrets. You can drive through the land and around the lake, but it is a nice gesture to stop and make a small donation. 

Nai Yang Beach

Just south of Maikhao is the calm and relaxing Nai Yang Beach, a vast sandy crescent and shallow water. Since Mai Khao doesn’t have any facilities on the beach, Nai Yang is just a short drive away, and the many restaurants on the beach are perfect for slowly enjoying cocktails and a Thai dinner with a sunset.

Sports Wake Park

Sport Wake Park is a fun destination for wakeboarding enthusiasts of all levels, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced rider. Located just 5 minutes from Phuket International Airport, this park offers a great place to enjoy a thrilling day on the water. The cable system is smooth, and there are different obstacles to challenge riders, including jumps and rails. Even if you’ve never wakeboarded, the team is friendly and ready to help you get started, with instructors offering tips and guidance. There’s also a bar and a chill-out area to relax, grab a drink, and watch others in action.

Soi Dog Foundation

Soi Dog Foundation is a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping street dogs and cats around Phuket, Thailand and beyond, spaying and neutering them to avoid proliferation and rescuing injured and abandoned animals.

Baby Turtle Release

Once a year on Mai Khao Beach, during the Songkran Festival, you might be lucky to witness the baby turtle release, usually supported by one of the nearby resorts. It is a magic moment and a fun experience to sponsor one of the baby turtles and bring it yourself near the water. Unfortunately, we all know that the chances of seeing these turtles returning are relatively slim.

Sirinath National Park

The National Park, where locals like to picnic or camp for the weekend with kids playing all day in the water, is not very large nor very interesting, but park ranges will ask for a 200 Baht fee at the entrance (or 40 if you are a local or an expat). If you plan to cross to Nai Yang Beach, you better take the other road a bit farther from the airport.

Toh Daeng Restaurant

Kin Dee

Kin Dee is a long-established Thai restaurant hidden in the quiet northern part of Phuket, not far from Mai Khao Beach. It’s been around for more than 20 years, run by a local chef who uses ingredients from nearby farms and her own garden. The restaurant is quite charming, surrounded by trees and wooden walkways, with an open-air dining area that feels very local. The food is authentic, rich in southern flavours, and beautifully presented without being fancy. It’s the kind of place we always recommend if you want real Thai food away from the tourist crowds.

Natural Restaurant Airport

Natural Restaurant Airport is an excellent place serving excellent local Thai cuisine in a good atmosphere. As the name indicates, the restaurant is located just before reaching Phuket International Airport (2.4km to be precise), making it a perfect place for lunch, dinner or any meal at any time of the day if you have to be around there for any reason.

Turtle Village Shopping

The small shopping village of Turtle Village in Mai Khao Beach started modestly more than a decade ago but grew and gained recently in popularity as the area became more in demand with travellers wanting to escape the busy beaches of the south. The place is vast and spacious and is a mix of international brands and local vendors setting up their stalls in open spaces and by the street sides.