Surin Beach Phuket

Where to Eat, Swim & Stay on Surin Beach

96,588 viewsBy Willy Thuan · Living in Phuket since 1994

Surin Beach is an 800-metre stretch of soft pale sand on Phuket’s west coast, between Kamala Beach and Bang Tao Beach. The water turns a deep turquoise in the high season, and the casuarina trees along the back of the beach provide natural shade. Surin was once the centre of Phuket’s beach club scene, but all beachfront venues have been removed twice now, in 2016 and again in 2025. The beach looks more natural than it has in years, and it remains one of the most beautiful on the island.

All Restaurants Have Been Removed… Again

Update 2026: all food vendors have been removed from Surin beach since May 2025. That’s the second time this has happened. The first time was in 2016. Visiting the beach recently, the area still shows traces of recent demolitions: cleared ground, a few concrete foundations, and an emptiness where the chairs and umbrellas used to be. The cleaning is still in progress, but the beach itself is already looking more natural than it has in years, one of the most beautiful beaches in Phuket.

What Happened?

This is the second major clear-out in recent years. Back in 2016, Surin Beach was crowded with beach clubs, large permanent restaurants, and concrete kitchens set behind the beachfront path. Each place had sprawling terraces stretching almost the full 800m length of the sand. The first demolition was big news, leaving the shore empty for a couple of years.

Gradually, small-scale food vendors returned with mobile kitchens and a few chairs in the morning. The setup was informal: food cooked in trailers, tables under the shade, and nothing permanent. As tourism rebounded, these makeshift places became more frequent and, over time, somewhat more established, though never as large as before.

Since May 2025, all of these have been removed again. Even the only restaurant built on the rocks, one that survived the 2016 clearout, has managed to remain open. Tukta, built on the rocks rather than the sand, appears to have been exempt from the latest clearance and is still operating.

What’s Surin Beach Like Now?

Surin Beach is back to its natural state. The area feels different: a little untidy in some places, with traces left by recent demolition. Visitors now find only the coconut and pine trees for shade along the entire 800m stretch, with no vendors or beach massages in sight.

So long gone are the many famous beach clubs and the long line of restaurants that made this place so famous, and the beach has returned to a more natural look. The quality of the water and sand always makes it one of the best beaches in Phuket. Swimming is excellent during the high season, as the water can be incredibly clear, as seen in the photos below (December to April), but the sea can be rough in the low season.

All along the beach, coconut and casuarina trees provide welcome shade to visitors. All the food stalls and local Thai restaurants under the trees and the beach massages have been removed.

More Photos of Surin Beach Today

Surin Beach Travel Guide

What to Do in Surin Beach?

Where to Stay in Surin Beach?

The most attractive resorts are Twinpalms Resort, The Surin, Ayara Resort and, of course, the legendary Amanpuri. Just next to Surin Beach is the beautiful ‘Pansea Beach‘, but hotels owning the land around the beach will not allow access to non-guests. Surin Beach Resort is the only budget hotel nearby with beach access.

Where to Eat in Surin Beach?

All the fantastic restaurants that used to sit on the beachside are long gone. The beachfront was home to many famous restaurants and beach clubs that were illegally built and later demolished, but the demand was still there and locals were resourceful. After the 2016 clearout, hawkers returned to the parking area and vendors gradually crept back. Now, after the 2025 removal, the cycle has repeated. For food, the options are Tukta on the rocks and a handful of restaurants on the street nearby.

Tukta

Tukta is one of the two restaurants still operating in Surin. It may have to do with the fact that the restaurant is built on the rocks and not directly on the sand. As you can imagine, Tukta became much more popular after the removal of all other venues. The food is good and well-priced, and the view is beautiful. Don’t miss the views from the upper floors. The staircase is kind of hidden.

Address: Surin Beach 32/3 Choeng Thale, Thalang District, Phuket 83110
Hours: 9.30 am – 9 pm
Phone: 087 280 4145

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Where to Shop in Surin?

You won’t find much around, but a few shops worth mentioning. Lemongrass sells spa and massage products with an extensive range of oils and essences. The Plaza is a three-floor modern building full of house decorations, lovely paintings, and clothing. Try Ginger, a fashion shop from Chiang Mai, displaying an original collection of clothing and accessories at very affordable prices.

Surin Beach Through the Years

Surin Beach in the mid-1990s was a quiet stretch of sand with a handful of basic restaurants under the trees. It wasn’t famous. Locals knew it, a few expats came regularly, and the water was clear enough to make the drive from Patong worthwhile. The transformation came gradually through the 2000s as the first beach clubs arrived and the Surin area became the preferred address for Phuket’s more design-conscious hotels: Twinpalms, The Surin, and Amanpuri already established up the road.

Catch Beach Club changed everything when it opened. Before Catch, Phuket didn’t really have a beach club scene in the modern sense. After Catch, everyone wanted one. The strip filled up quickly and Surin became the address for a certain kind of Phuket afternoon. Beach clubs ran from early afternoon until late, with comfortable sofas, full bar service, and DJs who knew what they were doing. Salt restaurant next door had a serious kitchen. Walking that strip on a Saturday evening in high season was unlike anywhere else on the island.

The 2016 demolition ended that era. Watching the bulldozers work through a stretch of beach that had been packed with music and people the weekend before was a strange thing to see. Catch Beach Club, Salt, the long row of restaurants behind the beachfront path: all cleared. The beach is undeniably cleaner and more natural now. Parking is no longer a problem. But the atmosphere that made Surin famous took years to build and disappeared with the demolition crews.

The second clearout in 2025 was less dramatic only because the scale was smaller. The pattern is the same. What remains is a beautiful beach without much reason to stay past late afternoon.

Insider Tips

Surin is still one of the best beaches in Phuket. The sand quality, the water colour in high season, the tree shade along the back of the beach: none of that has changed. What’s gone is the reason most people used to spend a full day here rather than a couple of hours.

Without the beach clubs and restaurants, Surin is now a morning or early afternoon beach. Arrive, swim, sit under the trees, and leave before the afternoon heat peaks. Tukta on the rocks is worth stopping at for food and the view from the upper floor. For a longer afternoon with drinks and music, the nearby hotels are the better option now. Twinpalms and The Surin both have their own setups for guests.

The beach will always be worth visiting. The era of spending a full beach club day at Surin is over, at least for now. Whether vendors return for a third time is the question everyone who knew the old Surin is waiting to see answered.

Surin Beach Photos

More photos of Surin Beach

Surin Beach Fast Facts

Surin Beach Map

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FAQs about Surin Beach