Your Must-Do List When Visiting Phuket, Thailand

Watch the sunset at Promthep Cape

This is a must when visiting Phuket. Promthep Cape is located at the south end of Phuket about a 20-minute motorbike ride away from Patong. Get here early to get your seat! Locals and tourists start lining up 30 - 45 minutes early to get their pick for the best sunset you’ll find on Phuket. Pick up an ice cream bar before you settle in, to cool off as a treat before the show. You won’t be disappointed making the trip here.

Visit the Phuket Aquarium and Phuket Marine Biological Center

The aquarium is small, but the Phuket Marine Biological Center that includes the turtle rescue center is the main attraction here. After you pay your entrance fee of 180 THB (5.16 USD), walk through the aquarium and out to the path leading to the hatchery and then on to the rescue center.

This center rehabilitates turtles that have been caught in fishing lines or have eaten plastic. Many are rehabilitated and released back into the water, but some are too damaged and will live the rest of their lives being cared for by the staff of the center.

The staff offers tours to schools to educate them on the importance of not littering and how to be more environmentally aware of the ocean.

Drink local rum at Chalong Bay Distillery

This distillery makes one rum, and they do it well. This award-winning rum is the only one made in Phuket. Offering daily tours for 300 THB (8.60 USD), tours include the house mojito for those over 21. End the tour by ordering one of their 25 hand-crafted cocktails. Want to learn how to make them? They hold a 2-hour cocktail making class for 1,200 THB (34.40 USD) every Tuesday and Saturday.

Visit Banzaan Fresh Market in Patong

If you don’t want to leave Patong but want a break from the beach, head over to Banzaan Fresh Market to grab some lunch and browse the vendor stalls. This wet market offers all kinds of fish and seafood from clams and crabs to shark and tuna. There are also meat stands and fruit and vegetable stands. Don’t leave without getting some freshly-picked mango to take back to your room.

Do a double take at the Trickeye Museum

The Trickeye Museum is a tease to the eyes, and makes for some great pictures to post on Facebook. Artists create paintings with the illusion of you living in the painting. There are over 50 pictures to muse at with the most popular being the two-story waterfall. Open daily from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM the entry fee is 500 THB (14.33 USD). Don’t shy away if you’re traveling alone. The museum offers a tour guide for free who will go around with you and take pictures of you with any painting you’d like.