North of Bang Tao, the Phuket coastline has two more beaches that most visitors to the island never find: Layan and Nai Thon. Both are beautiful. Both are quiet by Phuket standards. And both are anchored by accommodation at the high end of what the island offers.
Layan is effectively the northern continuation of Bang Tao Bay, separated from the main Bang Tao beach by the lagoon outlet. The beach itself is wide, long, and backed by the Laguna Phuket estate to the south and undeveloped land to the north. The northern section of Layan is among the emptiest stretches of beach on the island — a kilometre of sand that, on a weekday morning, may have fewer than a dozen people on it.
The Anantara Layan Phuket Resort is the anchor property here — a luxury villa resort that is consistently among the island’s highest-rated for romance and service quality. The Anantara’s private beach section is beautiful, though the public beach to the north is equally good without the room rate.
Layan suits couples and honeymooners who want genuine seclusion without travelling far from the island’s infrastructure. The airport is 25 minutes away. Our boat trip departure pier is a 20-minute drive.
A few kilometres north of Layan, Nai Thon is a short, sheltered bay with calm, clear water in dry season and a small collection of restaurants and guesthouses that have been there long enough to have genuine character. The Trisara resort sits on the headland above the northern end of the beach — architecturally exceptional and among the finest luxury properties in Phuket.
Nai Thon’s bay is sheltered by headlands on both sides, which keeps the water calm for more of the year than the more exposed beaches to the south. The snorkelling directly off the beach is decent — not Koh Racha standard, but accessible without a boat. The beach itself is rarely crowded and the restaurants along the beach road serve genuinely good local food at local prices.
The road from Bang Tao through Layan to Nai Thon and then further north to Nai Yang and Mai Khao is worth doing as a drive in its own right — the coastline is undeveloped, the views from the elevated sections of road looking back toward Phang Nga Bay are excellent, and the gradual transition from the Laguna resort zone to the National Park environment is the clearest illustration of what Phuket was and what it has become.
➤ James Bond Sunset Experience — Easy departure from the north
— Captain Mark
Exceptional, uncrowded island day trips from Phuket. Family-owned and operated since 2004.
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