This south-westerly facing beach - named after anearby Muslim village - has managed to remain exactly the same as it has been for years in spite of intensive urbanization in the direct area. 

It's still tranquil and a haven for people who like peace and quiet. Khao Khat is eight kilometres east of Phuket Town and covers the west coast of Cape Panwa.

How to Get There

Drive out from Phuket Town along Sakadit Road. At the third traffic light turn right and then left at the traffic circle. Alternatively, if you continue on along Sakadit Road take the next turn right and you will eventually come to the beach road.

Continue on for one kilometer and you will see the beach. However, access to Panwa Beach (Khao Khat) is not possible until near the far end where you will see a sign saying 'Bech Bar' (they mean 'Beach Bar').

You can go down here or at another track some 150 meters further on but at this one you should park on the main road.

Except the facilities reserved to the guests of the Novotel Panwa Beach Resort, there are very little facilities on Panwa Beach (Khao Khat).

You can rent a long tail boat to visit Koh Lone just a few minutes ride across the bay. During high season a small wooden shack sells few beach accesories.

The Beach Bar does snacks and drinks and, apart from walking into one of the two hotels on the beach and using their restaurants, there are only few other small restaurants on the actual strand.

However, if you take the road back up the hill towards Phuket for a few hundred metres you will come to 'Best Food Good View' which is a wooden rustic Thai restaurant with great views out over Chalong Bay.

Panwa Beach (Khao Khat) is good for a brisk walk along. It is not a swimming beach.

Located are the end of Cape Panwa, the Phuket Aquarium is open having undergone an 81-million-baht renovation. The aquarium's new major attraction, is a new 10-meter-long glass tunnel, a design similar to the popular aquarium in Singapore.