Originally Posted by
ChocolateFactory
I haven't been to Phuket before, but I've heard that Phuket's beaches aren't that great and that they also suffer from the same "low-tide" phenomenon as Bali. In other forums people have told me I won't like the Amanpuri beach.
For instance, apart from Amanpuri (which also costs north of 800$), I found this review:
https://thegoodthebadandtheluxurious...risara-phuket/
And at the end you have a photo of the beach during low-tide. Doesn't look great.
The photos of the Amanpuri beach look... ok. But it doesn't seem like they even have a bar on the beach?
You're right, Bawah is much more expensive, but at least it includes the transfer from SIN. But like I said, I have canceled my reservation because I decided I don't want to spend that much on a hotel.
Usually, I'd find anything over 300-400$ very expensive, I don't think I've ever paid more. And I'd like to keep it like that. But like I said, I might be willing to splurge on an exceptional experience.
I don't think it's unreasonable to not what to spend thousands of dollars in one of the least expensive regions of the world? And yes, Amanpulo is quite far from SIN/KUL and there are probably hundreds of beach resorts closer to SIN, and yet none or very few seem to have a nice beach. I've asked in other forums as well and several users echoed my sentiment: "Please let me know when you've found something, I have also been looking for years."
Except Amanpuri, what would you recommend?
Generally speaking, I'm not a huge fan of beach resorts in Thailand, but the beach at Amanpuri is VERY different from the beach at Trisara, although they are only separated by about 2-3 miles as the crow flies - it's a very nice beach and I've never heard that particular beach compared to beaches Bali-wise.
And thank the stars they don't have a 'bar on the beach' - how AWFUL would that be? They do have a beach club and they do have service at the beach though if that's what you're looking for.
Hell, nevermind Amanpuri, the beach at Anantara Layan, which is pretty much right next to Trisara (around the corner), is very different from the beach at Trisara. Budget wise, that might be more of what you're looking for.
There are plenty of resorts with great beaches, there are plenty of luxury resorts with great beaches, there are plenty of luxury resorts with not so great beaches and there are plenty of resorts with nice beaches that aren't luxury (just on Phuket itself - Andaman White Beach Resort, Le Merirdien Phuket, JW Marriott Phuket, The Racha all of which have issues - the last one is nearly perfect save for the huge mass of tourist boats that come over every day).
Within Phuket itself, you might find some joy if you go further north towards the Khao Lak area.
If it's just a matter of amazing beach, then you'll struggle to do better than Pulo - it's not that hard to get there from Singapore to be honest although it does take an extra flight, and is a bit longer time wise. You can take the 09:30am out of Singapore and you should be able to connect with the 16:30 flight from Manila.
But if you're restricting yourself to many different factors - namely budget, time, distance from Singapore etc then you're going to have to pick whatever is available - you can't have it all...?
If you're open to adjusting even one of the factors above then it does open up quite a few opportunities.
Hell, if you really don't want to budge too much on budget (and this would then be off topic) go to Cempedak Island or its sister property, or Batu Batu from Singapore (relatively 'reasonably' priced private islands) or Redang Island in Malaysia. But again, you're not going to necessarily get EVERYTHING you want - you'll have to compromise somewhere at some point or open up your options entirely.