Phuket has four yachting marinas. Every single one of them is on the east coast. Not one is on the west, where the famous beaches are, and that single fact explains most of what an owner needs to know about the yachting side of this island.
All four of them, and all four on the east coast
Phuket’s marinas, compared
The boat decides the marina. The marina decides which side of the island you should live on.
Ao Po Grand Marina
Opened August 2008 · North east
The only one on the island that takes a genuine superyacht. Engineered breakwater, ten metre walkways, eighty tonne hauling, twenty thousand litres of fuel storage.
Royal Phuket Marina
East coast, beside Boat Lagoon
The largest berth count and a non tidal basin, which removes the single biggest operational nuisance in Phuket yachting. Private doorstep moorings and boat locks.
Phuket Boat Lagoon
Opened 1994 · Koh Kaew
The island’s original marina and still its main service yard. Eighty tonne cranes. Built on a tidal flat, which is the constraint to ask about before committing a deep drafted boat.
Phuket Yacht Haven
Opened 1997 · Far north east
Closest to the international airport, which matters more than it sounds if the owner flies in and sails the same day. Approach needs care at low tide for deep drafted vessels.
Berth counts, maximum lengths, depths, opening years and facilities compiled from published marina guides for Phuket, read 24 September 2026. Figures change with expansion and dredging, so confirm the current position with the marina before committing a vessel.
Why there is no marina on the west coast
Two reasons, and both are permanent. The first is the southwest monsoon. From May to October the swell comes in directly onto the west coast, which is why Patong, Kata, Kamala and Nai Harn get surf, undertow and red flags in those months. A marina on that side would be unusable for nearly half the year and would need a breakwater built for open ocean.
The second is geography. The west coast is a series of open bays with no natural shelter. The east coast has deep indentations, islands offshore to break the swell, and the whole of Phang Nga Bay behind it. It is where boats can actually sit through a monsoon.
The practical consequence for an owner is uncomfortable but worth stating: the coast with the sunsets and the coast with the berths are not the same coast. Anyone who wants a villa on Kamala beach and a boat at the bottom of the garden is asking for something the island does not offer.
The sunsets are on the west coast. The berths are on the east. Somebody is always driving across the island at six in the evening.
Draft decides which marina, and the marina decides where you live
The order of decisions is usually backwards. Owners choose the villa and then discover which marina their boat fits. It is worth doing in the other order.
Anything beyond sixty metres is Ao Po, which has depth of three metres in the basin and seven seaward, and is the only marina on the island built for that scale. Between thirty-five and sixty metres opens up Yacht Haven. Below thirty-five metres, Royal Phuket Marina’s non tidal basin removes the tide from the equation entirely, which over a decade of ownership is worth a great deal. Boat Lagoon remains the island’s main service yard, with eighty tonne cranes and hard standing for 144 vessels, and it was built on a tidal flat, so the channel is the question to ask.
Then choose the villa within a sensible drive of that marina. Twenty minutes each way is the difference between using a boat most weekends and using it twice a year.
The King’s Cup, and why it is always the first week of December
The Phuket King’s Cup Regatta was inaugurated in 1987 to mark the sixtieth birthday of the King of Thailand, and it has been held every year since in the first week of December. It draws upwards of ninety boats and around two thousand sailors, with a record entry of 103 in 2007, and it is the fixture on the Asian yachting calendar.
The timing is not ceremonial. The first week of December is the point at which the northeast season has settled and the whole archipelago becomes reliably reachable. The regatta sits there because that is when the Andaman is at its most dependable, and an owner planning a serious sailing week should read that date as the island’s own advice on when to do it.
The island’s biggest regatta has been held in the first week of December since 1987. That is not tradition. It is the most reliable week of the year and everybody knows it.
What oceanfront actually means here
- West coast oceanfront. The sunsets, the sand, the swimming beaches, and the view people picture when they think of Phuket. In monsoon months the sea in front of the house is often unusable, and there is no berth within twenty-five minutes.
- East coast waterfront. Calmer water, mangrove and island views rather than open horizon, direct access to the marinas and to Phang Nga Bay, and usable water all year. Sunrises rather than sunsets.
- South coast. Rawai, Nai Harn and the Cape Panwa side. The compromise position, with sheltered launching, quick access to the Racha group and Ko Hae, and the shortest crossings on the island.
None of these is better. They are three different products sold under the same word, and the word on the listing tells a buyer nothing about which one they are getting.
One question to ask about any charter
Commercial chartering in Thai waters requires the correct licence, and an unlicensed charter is not only the operator’s problem. It is worth asking, in plain terms, whether the vessel holds a current Thai charter licence and whether the insurance covers paying guests. A reputable operator answers in one sentence. Anyone who treats the question as rude has answered it.
What we do
We ask about the boat before we discuss the villa, because for an owner who genuinely intends to keep a vessel here the marina constrains the address. We plan days from the sheltered side in monsoon months and from the west in the dry season, and we use operators we already work with rather than whoever has availability. And we tell owners honestly when the villa they have fallen in love with is on the wrong coast for the life they described.
Sources. Marina berth counts, maximum vessel lengths, depths, opening years and facilities for Ao Po Grand Marina, Royal Phuket Marina, Phuket Boat Lagoon and Phuket Yacht Haven: published Phuket marina guides, read 24 September 2026. The Phuket King’s Cup Regatta inaugurated in 1987 for the sixtieth birthday of the King of Thailand, held annually in the first week of December, with upwards of ninety boats, around two thousand sailors and a record entry of 103 in 2007: public record of the regatta, read 24 September 2026. Nothing here is legal advice on vessel licensing.
