Very close to the airport is a beach with airplanes in Phuket called Mai Khao. It is here that you can see with your own eyes how planes land or take off right above your head, feel the full power of these machines and take very cool pictures!
Description of the beach with airplanes in Phuket (Mai Khao)
Mai Khao is located far from the entire tourist and active life of the island, the vast majority of tourists leave for Patong, Karon, Kathu and other beaches as soon as they land.
Throughout the more than 11-kilometer stretch, there is almost no infrastructure. At the same time, several luxurious five-star hotels are located here at once, whose guests prefer a secluded relaxing holiday.
Mai Khao beach - almost no people
Nearby is national park, there are no factories and large settlements, so the water is perfectly transparent! So it pulls to swim. The entrance to the water is average, not very steep, but not flat either.
The sand on the beach with airplanes in Phuket is of medium size, golden in color, it is pleasant to walk on it.
All the sights of Phuket are far away, so people come here only for a classic beach holiday.
To get a great shot of you and the plane, you need to go straight to the place where the airport goes to the beach. You will see this place from afar by the crowd of people.
While you wait, you can cool off in the sea. There are no cafes in this place, so bring a snack with you and plenty of water. Planes land very often, we caught about 7-8 aircraft in an hour, but there are still breaks between them.
Funny aircraft of the Thai airline Nok Air
Air Asia plane coming in for landing
Please note that there are no trees in the place where the planes fly. You have to fry under the scorching sun while you wait for the next board. Our old umbrella turned out to be more than ever useful. However, you can move 100-200 meters to the trees, then you have to run to the point better view as soon as you see an approaching aircraft.
Waiting for another plane
It is convenient to come to Mai Khao before flying home, or vice versa, when you just arrived (but I think you will not be up to it after a long flight).
Attractions and entertainment
There are no water activities that are so popular on other Phuket beaches on Mai Khao. Only the purest water, golden sand and you. In addition to watching the planes, it is worth looking into the water park of the Grand West Sands Resort & Villas Phuket.
As I said, people come here for a measured rest away from the hustle and bustle.
Incredible Facts
The most incredible airport is located on the island of Sint Maarten in the Caribbean. The strange thing about this airport is that airplanes, landing, fly a few meters above the beach with tourists resting there, and the runway itself begins very close to the coast.
Looking at the photos of landing Boeings and Airbuses, it may seem that this is just a joke for fans to play with Photoshop, but the reality is this: the territory of the island is so small, and there are so many people who want to come here that you have to save space.
The slightest mistake of the pilot, and you can end up in the water.
Airplanes come in for a landing, disturbing the serene rest of vacationers.
The airport was built to serve the island of Sint Maarten. In the eastern part of the Caribbean, this airport is the second busiest.
The runway is very small and starts just 12 meters from the beach, with a length of only 2180 meters.
Fortunately, so far there have been no reports of any disasters in the area of this dangerous airport.
Those who are afraid of thrills will prefer another, less "nervous" place to relax.
1) Airport on the Caribbean island of Saba. The runway of this airport is located in a rather strange place: there are cliffs at both ends. However, it costs nothing for an experienced pilot to land the plane in the right place, if there is at least some kind of runway.
A similar situation is observed in Madeira island , where there is a break on one side of the strip. Some time ago, this airport was notorious because it had a too short runway, which was squeezed on one side by mountains, and on the other by the ocean. Later, the strip was expanded and its size was doubled by installing a bridge with columns on one side.
Mountain airport
2) Courchevel airport (France). Courchevel - name ski resort in french alps which is visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. The easiest way to get to these places is to take a plane.
Do you think that it is impossible to build an airport in the mountains? It is possible, although a little strange. Courchevel Airport has a very short runway - only 525 meters long, and with a slope of 18.5 degrees!
3) Barra airport - the only airport in the world where planes land right on the beach. Barra is one of the islands of the Outer Hebrides archipelago, which belong to the UK.
There is virtually no runway in these places, and planes land right on the beach. Because of the tides, once a day this strange airport is literally submerged under water. Needless to say, it is forbidden to relax on this beach?
Unusual airport on the island
4) Kansai International Airport The Japanese city of Osaka occupies an entire island. Since the Japanese cannot boast of large spaces, and every piece of land matters, they had to build an airport before building an island for it.
The artificial island consists of two parts, the length of most of it is 4 kilometers, and the width of the island is 2.5 kilometers. This island is a real masterpiece of engineering. Unfortunately, due to global warming and rising sea levels, this artificial island threatened with flooding.
The plane emerged from behind a cloud and began to descend. After a couple of minutes, he was already very close, literally fifty meters above his head. The whole picture around suddenly became some kind of fabulous and unreal. Turquoise ocean, this deserted beach with yellow sand - and the plane is so close that you want to jump up and get it with your hand ... Today it's all about the beach near the airport in Phuket, a lot of photos, a map and our reviews.
Spectacular beaches near airports are very popular with tourists. Every adventurous traveler tries to take a couple of photos against the backdrop of azure sea and a giant steel car in the sky. Tourists in different resorts of the world occupy such patches of sand near the resort airports in order to enjoy the landing of the plane together with hundreds of other people from all over the world. It's not like that in Phuket. The beach near the airport is called Mai Khao - and it is deserted. And such oblivion is completely undeserved, because there is wonderful clear water, coarse yellow sand and excellent views.
If you look at the map of Phuket, the airport will be in the upper left part of the map - in the northwest of the island. It is not far from the bridge that connects Phuket to the mainland, but quite far from the most popular resorts - Patong, Karon and Kata beaches. During our wintering, we lived in the center of the island in the village of Kathu. We went to the beach to the airport by bike, the road took about 40-50 minutes. At the end of the post there will be a map with marks, you can estimate the distance to the beach from different points in Phuket.
There are two ways to get to the beach. First: park in the southern part in front of the airport and walk closer to the runway for about ten minutes. The second way is better: after the airport, turn onto the narrow road between the airport terminal and the nearest resort and go straight to the northern part of the beach. From there, walk to the strip for about five minutes, no more.
Mai Khao Beach is very long, about nine kilometers long. It and the neighboring Nai Yang Beach are part of national park Sirinat. Somewhere in the north of the National Park, sea turtles lay their eggs from November to February. There is also a center for the study of amphibians.
The beach area near the airport is good for swimming. The entrance to the water is gradual, there is coarse sand at the bottom, the water is clean and transparent. Small waves do not interfere with swimming at all. Mai Khao will be quite comfortable for children.
We were on Mai Khao in February, and there were no jellyfish in the water, unlike, for example, Kamala Beach, where swimming at that time was problematic.
There is absolutely no infrastructure on the beach in front of the airport. Water is sold in a nearby resort, and it is better to bring your own umbrella and bedding. Trees right next to runway also not, so you need to build a tenek yourself. However, a strip of coniferous trees begins to the north of the airport, and it is quite comfortable there.
Mai Khao Beach is a great place for photo shoots because there are very few people around and no one flickers in the frame.
Now about the planes. Phuket has its own international Airport. Charters and regular flights from all over the world arrive here. There are many planes, they arrive often, although during the day in the very heat you can observe a slight lull. We noted for ourselves that in the morning there are continuous landings. Planes land almost one after the other. After noon, a break of two or three hours, and take-offs begin in the evening.
Aircraft landing and takeoff schedule is public information. If you want to plan a good photo shoot in advance, go to the Phuket Airport website and print out the schedule.
Beach hotels near Phuket Airport:
The town near Mai Khao beach is quiet and calm, without a vibrant nightlife. There is a small market and small grocery stores, with a dozen cafes and restaurants. Not far from the airport there is a water park Splash Jungle. If you want to stay right next to Mai Khao Beach, you can choose one of several nearby hotels.
posh Centara Grand West Sands Resort & Villas Phuket With good reviews from married couples. The hotel has a kids club, a huge swimming pool, several restaurants. Guests praise the large spacious rooms and clean landscaped area. Water park next to the hotel. Room price - from 100 dollars per day.
If you are afraid of aircraft noise, you can settle a little further north of the airport. There is Luxury 2 Bedroom Private Pool Villa. Luxury accommodation, it is better to book in advance, as the villa is very popular.
Hotel MaikhaodreamVillaResort&SpaPhuket popular with families with children. Swimming pool right on the beach, comfortable sunbeds, spa, gourmet restaurants, large apartments with kitchens. Prices from $120 per night.
There are places on the planet where planes land very close to people, and where they can be captured on a photo or video camera. This occupation in the common people is called spotting, although spotting is a whole hobby and photographing flying cars is only part of it. So, for spotting, the beach with airplanes in Phuket is great, where I somehow went. I am not a spotter myself, but I liked it - I felt how a multi-ton colossus flies over your head, very unusual impressions. Still, I don’t like classic sights, but something like that.
If you are in Phuket, you must go. There it is not long to walk along the beach, and it will be interesting if you have never seen anything like this before.
On the map, you could see that there is Sirinat National Park near the coast and the airport. Usually in national parks there is something interesting or at least beautiful: jungle, trails, views, mountains, waterfalls, etc. But there is nothing in Sirinat, he is nothing. And what is strange, there is enough garbage on its territory, what kind of national park is it then ... Visually it resembles just a small forest through which Thais scurry about on bikes and cars on their own business. Yes, there are a couple of places for picnics, but they look so-so. For me, it’s better to go to that part of Nai Yang Beach (), where there is no national park and there is no car traffic.
So it's not worth going to the national park itself. However, if you want to get to the beach with airplanes, you will have to cross it.
Visiting Information
Phuket beach, where planes land, can be accessed from two sides: from Nai Yang and from Mai Khao. I walked from the side of Nai Yang (and for some reason many people walk this way), but visually it seems that it will be much faster with Mai Khao.
In short, if you go from Nai Yang, then you will need to cross the Sirinat National Park. The fastest way to do this is in its northern part, where it is closest to the airport. The entrance and parking place will be approximately near this hotel (you can see the name and location at the link). Then it remains to walk 1 km on the sand.
Entrance to the park 100 baht. But they take, as far as I understand, only for transport, not from foot.
Very close to the runway of Phuket Airport is Mai Khao Beach. This is the longest and most unusual beach on the island. It is over this beach that planes land and take off. This feature attracts many tourists. Here you can take interesting and vivid photos with an airplane flying overhead. However, despite such tourist entertainment, there are very few vacationers on the beach, it is almost deserted.
The coastline of Mai Khao Beach stretches for as much as 11 kilometers. The beach is part of the Sirinat National Park, so there are no popular tourist beach activities, and on Mai Khao you will not find sun loungers with umbrellas, merchants, shops and cafes. The entire beach is a natural reserve. There are practically no tourists here either, only near the runway you can see a small group of people with cameras and cameras trying to catch a good shot against the background of a flying plane. But Mai Khao Beach is very fond of the locals, they have picnics here in the shade of trees and swim in the sea. Locals also celebrate the Songkran holiday here (), I have never seen so many Thais on the beach as on this day.
The sand on Mai Khao Beach is light yellow, the descent into the sea is quite steep. It is worth moving three or four meters from the shore and the water will be up to your neck. If you come to the beach with small children, then do not let them go alone into the sea, but rather choose another beach. Casuarina trees grow along the entire Mai Khao beach, in the shade of which you can hide from the sun.
You can swim on Mai Khao Beach only during the season from November to April, the rest of the time big waves rise on the sea and it is not at all safe to swim in it. But this is a great time for surfers.
Beach activities
There are practically no beach activities on Mai Khao. Only near the hotels you can rent kayaks or surfboards. The main entertainment of Mai Khao Beach is walking along the coast, swimming in the sea and, of course, landing planes. This is exactly what tourists come here for. You can sit on the beach for hours and watch how a huge plane flies over your head with incredible noise. This is an unusual sight, just breathtaking. For the first time, I even became scared when I saw a plane flying right at me with a huge noise. It seemed to me that I would be blown off the beach, but then you gradually get used to it. Also, don't forget to take some photos with the plane flying in the background.
Planes fly every day in 10-15 minutes. If you want, you can look at the flight schedule, then you will know exactly which planes will fly and at what time.
Restaurants and shops on the beach
You can dine on Mai Khao Beach at the restaurants of nearby hotels. There you will be offered a wide selection of different dishes, but the prices in hotels are usually high.
Also near the beach is the Turtle Village shopping center, where there is a restaurant and a bar where you can have a bite to eat. In the mall you can buy groceries, souvenirs, clothes and much more. And if you drive a little further from the beach, you will find a J&P store, where the choice of products is much wider.
Hotels on the beach
Hotels on Mai Khao Beach are almost all five-star and quite expensive. If you wish, you can stay at the Centara Grand West Sands Resort & Villa Phuket, which is located very close to Phuket Airport. A little further away are the hotels JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa, Maikhao Dream Villa, Mai Khao Beach Bungalows and others.
If you want to find a hotel on your own, I recommend using the Hotellook service, it looks for accommodation in different booking systems and gives you the most profitable options.
How to get there?
From the airport to Mai Khao Beach can only be reached by taxi, public transport does not go there.
From Phuket Town to Mai Khao Beach you can take a bus for 50 baht. However, you will have to walk from the main road, which is about 2-3 kilometers.
If you get to Mai Khao Beach by your own car or bike, then you should drive straight along highway 402, then, before reaching the airport a few meters, turn onto the road leading to Sirinat National Park. At the entrance to the park you can park your bike or car. Then you should walk north for about 500 meters. Already from afar you will hear the sound of flying planes.
See the exact location of Mai Khao Beach on the map.
