12 Best Things to Do in Chalong Bay

The Big Buddha is one of Phuket's most important and revered landmarks. Standing at 45 metres high, the gigantic image sits on top of the Nakkerd Hills, between Chalong and Kata. During your visit, you can enjoy panoramic views of the island – think sweeping vistas of Phuket Town, Kata, Karon, and Chalong Bay. The atmosphere is very peaceful, with sounds of tinkling bells decorating the compound, along with soft dharma music.

Coral Island lies around 3 km southeast of Phuket. It's famous for Long Beach and Banana Beach, both of which offer excellent snorkelling. Both beaches also offer water sports, including banana boats, canoes, and snorkelling. There's a speedboat on Long Beach that can take you out for a brief parasail outing. You can get to Coral Island by hiring a longtail boat at either Rawai Beach or Chalong Pier. 

Wat Chalong is a historical landmark and Buddhist temple in Phuket's Chalong Bay. For centuries, locals come to pray almost every day while westerners learn about Buddhism during their holiday. Many locals claim that the temple often experiences many miracles. It's also known for its pivotal and healing role in the fighting between Chinese secret societies (Angyee) in 1876.

The Andaman Sea is famous for its pristine waters and untouched islets, as you might have seen in classic Hollywood films like The Beach (2000), Cutthroat Island (1995) and James Bond (1974). An excellent way to explore the Phuket's surroundings is by renting a boat. A private boat charter lets you explore wherever you feel like for the day. 

The Phuket Botanic Garden in Chalong attracts families and those with an interest in gardening and botany. It has an orchid pavilion display and rainforest garden with many rare plant species and more than 30 other selections. A must-see is the winter garden, where you can see colourful flowers and trees from the northern part of Thailand. Despite Phuket’s warm and humid weather, this room is consistently cool at around 20°C.

Wat Mai Luang Pu Supha (Wat Sila Suparam) is a beautiful and inviting temple in Chalong. It's famous mainly because of its founder, Luang Pu Supha, who was one of the most respected and long-lived monks in modern Thai history. The ordination hall displays a statue of Buddha in a sitting position, with a 7-headed serpent (naga) over his head. Wat Mai Luang Pu Supha also has a museum exhibiting the monk's life and works. 

Jungle Xtrem Adventure Park (Phuket Tree Adventure) occupies a rubber plantation above Wat Chalong, offering tightropes, flying fox, net walking, and different types of bridges for you to explore. The 19,200-square-metre park takes safety very seriously – each player is equipped with a safety harness, a double lanyard, 2 carabiners, 1 sling and 1 pulley before they can explore its many activities and stations.

Phuket Shooting Range is part of an entertainment complex some 700 metres from Chalong Circle. The 150,000-square-metre compound has a shooting range, a go-kart racing track, a snake farm, paintball and ‘airsoft’ BB gun setup, ATV rides, and a gems store. Phuket Shooting Range offers a good choice of handguns and rifles of different calibres, including .22, .38, .45 and 9mm, as well as shotguns.

Phunaka Golf Driving Range is a 9-hole golf course in Chalong, near the famous Wat Chalong. It also has a 56-bay driving range, a 5-star golf academy, a club-fitting centre, practice area, fitness centre, and a karaoke facility. You can play a round of golf against a beautiful backdrop of tropical hills and Sri Supa Ram Temple. Prices are reasonable compared to most courses in Phuket.

Professional Muay Thai matches take place every Friday night at Suwit Muay Thai Camp. You can experience the passion of Thailand's national sport together with crowds of onlookers, whose cheers blend with the strains of high-pitched Javanese clarinets, drums, and finger cymbals that accompany the fights. If you're interested in learning about this extreme sport, the gym offers twice-daily training classes for differing levels from Mondays to Saturdays.

Tiger Muay Thai Camp is a dedicated Thai Boxing camp where fighters from all over the world come to learn from Muay Thai champions and MMA experts. Muay Thai courses are broken down into group classes which run twice a day, with beginner, intermediate, advanced and invite-only classes for professional fighters.

Chalong Bay Rum Distillery is based in southern Phuket, not far from Phuket Zoo. It's known for producing high-end quality white rum, which you can enjoy via on-site visits, workshops, and tastings. Hourly guided tours in English, French, Thai, and Russian start from 2pm until 6pm every day. You can join a 2-hour cocktail workshop to learn how to properly mix mojitos, spicyrinhas and piña coladas (using the distillery’s rum, of course).