Karon Beach

Karon is concentrated around three main areas: The Karon Plaza area on the south end features a number of budget guesthouses, restaurants and bars. The side sois are worth exploring, particularly the one that leads to a small art community, where some budding Thai painters have built a complex of huts, pubs and art galleries in which they live and work.


The sprawling grounds of Thavorn Palm Beach Resort and the Hilton Phuket Arcadia dominate much of the central part of Karon. Just north of these is Aroona Plaza which houses a range of handicraft shops, good restaurants and cafes, a few bars and a hotel modeled on the Sino-Portuguese architecture of Old Phuket. The wide beachside avenue is ideal for taking an evening stroll and doing some shopping.



Attractions

Karon is famous for its beautiful long beach, a wide variety of restaurants, its shopping bazaars and a handful of friendly and not too over-the-top bars and a relaxed night scene.

A few attractions stand out here including the Dino Park mini golf, Karon Temple and the local market.


Dino Park
Dinopark is a mini-golf setup, but with a difference. The course features a man-made mini-volcano which erupts on cue every hour. Various pyrotechnics and strange Dinosaur-like noises surround the course, which naturally involves a dinosaur or two. Open all day, Dinopark is actually better in the evening when you can see and appreciate all the effects in their full glory. It's one of Kata and Karon's trade landmarks and a great spot to watch all the action on the street while enjoying a drink in the cave/jungle setting. The food’s not bad here, too.
Open: Daily from 10:00 – 24:00 best enjoyed in the cooler evening hours.
Location: On the ‘border’ between Kata and Karon Beach, next to Marina Phuket Resort
Tel: +66 (0) 76-330625

Wat Suwan Khiri Khet (Karon Temple)




Karon covers a rather large area but the village’s temple is close to everything important in the area, including hotels and shopping facilities. All the same, it still manages to keep a peaceful atmosphere, just off the busy Patak Road. Visitors will spot a few interesting statues including the two giant snakes acting as guardians of the beautiful ubosot (the temple’s main hall), and many Buddha statues, images and paintings (the black Buddha statue inside the building is quite unusual and hardly seen anywhere else) as well as colourful statues of monsters (or ‘yak’ in Thai) from Thai folklore.
Open: Daily
Location: On Patak Road, close to Karon centre, about half a kilometer from the beach




Karon Beach Map