Phuket Thailand
Well we stayed at Kata Beach and completely avoided the excesses of Patong Beach that give Phuket such a bad name in some ways but I'm sure the old guys on their own wouldn't stay where we were so there is something for everyone in Thailand which makes it so popular. And the people are really very warm welcoming and the hassle isn't too bad.
There is surf here and we went out twice but that was enough because good it ain't. I'm sure every place has its day but a NZ guy who lives here and has a surfboard rental business was honest enough to rank it pretty low and we found the close out shore breaks here ok when you haven't had a feed for awhile but didn't bother again after two sessions.
The hotel we stayed at for 3 days was The Sugar Palm Resort and with Agoda's special prices it was great value for a 4 star place. We got hit for the Holiday Club Spiel by some quick talking Pommies and we got a cheap beach bag and a free holiday at one of their resorts if we come back but my experience is that if you don't join and part with your $19000 and yearly $300 you never can get a booking when you want it. Waste of our 2 hours . The Kata Beach Resort had a setup for the State of Origin and we and about 40 other Aussies where there and the NSW win was pretty popular
