Low-rise beach village north of Patong: family resorts, the beach-club strip and the Millionaires' Mile villas.
West coast · 26 km from the airport
The headline figure of each series. Open a series for all segments and history.
| Area | Hotel 4★ / night | Villa 3-bed / month | Airport taxi | Day, mid budget | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patong | $42 | $4,041 | $24 | $39 | |
| Kamala | $68 | $4,288 | $23 | $36 | |
| Surin | $131 | $3,780 | $18 | $38 |
Sparklines appear once a series has at least two monthly points.
Low-rise beach village with a resort strip at one end and Millionaires' Mile at the other.
Kamala is the first place north of Patong where the island exhales. It is a village with a beach in front of it, a Muslim community with roots that predate tourism, a fishing pier at the northern end and a headland at the southern end where the road to Patong climbs past some of the most expensive houses in Thailand. The centre is still low-rise: a main road, a fresh market, a temple and a mosque, and two-storey shophouses that have not yet been replaced by towers.
It suits families who want a proper beach and a quiet night, older couples, and anyone who has done Patong once and does not want to do it again. The luxury end of the market lives on the headland and the hills; the mid-market lives on the flat behind the beach; and the two do not really meet, which suits both.
Kamala Beach is about two kilometres of sand, wider at the southern end where the beach clubs are and narrower towards the pier. In the high season it is a calm swimming beach with a sandy bottom and clear water; the southern end has a reef a short swim out that is worth a mask. The Café del Mar beach club and its neighbours take the southern stretch; the middle and the northern end are village beach, with a few loungers, longtail boats and a handful of restaurants under the trees.
Wet-season surf here is smaller than at Kata or Karon but the rips are still real, and the red flags go up on rough days. Laem Sing, a small cove over the northern headland towards Surin, is prettier and more sheltered; it lost its beach restaurants in the clean-ups of the mid-2010s and is reached by a steep path, which keeps it quiet.
Kamala has two distinct hotel markets. On the flat behind the beach and along the main road are family-oriented three- and four-star resorts, among them Novotel Phuket Kamala Beach and Sunwing Kamala Beach, both aimed squarely at Scandinavian and German families with children. The InterContinental Phuket Resort and the Hyatt Regency Phuket Resort sit on the beach and the headland respectively and are the large five-star addresses.
The headland south of the beach is Millionaires' Mile, a road of cliffside villas and a few very small luxury hotels, of which Paresa Resort is the best known. Villas for rent are concentrated here and on the hills behind the village; condominiums are fewer than in Patong or Karon, though several mid-rise projects have gone up on the main road and the slopes above it in the last few years. Hostels are rare.
The village has a good fresh market on the main road, a Friday market by the pier, and the halal Thai-Muslim kitchens that come with a village that has a mosque: roti, biryani and the local massaman are all better here than in the resort strips. The beach-road restaurants at the northern end grill fish under the casuarinas, and the southern end has the beach clubs and their price lists.
Phuket FantaSea, the theatre-and-buffet show on the main road, is the other thing Kamala is known for; it is a family evening rather than a dinner. For a wider choice, Surin and Bang Tao's Boat Avenue are ten and twenty minutes north, and Patong is fifteen minutes south over the hill.
Kamala is twenty-six kilometres from the airport by the coast road, roughly forty-five minutes. The Phuket Smart Bus stops on the main road, which makes Kamala one of the easiest places on the west coast to reach without a taxi. Grab and Bolt are available; the village itself is walkable along the beach and the main road, although the pavement disappears at the edges.
A scooter or a car opens up Surin, Bang Tao and Patong; the road south over the headland is steep, twisty and busy with minibuses, and inexperienced riders should ride it in daylight the first few times. The road north to Surin is easier.
Kamala's monthly market is villa-heavy. The hills behind the village and the headland to the south have private-pool houses with sea views, from three-bedroom family villas to the cliffside estates that give the mile its name; the flat behind the beach has a smaller stock of condominiums and townhouses, and older apartment blocks on the main road offer the cheapest rooms. Minimum terms of a month in high season are standard, and many owners prefer three months or more.
Who stays: families who want the beach and the school buses to Cherngtalay and Thalang, retirees who wintered at Sunwing for a decade and then took a villa, and a growing number of remote workers who want the north-coast calm without Bang Tao's prices. If you are planning a month or longer, the form below reaches VillaCarte; Kamala villas are a small market, so give the number of bedrooms and the month early.
The village has almost nothing to do after nine in the evening, which is the point but takes some getting used to. The beach clubs at the southern end can be loud on weekends and their prices are Patong-level. There is no international school within a short drive; the run to Cherngtalay or Thalang is twenty-five to thirty-five minutes each way in term-time traffic.
The main road through the village carries every tour bus heading north from Patong, and the hill road to Patong jams when it rains. Villas on the headland need a car; the walk down is fine, the walk up in the afternoon is not. And Kamala was hit hard by the 2004 tsunami; the evacuation signage is real and worth reading.
17 projects in Kamala in the Layan Real Estate catalogue on September 5, 2026: district medians, three entry points and the tour that shows them.
All 17 projects in Kamala on layanre.com →Book an investment tour →Free half-day orientation tour →
Partner: Layan Real Estate · Catalogue snapshot September 5, 2026 · layanre.com
Campuses within 8 km straight-line of the area centre, with 2026–27 tuition.
Nearest hospitals by straight-line distance; time is indicative. In an emergency call 1669.
Island-wide medians 2015–2025: bar and number = rain in mm, mark = west-coast sea state, top line = climate season.
bar: median rain, mm○ calm · ◐ some swell · ● roughHigh season: Nov–Mar · Shoulder: Apr, Oct · Green season: May–Sep
Source: Open-Meteo (ERA5), 2015–2026. One reanalysis point for the island, so the strip is the same on every area page; the west coast takes the monsoon swell, the east and south coasts do not. Full month-by-month data →
Pick an area, nights, travellers and budget class — the estimate uses the index medians for that area.
Estimated total
$1,145
| Stay · Rooms 1 | $476 |
| Food and days out | $504 |
| Airport transfers | $46 |
| One day tour per traveller | $119 |
Default parameters, rendered at build time so it works without JavaScript: Kamala, 7 nights, 2 travellers, Mid-range. Medians as of September 2026
Estimates use medians from the index; your booking will differ by dates, property and season.
As of September 2026, the median 4-star hotel night in Kamala is $68 per night (n = 17, low season, range $39–$98). The observation is taken for a travel date 30 days ahead; 3-star and 5-star medians are in the price table on this page.
As of September 2026, the median 3-bedroom villa in Kamala is $4,288 per month (n = 14, low season, range $2,411–$4,562). Monthly rentals from one month upward are handled by VillaCarte, a Phuket agency; the enquiry form is on this page.
Kamala is 26 km from Phuket International Airport. As of September 2026, the median metered-taxi fare from the airport in Kamala is $23 one way, daytime (n = 5, all year season, range $14–$27). Minivan and ride-hailing medians are in the transfers table.
As of September 2026, the median mid-range daily budget in Kamala is $36 per day (n = 10, all year season, range $24–$53). The daily budget covers meals, local transport and one activity, and is published at three levels: street-food, mid-range and fine-dining.
Low-rise beach village north of Patong: family resorts, the beach-club strip and the Millionaires' Mile villas. Location: West coast, 26 km from the airport.
Patong, Surin. The price table on this page shows Kamala against these neighbours, so a cheaper night or month a few kilometres away is visible at a glance.
Yes. Monthly villa and apartment rentals in Kamala are arranged through VillaCarte, a licensed Phuket agency; send the area, budget and dates through the form on this page and they reply the same day. The index figures are independent of these enquiries.
Staying a month or longer? Monthly villa and apartment rentals are handled by VillaCarte, a Phuket agency. Tell them the area, budget and dates — they reply the same day.
Talk to VillaCarteLong-stay villa and apartment enquiries go to VillaCarte, a licensed Phuket agency. One message, a reply the same day.
Concierge
A villa, a yacht, a helicopter and private tours arranged as one programme, with dated price references and one contact.