Fishing charter in Phuket: 37 boats with fishing gear aboard, from ฿31,900 for the whole boat

On the catamarans and motor yachts here the fishing gear is listed in the boat's equipment alongside the snorkelling gear and the paddle boards: a few rods and reels, hand lines, lures for trolling and bait hooks for bottom fishing, offered to guests who ask. It is the right kit for a child's first fish off the stern at anchor, for trolling a lure on the hour-long run to Racha and for an afternoon of bottom fishing on a reef in Phang Nga Bay; it is not the kit for sailfish or a marlin, and the crew will say so. Several boats list 'fishing on request' in the inclusions, which means the gear is aboard and free, and the captain plans the anchorages with it in mind when asked.

Racha Yai and Racha Noi, an hour south of Chalong, are the clearest water and the reef edges where bottom fishing at anchor produces grouper, snapper and trevally; the drop-off south of Racha Noi is where the game boats troll for tuna and the occasional sailfish, and a charter catamaran passing on the way can put a lure out. Phang Nga Bay from Ao Po is sheltered water with a muddier bottom, good for hand-line fishing with children at anchor off Koh Hong or Koh Yao, with squid in the evening under the deck lights. Koh Maiton and Coral Island off the south-east coast are the short-run grounds for a half day.

The power catamarans on this list — 37 to 55 ft, many of them Leopards — are the most practical fishing platforms in the catalogue: a wide, stable stern, two hulls to fish from, a shaded saloon for the hours between, and a licence for twenty or more that suits a family group where only three people want to fish. The sailing catamarans are slower and quieter and give the same stern at a lower rate. The motor yachts of 45 to 65 ft add speed to the grounds — Racha Noi in forty minutes instead of ninety — and air conditioning for the crossing, at a higher rate because fuel is inside it.

November to April is the season for the Racha grounds: the west coast is calm, the water is clear and the drop-offs are reachable every morning. From May to October the south-west swell makes Racha a rough proposition on some days and the Harbour Department occasionally holds boats in port; the fishing then moves to Phang Nga Bay and the east coast, which are sheltered all year and where squid and the bottom species do not care about the season. Low-season rate columns apply from May to October, peak columns around Christmas and New Year.