Cape Panwa

Cape Panwa (แหลมพันวา Laem Phanwa or หาดพันวา Hat Phanwa) is a region in southern Phuket, extending into the Andaman sea.

Understand

Sea and islands viewed from southern Cape Panwa

Panwa is some 10 kilometres from Phuket Town. The southernmost tip of this cape is home to a Marine Biological Research Centre and Phuket's Aquarium where visitors may inspect several hundred exotic, grotesque, and flamboyantly colourful marine species found in the waters of Phuket and elsewhere.

Similar to other resort areas in Phuket, the high season is November-March; options of hotels may be limited in that period unless you book one or more months ahead.

Get in

A Taxi Meter service (found on the right at the exit of the Phuket International Airport) will take you from the airport to Cape Panwa in 1 hour with a rate around 800 baht. Other fixed-rate taxis are available, too.

Some hotels provide airport transfers at your request. If you are travelling with friends or family members, hiring one could reduce the cost and risks.

Get around

Local taxis are found standing around hotels, ready to take you anywhere on Phuket. Most don't use meters but rather have set prices for every destination on the island. You will find no tuk-tuks in this area.

Since it is a small region, you might enjoy exploring around on foot. You should be prepared for little but steep hills along the roads in the region.

See

• 1 Phuket Aquarium (สถานแสดงพันธุ์สัตว์น้ำภูเก็ต), 51 Moo 8, Sakdidej Rd, ☏ +66 76 391126, fax: +66 76 391406. Daily, 08:30-16:30. Offers the opportunity to observe local marine life up close without the necessity of diving beneath the waves. More than one hundred aquatic species abide at this facility, which is one of Thailand's principal centres for research into the whales, dugongs, sharks, dolphins, and sea turtles that make their home in the waters around Phuket. Foreign adults, 100 baht, foreign children, 50 baht. Thai adults, 50 baht, Thai children, 20 baht. Those over 60 years or children under 106 cm are free. 

Sleep

• Sri Panwa Hotel, 88 Moo 8, Sakdidej Rd (middle of Cape Panwa), ☏ +66 76 37100, fax: +66 76 371004. It's a bit hard to get a handle on this place. It appears that their primary business is selling villas, then renting them out on behalf of their owners. A large complex, occupying some 40 acres, it houses at least 4 restaurant/bars. Some representative prices from the BabaQ Restaurant menu: Massaman curry, 538 baht; pad Thai, 528 baht; hamburger, 528 baht; pizza, 528 baht. You get the idea. 84,739 baht per night for a 3 bedroom villa. 
• 1 Kantary Bay Hotel, 31/11 Mu 8, Sakdidej Rd., ☏ +66 76 39 1514, fax: +66 76 39 1208, reservations@kantarybay-phuket.com. Check-in: 2 PM, check-out: noon. Just next to the sea, it has 3 restaurants/cafe/bars, 2 swimming pools. More for an extended stay of a family or a group of friends than someone travelling alone - its smallest rooms are for 2 adults + 1 child, and have 40 sq. meters of space. You get access to the richer facilities of Cape Panwa Hotel, a paired hotel on the top of the hill. Shuttle buses between Kantary and Cape Panwa Hotel run 4 times per hour. You can hire an airport transfer mini van for 6 people for 1,200 baht. 1,600 baht per night for a two-bed Studio Suite (high season).