cecymg

I'm going on my honeymoon in July and one of the destinations is Phuket. From what I've read trough the forums is that it's the worst time of the year to go there because of the rainy season. My travel agent insists that the rainy season means just a couple of hours of heavy rain per day. Is this comment close to reality? or will I really be soaked all day long?

brotherleelove2004

It's never easy to predict the weather in that area for July. It's possible that it will only rain for a couple of hours, but do you want to chance it? The monsoon season will be fully under way. That means that your chances of being forced indoors for more than just a couple of hours is highly likely. The rains start in May and go until October, which puts July right in the middle of it all. You have to ask yourself, do you want to risk a rainy honeymoon? I suggest you choose an island in the Gulf of Thailand instead, your chances for mostly sunny days with short cooling cloudbursts is much better. Koh Samui has a lot of full-service resorts, but it also has a lot of laid-back smaller resorts as well. Same goes for the other islands, Phangan, Tao, Chang and Samet. Unless you want to spend your honeymoon in an overdeveloped and westernized resort town, stay away from Pattaya.

JamesA

I lived in Phuket for 3 years and spent time there over a period of around 12 years, as Mike said rain and it's quantity density cannot be predicted, but in July you are looking at 10+ inches of rain for the month and it 'is' the Monsoon season! Although it tends not to be 'dsrizzle' rain for days on end when it rains 'it rains' and you can get flooding etc. Also note that from May to october it is often dangerous to swim and even if the sea looks calm the undercurrents are dangerous. That is why it is the 'Off/Low season' and rooms are cheap, there is a reason, and that is that it's the rainy season and it's wet. Koh Samui would be a much better idea for July.

JamesA

Sorry 'brother' I thought it was Mike!. From Samui you can also get to Koh Tao, fly to U-Tapao near Pattaya and head down to Koh Samet or Koh Chang, there are a lot of options. Very strange your travel agent telling you that it was not an issue, strange.

MikeBuckley

<i>just a couple of hours of heavy rain per day</i>

Let's make the hypothetical assumption that the travel agent is right. Assume you will be outdoors during the hours (probably at most) of 8:00am to 6:00pm. That's 10 hours. Why would any travel agent recommend a honeymoon at an area that he or she is telling you will rain during 20% of the useable daylight hours? If you don't get out in the morning until 9:00am, your agent is telling you that it will rain almost 25% of that time.

Fire the travel agent.

dywong

We have been to Phuket the last two years in July and have spent a total of one day on the beach out of two weeks. Either it was raining / too windy, or the beach was red-flagged and closed due to high seas and heavy surf. Unless you plan to spend your outside time by the pool, I'd suggest another location like Ko Samui.

PJKeay

I have heard that the area down by Cape Panwa gets much less rain than the rest of the island during this period, how reliable this info is I don't know, but phuket is quiet a large island so there may be some truth to it.