Of the two marinas we much preferred Phuket Yacht Haven over the Boat Lagoon, but it's horses for courses and both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Phuket Yacht Haven

The Yacht Haven is at the north of the island so it's a bit farther to travel from the main centre at the southern end. As you need a car to reach town/stores from either marina we didn't find that a big disadvantage. It is the nearest marina to the airport.

It is a great sheltered spot which means that there are no towering harbour walls to obscure your view or block the wind, it's as close to being at anchor as you can get in a marina, which was one of the reasons we preferred it.

Ashore there is a small office that provides general services: laundry, car hire, gas refills, Internet.

There are also three restaurants, covering a price and culinary range from basic Thai (delicious and a meal for two is less than $5) to more upmarket Western style food.

There are plans afoot to improve some of the onshore services--building a new shower block for example.

Last but not least, new managers Nick and Zara, are ex-cruisers. They went from managing marinas in the Caribbean to sailing their yacht Patience across the Pacific in 1999 to running the Yacht Haven, so they are well in tune with cruiser's needs--Where can I get meat vacuum packed? I need my liferaft servicing? Zara sorted it all for us.

They sell charts and know the local cruising area well (Nick used to work for one of the charter companies in Phuket) and will arrange for engineers/specialists to come to the boat for you.

Contact: zara@yacht-haven-phuket.com

Boat Lagoon

We didn't take Theta Volantis into this marina but visited it by car. The marina is part of a holiday resort complex so is surrounded by apartment blocks and comes complete with swimming pool, smart restaurants, coffee shops, clothing stores, travel agent etc.

There is also a chandlery and various yacht service companies (a Mercury dealer is based here).

If you need to lift your boat the Boat Lagoon is an obvious choice as they have a lift and hard stand area.

One of the disadvantages of this marina is the entrance channel, which is very shallow and if you draw 2 metres or more you will find yourself having to leave/arrive at night during spring tides.

Fax 076 239056

Other Options

There is talk of two new marinas, but these are likely to be some time in coming so for now the two above are your only options.