Kata Beach Phuket aka Paradise

I'd read a lot of good and bad things about Phuket. The good had to do with how beautiful it was and the bad had to do with being overpriced and overdeveloped. Consequently I spent a lot of our free time over the previous week researching where to stay. For the most part this research was an exercise in frustration as I could always find something bad about every place I wanted to stay. In the end we settled on Mom Tri's Boathouse on Karon Beach.

It was absolutely incredible. The walls of our suite were all windows, overlooking the beach:

In front of Mom tri's at sunset:

My other concern had to do with fighting other tourist for a sun chair and/or a bit of beach, especially since this was the high season for tourists. Mom Tri's was an oasis on an otherwise crowded beach. They seemed to have the exclusive right to provide sun chairs on the strip of sand in front of their hotel. When we went out to the beach they would set up a chair and umbrella for us on demand. If you looked left or right down the beach you would see rows and rows of sun chairs crammed together like coach seats on an airplane. But for us there was plenty of elbow room to the left and right, and nothing but ocean in front.

Red umbrellas in front of Mom Tri's:

Everyone Else:

As soon as we settle into our chairs they rushed over multiple towels and glasses of ice water. And if that wasn't enough, every few hours they would bring complimentary fruit skewers. We were truly in paradise.

For the first few days we did nothing but sit on the beach or swim, with myself indulging in a daily thai massage. On day 3 or 4 we did a dive(me)/snorkelling(michelle), which included visiting the famous beach(The Beach) on ko phi phi.

Diving near ko phi phi: