Sunbaking on Nai Yang beach

Both slept well but shortly after waking up the electricity stopped - apparently affected all properties in the area and weren't too sure when it would be back on, maybe the afternoon. Decided to move hotels so booked a nicer one (hopefully!) near the airport.
We went for banana and Nutella pancake rotis and coconuts / iced coffee again to the local ladies who welcomed us back, and then packed up and checked out. We asked for a refund for the last night due to all the issues and they were very nice about it. Filled out an early check in form which will be passed to the hotel owner.
Tried to get a Grab but no takers! Instead took a bolt for 490B which took about an hour. Traffic not great so glad we weren't doing it tomorrow morning as would have been stressful for a morning flight if no Grabs.
Bella Nara Phuket Naiyang is our next hotel (£104). I'd asked if early check in was a possibility and they said they couldn't guarantee. Upon check in we were given cold towels and a delicious blue drink and we'd been upgraded to a deluxe room and it was ready! She whispered it so I think we got lucky. Super nice hotel, a far cry from the last one!! Very shiny and posh and Anna is super happy. As am I. Room is huge, as is the bathroom. One of the nicest rooms I've stayed in.
Nai Yang beach is much less developed, much more our style (though would have been out of range for trip pick ups), though seems to be lots of development around so how long it will stay quaint is unknown.
Went for a wander and had lunch at a cheap place with plastic chairs on the beach. Both had Pad Thai, slightly cheaper than Kamala. All the restaurants are on the road behind the beach and all the cheap restaurants are on the sandy beach, which is fab!
Place is super chilled and lovely, still quite a few people but a less developed feel. Found some shade further down the beach which had very few people on it and had a dip and sunbathe. Sand is super soft, almost white, which is odd as just around corner is Mai Khao where we stayed the first night and watched the planes and the sand there was very coarse.
After a trip back to the hotel to dump bags and bug spray, we went for a walk along the beach/ through the National Park trail which is through some huge pine (?) trees with some cool purple plants at the base. Very pretty. Walked for about half an hour and if carried on for another half hour would reach the plane spotting section of a few days ago. There is a big coral island which causes the water to converge in a triangle and looks pretty cool. There is a shallow shelf that runs out to it as some people were walking along / taking cool photos.
We wandered back a bit and watched another glorious sunset. There were lots of runners which we hadn't seen much of before and tons of locals around coming out to watch the sunset, it had such a lovely vibe. So much nicer than Kamala. We both wish we'd stayed here the whole time. There are still lots of people here but Kamala always felt busy as you were funnelled down a path along the seafront with lots of people trying to tout business. There's hardly any of that here.
After showering, we headed out to Jack Beach Restaurant, right on the beach with cool jellyfish lamps and had a delicious dinner - Tom Yum for me and Massaman curry for Anna. Started spitting a little and the staff hurried around putting up parasols so efficiently. We've been super lucky with glorious sunshine here considering there were horrible floods the week or so before.
After dinner we had a wander round the shops and marvelled at all the weird and wonderful foods in the 7elevens etc.
Very glad we switched hotels and got to experience this place.would definitely recommend this area.
I had traipsed some sand into the room and swept it up into a little pile next to the bin as couldn't pick it up. A little while later Anna found some sand in a bag and said where is your pile of sand and added to it. I queried why she didn't just pour it into the bin 🤣🤣🤣. D'oh.Read more