10 Best Nightlife in Kata Beach

After Beach Bar is just a short drive up the steep hill out of south Kata – you’ll see a group of parked cars outside 3 rather rough-and-ready restaurant/bars precariously clinging to the hill. These are After Beach Bar, Small Viewpoint and Baan Chom View. After Beach Bar itself is the establishment in the middle. Here, the sun setting into the Andaman is accompanied by the almost non-stop flow of Bob Marley tunes on the stereo. The decor consists of wagon wheels, raw plank shelving as well as Thai and (of course) Jamaican flags.

The handwritten photo menu is in Thai, Russian and English, and features a good long list of cocktails at just about reasonable prices (the elevated location means elevated prices but you get what you pay for), a bottled beer selection, Thai and international dishes with even a few dishes coming from Thailand’s distinctive northeastern cuisine.

Heaven Restaurant & Bar Phuket is a delightful bar and restaurant with views of the breathtaking Andaman Sea from the rooftop deck and main dining area. The venue allows you to enjoy a host of local seafood delicacies made in the traditional, local way at reasonable prices.

Tuck into the extensive menu and delicious offerings while you stare out over the 3 bays of Kata Noi Beach, Kata Beach and Karon Beach – the perfect place to view the sunset in the distance on an evening in Phuket.

Dino Park is a mini-golf course and restaurant located right in between Karon and Kata beaches on the Beach Road itself. The course brings players back to the prehistoric era, and they'll pass a primaeval swamp, go through a lava cave, flank a moving and roaring T-Rex, pass under a 12-metre waterfall and beneath an erupting volcano – all with impressive lighting and sound effects.

After a typical round of 40 minutes to an hour, the restaurant is a great place to cool off with a cold drink or burger. Popular with both adults and kids, Dino Park is an ideal family outing destination.

This iconic Ska Bar is tucked away among the huge granite boulders at the southern end of Kata Beach. As the name implies, it's run by dreadlocked Rastafarians with a keen sense of business as this place is hopping most nights – many making the sunset hour a priority. The sounds here are mostly reggae with a touch of hip-hop and R&B and the drink of choice is a cold Chang Beer.

Ska Bar is set on different levels linked by wooden terraces and passages. It's quite compact so it can easily feel crowded, but that’s an advantage as there's a marked sense of camaraderie with lots of friendly drinkers and there are even fire dancers on the beach to keep things interesting.

Surf House Phuket is every surfer’s dream: a place where you can ride the waves every day, no matter what the weather conditions. With an adjacent bar and restaurant, Surf House Phuket is a world to itself and, as a result, it's tremendously popular. Located by the Kata/Karon administrative offices at Kata Beach, Surf House has a waverider machine and a great atmosphere. 

Apart from the pool area, there’s a trendy and busy café/restaurant to the side with cool sounds, bamboo trimmings, buffed concrete floors, heavy wooden furniture and wall-mounted mini surfboards as a decorative theme. A larger rooftop restaurant with vistas out over the beach offers a perfect sundowner spot and a cool place to spend an evening. If you’re looking for a California-style aqua-adventure in the company of a young international crowd, then Surf House Phuket is just the right place to be.

Sabai means ‘comfortable’ in Thai and never was a place so aptly named as this bar/restaurant in a ‘secret’ location in the jungle between Nai Harn and Kata. Every new arrival is made to feel welcome by the chirpy staff behind the large central bar. Sabai Corner has been built on a bluff overlooking some of the best beach views on the island. The background music is like an auditory Hall of Fame from the '60s: The Band, The Beach Boys, CCR, The Byrds, and The Moody Blues are all on regular rotation.

Sabai Corner is a good place for a romantic moment but most of all it’s the absolute epitome of tranquillity, with unbeatable views and a friendly and welcoming team.

There's a pretty standard selection of beer bars on Kata Road (in so far as Thailand's beer bars can ever be called standard), with the usual pink neon lights, cheap beers, loud music and friendly hostesses. A few also have pool tables. Drinks are cheap and you can rock up and sit down for some easy conversation.

Lana Bar has a fun and lively atmosphere, with good music and particularly good mojitos. It's perhaps best known for its large jugs of cocktails, which come with a bunch of extra-long straws to make sharing easy.

Located at the entrance to the road leading to the Malisa Villa Suites, Lana Bar has a very distinctive orange and black colour scheme, even down to the orange chairs around black tables.

Palm Square is a beautiful dining and relaxing hub located in Kata Beach, right next to Wonderful Pool House at Kata. The design of this cool plaza is impressive as it revisits the Sino-Portuguese colonial style of the great tin mining era of Phuket Island, at the end of the 19th century, but with buffed concrete and stunning lighting arrangements giving the whole place a futuristic touch.

With 8 restaurants and bars, a yoga and fitness studio, spas, and a few boutiques (art gallery, clothes, and Thai natural products), the 3 floors of the Kata Palm Square building offer a cool and modern place to spend an agreeable evening with family and friends after a long day at the nearby beach or exploring Phuket and the vicinity.

The Walk @ Kata contains a line of beer bars, each pretty similar to the next, running through the centre of the complex. The whole street itself is something of a nightlife hub, with various different styles of bar along both sides. Those bars along the middle all have a similar beach hut look, low-cost cocktails (starting from as little as 99 baht each) and generally friendly staff. Popular bars include Pig & Whistle and Black Cat's.