One of the prettiest beaches on Phuket, Freedom Beach, is located just south of the very popular Patong Beach. Freedom Beach is a rare find on the island with a 300m long white sandy beach surrounded by jungle, hills and granite rocks.

How to get to Freedom Beach

There are two options on getting to Freedom beach. The first is by long tail boat from Patong Beach and the second option is to walk down from the top of the hill, which is what we did (twice!).

Long Tail Boat: They are typically parked at the jetty at the southern end of Patong Beach and we’ve been told the price is between 1,100 – 1,500 baht for the round trip. It is only a 10 minute boat ride so this is a complete rip off, but most people don’t have any other option (because they don’t have a scooter or aren’t fit enough to walk) so have to pay the fee.

Hint: skip the long tail boat and take a tuk tuk to the entrance!!

Walking down to the beach: We walked as we were staying at Avista Hideaway Resort which is close to the entrance where you start the walk down. The parking lot (if you can call it that!) is around 200m above the bay and the locals who ‘run’ the parking lot may charge around 100 baht to park your scooter there.

So, if this is your preferred option, at the southern end of Patong Bay, take the road that climbs up the hill, turn left at Amart Coral Beach, go past Baan Yin Dee Resort and at the bottom of the hill, turn left towards Avista Hideaway Resort. This is the hotel we stayed at and it’s around 700m away from the parking lot. You will notice the road becomes a rocky path filled with rubbish and old construction goods.

The other entrance to the same road is just before the top of Patong Hill, on the road from Patong to Karon Beach. Coming from Patong, the path to Freedom Beach parking lot is on the right, around 80m after Rasta Baby Bar (which is on the left-hand side of the road).

You will get to a fence where the walk begins and you need to crouch down to go through the opened section to get to the path to lead you to the beach (the gate may be open but it wasn’t both times we visited)! It is not obvious so keep an eye out for it, or follow others who may be going the same direction.

What to expect from the walk to the beach

The walk takes around 25 – 30 minutes depending on your fitness. Obviously going down is much easier than coming up. It is quite a strenuous walk so I would recommend wearing your sneakers and not wearing flip flops.

There are lots of steps and some dirt paths. If you need a pit stop on the way back up there are a few areas where you can pull over to enjoy the view.

Best time of day to visit Freedom Beach

We recommend visiting first thing in the morning. Not only do you avoid the hottest part of the day, but you will likely get the beach all to yourselves and also the walk up/down is much more peaceful when it’s just you!

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Here are some pictures of what to expect!