Ask any captain in Chalong where the water is at its best and most will point south. Racha Yai is the island people picture when they book a yacht in Phuket - glassy turquoise bays, powder sand and reefs that start right off the beach.
Racha Yai works almost all year round. The island sits far enough from the mainland that the water stays clean and clear even when the beaches of Phuket turn cloudy, and on a calm morning you can see the bottom straight from the deck.
The sea here is gentle for most of the season. The bays are wide and sheltered, the entries are sandy and gradual, and the anchorages are calm - which is exactly why families with children keep coming back to this route.
It is simply the best snorkeling within easy reach of Phuket. Yellow snappers, parrotfish, the occasional turtle - all in warm shallow water that asks for nothing more than a mask and a little curiosity.
And the rhythm of the day is what makes it special. Under an hour of easy sailing, then long unhurried hours of swimming, lunch on deck and doing gloriously little in a very beautiful place.
Tell us your date and group size and we will match the right yacht to this route.