A World-Class Hub For Yachting
Phuket Island welcomes visitors to its shores from all over the world who are drawn to its white-sand beaches and stunning surrounding islands. Blessed with many excellent beaches on Phuket itself, just a short cruise from Royal Phuket Marina opens up a world of island gems and more than 30 untouched beaches and coves, and hidden treasures underscoring Phuket’s reputation as being one of the best cruising destinations in the world.
While Phuket’s reputation is the envy of many and yacht owners and sea-lovers flock to Phuket in their millions each year, Phuket’s yachting reputation wasn’t always so robust, having developed slowly until one man took it upon himself to firmly place Phuket on the international yachting map.
That man was Mr. Gulu Lalvani, Chairman of Royal Phuket Marina.
Having travelled the world, Mr. Lalvani fell in love with Phuket many years before and chose Phuket as his regular tropical island getaway despite having a 12-hour flight from his UK-base to get there! When it came to retirement, Phuket is where he made his new home. Not one to play golf, Mr. Lalvani saw the potential of the island to become a yachting mecca to rival anywhere in the world.
At the time, crippling duties of more than 200% on the importation of yachts to Thailand were stifling the marine industry’s development and Mr. Lalvani met with Thailand’s Prime Minister to discuss the problem and explain his vision for Phuket’s yachting future. This meeting proved a turning point for Thailand’s marine industry and in 2004 the Thai Government reduced the duties to zero.
In his own words, Mr. Lalvani explains: “I had cruised Phuket and surrounds many times as well as many of the top destinations in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, and in my eyes Phuket was the best. The surrounding islands and seascapes are spectacular and I knew if more people had the chance to see what I was seeing, Phuket’s marine industry would grow.
“I convinced the Prime Minister at the time that to grow boating in Thailand and attract wealthy yacht owners to visit, the import duties needed to be addressed, and he agreed. I also committed that if he would reduce the duties then I would invest my own money and build a world-class marina in Phuket.â€
And that is exactly what happened. Undeterred by the Tsunami in 2004, Mr. Lalvani went ahead with what is known today as Royal Phuket Marina, breaking ground in 2004.
Following the reduction of import duty to zero, boat owners from all over the world started to come to Phuket in greater numbers, to experience the stunning cruising the area has to offer and ultimately many relocated their boats to Phuket. Today, Phuket is the boating hub of Asia and is firmly established on the global yachting map.
Phuket is the playground for pleasure boating in Asia and it’s not only boat owners who enjoy the cruising. Charter opportunities are numerous with smaller sail and power available, upto luxurious superyachts catering to the uber-wealthy.
Phuket’s marine success, however, couldn’t have happened without world-class onshore facilities and infrastructure, and Royal Phuket Marina has lead the way in this area.
A state-of-the-art marina with berthing for motor yachts upto 35 metres accessible 24/7, Royal Phuket Marina is centrally located in the heart of Phuket on the island’s east coast. Within minutes of departing the marina guests are surrounded by idyllic tropical islands and they can explore the world-famous Phang Nga Bay and Phi Phi Islands, both of which are within easy reach.
For the visitor looking to explore Phuket’s offshore treasures, day trip opportunities abound and GoAir passengers can avail themselves of a special discount of 1000 THB off the full price for a day trip to Phi Phi Islands or James Bond Island inclusive of transfer from/ to hotel, soft drinks, snorkeling equipment, professional tour guide, insurance and lunch. To take advantage, pre-book your trip at .
Royal Phuket Marina recently introduced a game-changer for owners of power boats upto 40-feet: the island’s first boat concierge service and premium fully-covered dry stack. Boats are kept out of the water when not used, reducing costs of fuel, insurance, maintenance and cleaning, reducing the need for anti-foul and improving boat performance and speed. For the ultimate convenience, owners can now fly in and with 30 minutes notice their boat is lifted from the stack and placed in-the-water waiting to whisk them off to a nearby island for some snorkelling, beach exploring or a spectacular Andaman sunset.
“Our dry stack and services offers the ultimate in convenience for boat owners. We have owners from Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and all around the world, as well as India, who choose to keep their boat in our dry stack and fly in to use it at their convenience. In fact, with boat import duties being 60% in India and GoAir now flying direct to Phuket, we are seeing more and more interest from Indians wishing to keep their boats at Royal Phuket Marina,†added Mr. Lalvani.
Always the innovator, GoAir are the first Indian airline to open up Phuket to Indian travellers, and currently offer flights from three cities (Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru) with plans to expand to more than 10 within this year. This means within a few hours flight time, visitors can be on the paradise island of Phuket and enjoying the yachting off the island’s popular east coast.