Review: The floating Phuket restaurants that can only be accessed by boats

Everyone knows the best seafood restaurants are by the sea but in Thailand they go one better, with seafood restaurants floating on the ocean.

Called "Krachang" in Thai, the floating restaurants are only accessible by longtail boat off the coast of Phuket. 

Apparently the idea came about 20 years ago, when a group of locals thought it would be fun to go to a floating fish farm and ask if they could eat there.

It was a huge success and thanks to word of mouth the fish farmers found a whole new income stream.

There are now four restaurants to choose from and unsurprisingly, they are very popular with locals. Tourists are yet to discover the culinary offerings.

The restaurants are built on wooden pontoons and have floating wood and net fish enclosures. 

Part of the fun is walking around and peering into the different nets to see what's on offer.   You can pick the exact fish, crab or lobster that you want for dinner. 

There is an element of danger, as surprisingly, some nets also hold leopard sharks, reef sharks and puffer blowfish. 

Sure they are more for display than consumption, but there are no railings so can be a little precarious if you have children with you.

Now another word of warning, this is under the stars dining not five star dining. 

So if you avoid street food when you travel this may not be the place for you.

Photo credit: Darren Robinson

Ocean pollution is obviously a huge problem with a lot of Styrofoam and plastic rubbish caught in the floating nets.   It’s a bit off-putting, but it’s also one of those times where you have to roll with it and trust that if the locals are turning up in droves it must be more hygienic than it looks.  

We harnessed our sense of adventure and our strong stomachs at Kru Suwit’s for an entrée.

It’s important to negotiate the price before you pick.  There are menus, and some parts are in English, but most simply say “market price.”  The language barrier is easily overcome with the use of a calculator and smiles. 

We couldn’t go past the Mantis Shrimp – mainly because we had never seen anything like it before.

It looks like a pre-historic cross between a prawn and a lobster and was served fried with garlic.  It tasted a lot better than it looked and was delicate like Morteon Bay bug. 

Next we chose a crab, served whole and covered in chili sauce. Absolutely delicious and incredibly spicy.

So for the two dishes plus rice for two people the bill came to $35, a reasonable fare when it came to fresh shellfish – if not a little pricier in comparison to other Thai offerings.

We then caught a longtail boat to the next restaurant Black Crab for our main course.  Yep, the shellfish was just a starter.

We had delicious grilled prawns in tamarind sauce, a sensational grilled whole snapper.  Both were great and it came to about $50.   

But we also ordered the grilled whole calamari, which was served without the innards removed.

Sadly, it didn’t pass the sniff test so we decided to not risk it.  There's a difference between being an adventurous eater and a crazy one.

All-in-all it was a really unusual and charming way to have dinner.  It’s not an experience you’ll get by opting for the hotel buffet. 

The best time to get there is 5.30pm as it’s just before the sun sets and gives you plenty of time to look in all the net enclosures. 

Then after dinner, and under a starry sky, you get a longtail boat back to the mainland. 

Getting there: Take a taxi to Lem Hin Pier, which is about 30 minutes east from the centre of Phuket city.  Walk to the end of the pier and long tail boats turn up very regularly.  You shouldn’t have to wait more than ten minutes.  The five-minute boat trip is free if you are having dinner.

Opening hours: The krachang are open every day and there is no need to book.  They are open 5pm til late.