During my visit to Phuket Island, I noticed not only is there many beautiful beaches to relax and enjoy the sunsets, there are also many stunning waterfalls around the island, if you are more deep into nature and are fit enough to a certain level to be climbing mountains and hiking through the lush green jungles of Phuket island then this is the place for you, I wasn't there long enough to do any serious hiking but, I did visit a couple of waterfalls in my short stay in Phuket and Kathu Waterfalls was one of them which is very popular amongst local Thai's and foreign tourist.
If it wasn't for my Thai friend and his friends, I would not have got to see what, I did see in that short time, I was there, I did not have to hassle around with google maps they were the google maps when we decided on a place to go we were there in a matter of time. Kathu Waterfalls was not a great distance from Phuket town only about 5km over the hill from town as long as you took the right roads you always need to look out for small hidden signs and if you missed them, you would end up at a totally different place so, I was lucky to have these friends with me, which made it a lot easier to get to our destinations.
The journey was about a 30 minute drive from the Phuket town center we pulled up along side the road, they knew a short-cut to this place so out of the car and walked through the jungle down along this stone stairway paths which lead us down to the base of one of the waterfalls in Kathu, we didn't have intention to go climbing mountains or going for any hikes cause that would have involved a whole day out here we were on a limited stay and were here just to have lunch by this cool waterfall flowing down from the mountains.
Walking down this stone stairway path, as we were getting closer, I could smell the aromas of Thai foods cooking away all of a sudden, this hidden oasis pops out in front of me, I was gob smacked in awe these amazing Thai people take advantages in every way, who would have expected what, I was seeing in front of me walking along this concrete pathway was a full on set up of a jungle type restaurant and a snack shop built around this waterfall, Thai families and kids were already here enjoying there lunch by the waterfall, tables were set up all around this amazing jungle scenery.
This was really surprising to see, I was lost for words, is why they call it amazing Thailand and the great thing, it wasn't over crowded, it was just the perfect atmosphere the aromas of the food cooking away and the trickling sounds of the waterfall in the background just made it so tranquil and divine to be here with great company, we soon found ourselves a front row table in the midst of this beautiful nature close to the waterfall and started ordering some food, everything that was listed on the menu was not over $4 US were in the world do you get views and service like this for this little.
After a most delicious Thai lunch we took a walk up to the second level as they call it, here you can walk along some nature trails where you will see some pretty big trees full of various kinds of flora and looking down at the waterfall trickling through the restaurant area.
Then there is the top level if you want to tackle the entire journey of Kathu Waterfall this will really test your fitness level this is a real climbing challenge walking up those stone stairways and there are several drop pools along the way if you need to catch your breath, have a dip and move on. They say the best time to visit the Kathu Waterfall is between June to December because of the monsoon period the waterfalls are at there best and they advice not to go climbing up these stone stairways as it gets very slippery making it very dangerous for climbing. I myself would love to come back another time to tackle this entire journey to the very top and when you get to the very top there is another pool were you can take a dip catch your breath and think about your challenge coming back down the mountain.
