Planning to bring the wife to Phuket early Feb, is that a good time of year for weather, events, happenings, etc? We go to Thailand often but have never been to Phuket.

Won't do much of the bar scene, prefer to get out and around the island rather than stay on the "strip."

Will definitely pray for surf - any chance of renting a board and actually catching some surfable waves that time of year? I know, I'm asking too much.

As far as hotels we normally just arrive and then start looking around for a place; I trust that shouldn't be a problem in Phuket?

Mahalo, kop khun, kop jai lai lai or whatevers

weather should be great in Feb but you would have to be extremely lucky to get any surf. not sure of any events apart from Chinese New Year and the Phang Nga Bay Regatta. check the Phuket Gazette nearer the time for a list of events.

u should book your hotel online. much cheaper than walk-in and less hassle.

Yep, sorry no surf then. The weather is great in Feb and the sea flat. Surfing is available during the low season months between May - October.

I can live without surf for a couple weeks. As far as hotels, I plan on moving around to different parts of the island.

It seems odd that it would be more cost effective to book online rather than shop around in person as we do in most Thai cities. Surely there are plenty of hotels in Phuket that are not full or over booked?

if u are looking for budget accommodation then u will be able to find some reasonable places to stay by walking in/shopping around. but if u want mid to high range hotels, booking online should save u quite a lot of cash.

if shopping around, be careful of scams from just about every minibus, taxi or tuk tuk on the island - there's a recent post on this in this section

Mid to high range hotels:

http://hotels.thaivisa.com

Why are hotel prices so much lower April to October?

its the rainy season, which means it rains a lot, it can be difficult to get to the outer islands due to rougher sea conditions for diving etc, and dangerous to swim at most beaches.

the plus side of the rainy season is that it is much cheaper, less crowded and the weather is often not bad at all.

I believe the 2nd Phuket Blues festival will be held in Feb. Defiantly worth checking out as the last (first) one was a blast!

Better to book ahead in Feb also, a lot of hotels will be full booked or be charging stupid rates for the last few available rooms. PM me if you want any help with that, I've a few links i can send to you.