This does not mean it’s like the newsreels you see on television with hurricanes or the oceans trying to recapture the land by air drop. It’s just a different weather pattern to be enjoyed just the same. There are massive advantages to visiting Phuket in the ‘Green Season’ ‒ so called as the island springs back to life after months of sun and turns green again when the first rains come. This in itself is a stunning sight. The brown grass is green once more, the trees and bushes have all the grey hue washed off and are green again. Many trees and plants suddenly burst into flower. The air is alive with the sounds of life. Birds, crickets, frogs, insects and countless types of geckos and lizards. During the day the new flowers have attracted a massive variety of butterflies and they are all sunning themselves in the first rays of the morning sun. The sudden abundance of flowers, seeds and insects also brings in new colourful birds to feed on everything else.
Then in the evening you get the stunning sunsets because you need broken clouds for the sun to reflect off to create the fantastic colours. In high season when there are no clouds you get fairly plain sunsets ‒ which are good, but nothing compared to what you can get during the green season.
However, beware early mornings and evenings is the danger time for the mozzies. They are more active when there is standing water like ponds or puddles and areas with more vegetation. So wear socks if you are going to have a sunset drink in a location if there is a water storage pond or gardens close by as they love exposed ankles. At night keep a fan on and swinging as they like still air. If you know you are on the tasty side for the mozzies then the higher floor level the better. BUT being around a pond does offer a great show at night just after sundown. Many places have fireflies all dancing around the plants at the water’s edge and great to see if you have not seen them before.
For me the real spectacle is the chance to sit down in a nice bar or on the balcony when a massive thunderstorm rolls in over the ocean. The purple and pink hue to the sky, the silvery edges to the clouds followed by the spectacular lightning shows. You will see the clouds start to build up at sunset so you will know one is on its way. Then the distant rumble of thunder telling you it’s time to get to your bar, restaurant or balcony before the rains come. The wind freshens before the first big splats of rain warn those still out you have a couple of minutes before the heavens open. Don’t worry the storms do not often last for hours but it may delay you an hour or two. So a good excuse for another drink before the rain passes by.
Not only do the storms give great lighting shows as they approach but they give great entertainment as the volume of water overwhelms the drains and many streets turn into rivers very quickly. You get great value entertainment watching the more lightweight people not realising the depth or the strength of the water, and those who still try to ride the motor scooters in a foot or two of water who just flood the engines and have to push them to dry land. But even in all this you see all the geckos, frogs and everything else scrambling for a dry spot. Then, in an hour it’s all gone and back to normal.
After the rain, the following morning the sky is clear blue again as the haze from the humidity has gone, the air feels clean and cool. The streets are clean and so is the beach. The weeks or months of people on the beach dropping food, smoking and general dust washed away overnight giving a clean fresh feel to even the busiest of beaches.
But do be warned. During green season the weather and wind come directly on shore to most of the main tourist towns as they are mostly on the west side of Phuket. So you get the best sunsets, but this also means you get big waves, strong swells and rip currents. Don’t worry this is not all beaches all the time and the fantastic lifeguards on the beaches check where is safe to swim and clearly mark the areas with flags. RED flags mean DO NOT SWIM HERE. Many times these areas look safe but they may have strong undercurrents that you can’t see, so just check the flags to know if you are in a good area. During the green season you will get good beach days and plenty of sun but you should expect some rain too. I tell everyone to expect 50/50 and then you will be prepared for that so you are happy when you get better than that.
When out and about in the green season, no matter what you do you tend to see more. There are less boats doing diving and snorkel tours and less people in the water. That means less underwater noise to drive the wildlife away. In the garden areas in hotels, on the edges of the towns and in the more rural areas, the flowers are out and wildlife comes back. So again this is a great time to walk and look around you. When the rain comes the motorbikes taxis are harder to find as they take shelter too. Then the tuk-tuks and taxis are more inclined to charge premium rates as demand is higher. So a nice gentle stroll is by far the way to see the most.
The last reason why Green season is so good in Phuket is it saves the ‘Green’ in your wallet too. Flights are cheaper, hotels are cheaper, many tours are cheaper, as are many things that you negotiate for too. The street bars, restaurants, tours and beaches are all much, much quieter. It tends to be cooler as there is less humidity especially later on in the season. This makes it a great place to be during the months of May right through to November. That’s when the weather changes again back to the endless sun and postcard images of a tropical island. So that’s just a few great reasons to enjoy the green season in Phuket and all it has to offer rather than avoid it.