I've been only once to Bali, in August 2005, and I completely felt in love with the place. I had no chance of returning, but this year I have ad a 10 days trip to Phuket.
I've heard many people on this forum saying that comparing Phuket to Bali has no sense since the two places are different. This is obviously true, and both places are worth a holiday, but if what you are looking for is a topical island to relax, good food, shopping and cheap prices the comparison is not a heresy.
I don't think this review adds much to what already written by other people on this forum, anyway I'd like to give the forum my own two cents. If you have no time jump to the conclusions.
Beaches: thought I've been to Phuket in low season, beaches in Phuket were absolutely better than in Bali. Among the beaches I've seen, in my opinion Dreamland is the only beach in Bali comparable to Phuket ones. During Phuket high-season, this difference tends to increase.
Nature & Landscape: if you move away from the coast, Bali wins hands down....everything is more exotic and nature is richer.
Food: If you want to eat local food, then Thai food is better, anyway the overall Bali food scene is hard to beat. In Patong, Karon and Kata you can find food from all over the world as happen in the Kuta-Legian-Semyniak area, but the quality/price ratio in Bali is better value in my opinion (from my experience the same quality costs nearly 50 more in Phuket).
Among Phuket restaurant I would advise 'Hat Baan Rawai' in Rawai , 'On the Rock' in Kata and 'Natural Restaurant' in Phuket city.
Costs: Bali is cheaper than Phuket in almost everything.
Renting a bike costs nearly the same in both places, but taxi in Phuket cost twice than in Bali.
As far as shopping is concerned, I prefer Bali mainly for its surf shops and Polo shops....market stalls are maybe a little better in Phuket (I bought two pair of ORIGINAL Billabong surf shorts for the equivalent of 6€ each!!!).
Hotel: I don't have the budget for a luxurious resort and I've found two great little hotels in both places.
In Bali I've stayed at the 14 Roses Beach (the one in Melasti), triple room at 350000 with breakfast.
In Phuket I've stayed at the Kata Poolside Resort in Kata, very nice triple room for 2000 bath with breakfast.
Daytrips:
The little islands around Phuket are incredible and the trip to Phi Phi Lee alone is worth the 14 hrs flight from Italy.
In Bali there are great daytrips too, but the impression that I got is that in Phuket there is a better organization. The distance between Phi Phi and Phuket is comparable with the Bali-Gili one, but you can reach Phi Phi in just 1 hr by boat while the trip to Gili is fascinating but very long.
People:
In most posts Balinese people are described as the nicest people in the world. I'm not completely agreed.....don't take me wrong, Balinese are nice and I havn't had a single bad experience in the whole holiday, anyway I found nice people in almost every place that gather for tourist.
It's sad to say, but you're the tourist, you bring money......why shouldn't they be nice.....it's absolutely their interest!!! And there is nothing wrong with that!
In Phuket the feeling of being just a tourist is amplified and I found hard to have a real relationship with local. Being 3 boys alone (27 year old) the only people trying to talk with you were girls looking for adventures and money......nothing wrong with that, but we had our girlfriends at home and we were in Thai only for a surf trip.
To make a long story short, the fact of not having a true relationship with local people really reduce the pleasantness of the holiday...it made me feel like I could have been everywhere in the world.
Conclusion:
I would go back to Phuket again, especially during high season, but in my opinion the longer flight to Bali (coming from Europe) is worth the extra effort. Maybe Krabi, or other less developed places on the coast, provide a better value for money.
What amazes me of Bali is the fact that you can be in Legian with all the comfort you can desire, and then you can escape whenever you want among rice fields and mountains. I'm a food lover and I had great expectations about restaurants in Phuket.....after visiting most of the restaurants I found advised on the web by many forums attendees I can say I'm a bit disappointed with only a couple of memorable meals. Useless to say that my Bali restaurants list is long a mile....
For all the surfer, I wouldn't disturb going to Phuket for surfing unless you're a complete beginner. Kata can be good and the atmosphere in the water is really relaxing, but usually you have to choose between a sunny day with no waves and a rainy day with good waves....and it can get very frustrating!!!
I hope I haven't bored you too much.....and please forgive my really basic english!!!
Hope to see you in Bali next summer!!!
Thx
Paolo