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Beaches ~ locations & maps
Just the kind of beaches you find in the advertisements ~ coconut trees swaying over fine, white sand, lapped by crystal clear waters. Some virtually deserted, others providing everything you need. Get a massage, buy barbecued chicken, sarongs, get to know the locals. Dine in candlelight on beach-mats, lounge wth a drink on cushions, or simply doze off and chill out.
Beaches to the North » Maenam beach, Big Buddah beach, Choeng Mon, Bophut beach
& Fisherman's Village
Beaches to the East » Chaweng beach, Lamai beach
Beaches to the South » Hua Thanon & Bang Kao, Taling Ngam beach
Beaches to the West » Lipa Noi, Nathon
Chaweng Beach
Koh Samui's busiest and biggest town has sprung up around one of the island's best beaches. As well as offering more accommodation options than elsewhere on the island, Chaweng is also nightlife central with bars and restaurants catering to every taste.
From beachside institutions to sophisticated cocktail bars, Chaweng's nightlife is streets ahead of anywhere else on Samui in terms of choice.
The famous Green Mango strip still forms the axis around which the rest of the town's bars revolve and is packed with (mostly) young revellers every night, alternating between the pubs and dance bars.
Chaweng's main strip is nearly three kilometres long though, and lots of smaller centres of activity have sprung up along it.
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Lamai Beach
Lamai Beach is Samui's Second largest resort area after Chaweng. It is quieter and less bustling than its big sister, but still with plenty of accommodation, dining and shopping options to be found, plus some great spas to visit and tourist sites to explore.
In terms of popularity, the tourist facilities and the quality of the beach itself, Lamai comes a close second to Chaweng, but with a less frenetic ambience.
The general atmosphere is laid back and Lamai has slightly older, and by extention cheaper tourist facilities than Chaweng, although there is some indication that the area is slowly being rejuvenated.
Along with the rest of Samui, there is a steady trend away from the 'cheap and cheerful' toward smarter, high-end accommodation and dining facilities.
Due to its relaxed atmosphere, Lamai is also great for families and some resorts cater well for children.
Lamai is bordered by lush jungle, with secluded bays, small quaint villages, temples, spas, mummified monks and phallic rock formations all close by.
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Bophut Beach
Bophut is really two places: firstly, Bophut beach, which sweeps down several kilometres between Big Buddha and Maenam beaches and secondly, perhaps one of the oldest places on the island, the charming Fisherman's Village (see below), which takes up the middle section of the beach.
There are also some dive shops in the area, offering scuba lessons or day dives to sites in the famous Ang Thong Marine Park, Sail Rock and Koh Tao.
The area also selected tours to secret spots in the surrounding islands or some jeep rides to places difficult to access for visitors not familiar with the island.
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Fisherman's Village
Fisherman's Village is fast gaining a reputation that stretches way beyond Samui for being the most elegant and well-preserved place on the island. Some of the most stylish and elegant bars and restaurants are found within this compact area.
Lined by old wooden Chinese shop-houses, interspaced with a few modern buildings that match the tone, it retains a distinctly Mediterranean feel - this has probably got a lot to do with the fact that it was the main French outpost on the island for many years.
Mixed in among the shops are several boutiques, selling high quality clothing and jewellery.
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Big Buddha Beach
One of Samui's fastest developing areas, Big Buddha benefits from its proximity to the airport and Chaweng.
It's also the best place in the north of the island to catch a ferry or speedboat over to Had Rin on the island of Koh Pha Ngan home of the full moon party.
Big Buddha's long sweeping beach is lined with cheap to mid-price resorts, and excellent restaurants.
The main road has improved a lot in recent months and now has several dive shops, numerous supermarkets and many nightlife options.
Although backpackers still make up the majority of the clientele, Big Buddha is also now attracting its fair share of small tour groups and families, who appreciate being within a short distance of the bars and clubs of the area and the trendy restaurants and shops of Fisherman's Village.
Out on a causeway at the northern end of the beach, Wat Phra Yai houses the Big Buddha statue that gives the beach its name and is the island's most popular tourist attraction. Twelve metres tall and located at the top of a wide staircase decorated with dragons, it dominates the landscape and attracts visitors from all over the world. The view from the top of the staircase is brilliant!
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Maenam Beach
Perhaps it's the excellent views of Koh Phangan that have kept Maenam as Samui's last predominantly backpacker beach. Or maybe it's the fact that many of its resorts are located at the end of long rambling pathways, affording a degree of privacy unavailable elsewhere. Either way, Maenam is still the place to be while away for a few weeks (or months) on a low budget, staying in one of the many cheap to mid range resorts that are dotted along the beach.
At the other end of the scale, there are ultra-luxurious 5 star resorts for those that can afford it.
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Choeng Mon Beach
Much more upmarket that its neighbour Big Buddha, Choeng Mon is made up of a series of bays on the north-western tip of the island, which are dominated by a handful of three to five star resorts.
Most of the activity of the resorts is kept in-house, meaning that apart from a few tailors and local restaurants there's not a lot going on outside the hotels. Still, when guests can have their own private beach as offered by a couple of the 5 star resorts, there's not a great deal of incentive to leave either.
Most of the resorts attract an older, package tour crowd. This is reflected in the food and entertainment on offer in many of the resorts' restaurants. So don't expect the Thai cuisine served to be too spicy and do expect traditional Thai dancing and numerous Filipino bands expertly playing covers of Western pop standards.
A big advantage for anyone travelling with children, is that the resorts are all built on substantial grounds and therefore have all got much bigger swimming pools than can generally be found elsewhere on the island. Cheap accommodation, on the other hand, is virtually non-existent in Choeng Mon.
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Taling Ngam Beach
Easily the most remote spot on the island, Taling Ngam's appeal mainly lies with those who want to get away from it all.
Pristine jungle shrouded beaches and stunning views of Anthong Marine National Park combine to make Taling Ngam one of the most picturesque parts on the island. There are not many resorts based here, but you can still find a small selection of three to five star resorts and bungalow operators. The nearest town of significance is Nathon with Chaweng almost an hour away.
That said, if you're after a relaxing, lazy, holiday above all else, Taling Ngam is hard to beat.
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Lipa Noi
Its closeness to the island's main car ferry pier makes Lipa Noi a convenient choice for anyone driving to Samui from the mainland. The beach has fine white sand and there are no rocks or coral in the water, making it one of the best beaches for kids on the island. The water is also very shallow for up to 100 metres out.
There are a few well-spaced resorts and beachside luxury villa properties for rent.
Apart from the beach, there's little else to do in the area - its very remoteness is what makes it most attractive to the regular visitors, who come in quite large numbers.
It is certainly not the place to come for a party and this is reflected in the older demographic of tourists here. There's not much in the way of entertainment in the area but driving through the coconut plantations will provide you with a pleasant and relaxing sense of being in tropical paradise.
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Hua Thanon & Bang Kao
Hua Thanon And Bang Kao are amongst the least developed parts of Samui and there are only a few resorts spread at leisurely intervals along the two beaches on the island's south west tip.
Hua Thanon, which starts just beyond Hin Ta & Hin Yai, is quiet and is home to a few long-stay backpacker resorts as well as one of Samui's last remaining traditional fishing fleets. The Muslim village has a charming atmosphere and is well worth a visit for a glimpse into island life before mass tourism. The fishermen's elegantly painted kor lae boats are very photogenic, as is the village's fish market. There are a few decent seafood restaurants by the side of the sea, which give you a taste of true Samui cuisine at bargain basement prices.
Bang Kao is home to upscale accommodation and a couple of mid-range resorts. A few independent restaurants but little else in the area apart from the Samui Aquarium and Tiger Zoo and the Butterfly Garden.
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Nathon
Samui's administrative and business centre doesn't offer a great deal to the short stay tourist. ATM's and postal facilities are now available in most other places on the island, but Nathon is the place to go for full banking services and the main Post Office, which also has a telecoms centre for overseas calls.
For anyone arriving by boat as a passenger, Nathon is also the island's main port (car ferries dock at Lipa Noi, a few kilometres south) and jumping off point for the islands of Koh Tao, Koh Phangan and mainland Surat Thani.
To service the backpacker trade, a small cottage industry of sarong shops, bakeries, second hand bookshops, travel agents and internet cafes have sprung up along the waterfront.
The town's main tourist attraction for day trippers is its old wooden Chinese shophouses that line the middle road, selling an esoteric range of goods, including a lot of gold.
Souvenirs bought here will also be considerably cheaper than elsewhere on the island. Food wise, any of the waterfront seafood restaurants are recommended for a taste of truly authentic and very spicy, local cuisine. Hotel accommodation is cheap and plentiful, but as few tourists have any need to stay the night, it's primarily aimed at the local market.
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