Travel

Beaches on Koh Samui

Koh Samui offers an impressive range of beach locations, each with its own special atmosphere and different options for activities and entertainment. Sealed roads make travelling to the different beaches and attractions easy and enjoyable. Whether it’s five star luxury services or a simple natural setting you seek, a trip around the island is sure to reveal some interesting, beautiful and sometimes surprising local colour.

Lamai is Chaweng’s smaller sister, another fine white sand beach with good swimming and lush tropical scenery all around but slightly less developed in terms of the big international resorts and chains. There are more mid-range and budget choices here as well as a large number of resident foreigners who came to Samui years ago and never quite managed to leave. Lamai has the same type of long shopping and entertainment strip as Chaweng and the nightlife can certainly be just as lively as the number of bars, clubs and restaurants is increasing all the time. The food market in Lamai is also an attraction with stalls serving up authentic local dishes and some excellent fresh seafood.
Big Buddha Beach, named after the famous golden statue that sits proudly at its southern tip, is one of Samui’s calmer beaches. Many people prefer to stay here as an alternative to the busy tourist beaches and it’s proximity to the airport makes it a popular first and last stop on trips to all of the three local islands. The long sweep of beach enjoys tranquil waters all year round and there are several modest but comfortable and laidback resorts such as Shambala bungalows, Chez Ban Ban and the Beach house with good beachside restaurants attached. Local entertainment mainly consists of a couple of local bars, one of the best being the stylish Heart and Soul Bar, and there is a regular Sunday live music festival at Secret Garden resort that attracts good crowds. It’s still only 15 minutes to Chaweng for those who want a big night out.
Bophut was once a simple fishing village, and still retains its charm despite being transformed into a fashionable centre for shopping and dining, as well as an elegant and peaceful place to stay. At the northern end of the beach the waters are calm and clear, with top and mid range resorts like the Anantara, the Bandara and Zazen fronting the beach. Further south, many of original wooden fisherman’s houses have been converted into smart restaurants and boutiques and there are several quality dining choices along this strip such as Starfish and Coffee, Shades and La Bahia as well as boutique accommodation at The Lodge and The Apartments. French and Italian influence is strong around this part of the island and this certainly adds to the ambience of the town, which is an interesting blend of local Thai, Chinese and Southern European styles. There’s also a wilder side to Bophut, with several bars like the Billabong happy to liven things up on a busy night.

Maenam is another beautiful stretch of wide beach on the Island’s North coast facing Koh Phangan. It has long been apopular destination for budget travellers but now also attracts a more salubrious clientele, thanks mainly to the presence of the presence of the top class Santiburi resort and some expensive residential developments. This is an area popular with foreign residents and both the main road and village have a number of good, inexpensive restaurants and shops selling everything from Indian incense to home baked bread. Maenam has a very relaxed, chilled feel to it, some good value food and accommodation and truly wonderful views from the beach.
Taling Ngam in the south of the island has one of Koh Samui’s most unspoilt beaches. The sand isn’t as wide as on the other side of the island, but the waters are clear, the scenery beautiful and the peace and quiet absolute. There are a handful of modest bungalow operations, as well as the spectacular and luxurious Le Meridien resort on a small hill overlooking the southern bays. This is definitely the place to get away from it all and after the 23km drive from downtown Chaweng it’s easy to imagine you’ve made a trip to another island completely.

Koh Samui shopping
Shopping opportunities abound on the island of Koh Samui, with a wide range of stalls and shops dotted around the island’s main beach areas. To find the most choice, visitors are inevitably drawn to Chaweng, Koh Samui’s main tourist hub. The entire length of the main beach road is lined with everything from local stalls selling souvenirs or electronics all the way up to designer retailers who stock internationally renowned brands of clothing and goods.
Thai artisans use a range of materials to create their handicrafts. On Samui you will find everything from kitchenware to sculptures and Buddhist icons carved from various types of wood, including durable coconut wood, mango wood and water hyacinth to name but a few. Although prices are somewhat inflated on the island and the range doesn’t compete with Bangkok, shopping all across Thailand presents great value and is popular with visitors.

Beautifully embellished fabrics are also popular and commonly created using cotton, silk or a mixture of both. The cotton is usually elaborately woven, patterned and coloured with a myriad of natural dyes. Cotton placemats and tablecloths are just a few of the home wares made using this process, the material is also comes as lightweight, durable local style clothing and bags.

Then, of course there’s silk, one of Thailand’s most famous exports, traditionally woven by hand, giving a rough and natural texture that is difficult to replicate with machine woven silk. The beautiful designs and styles available are matched only by the creative use of colour found in Thai silk products, which can include anything from place settings to scarves and shawls.