Ko Samui is the third biggest island in Thailand after Phuket and Ko Chang. It has nothing to do with smaller islands like Ko Lipe and Ko Phi Phi, but it still has a lot to offer. There is a very busy road going around the island, on the East coast there are buildings all along this road as this is where the best beaches are. Inland there are low mountains (the highest point is at 635m) that offer stunning view points as well as many waterfalls.
Beaches
All the beaches suitable for swimming are built up with restaurants and bungalows but some are quieter than others.
Chaweng is the busiest, the beach is nice and its very longgggggggg main street offers hundreds of shops, bars and restaurants.
Lamai has also a nice beach with very special rock formations at its South end, Hin Ta & Hin Yai (see pictures!). At Lamai and Chaweng the sea was quite ruff with big waves but we have been told that it becomes much quieter later in the year. We stayed in Lamai as this is where our friend Rica set up for a couple of weeks to write a book. We liked Lamai as the beach is nice, there are some good restaurants (cheap and expensive ones!) and bars, however we did not like the doggy bars where young Thai girls offer special services to old westerners men. It is always uncomfortable to see those young girls with those doggy looking old men. We saw some of those "couples" in Penang and in other places in Thailand but there were a lot more in Ko Samui and especially in Lamai. However we have been told it is even worst in Phuket.
Bo Phut and Mae Nam North of the island are quiet beaches where the sea was a lot calmer. Bo Phut as a cute main street, however we found the prices very expensive in restaurants and bars.
Between Lamai and Chaweng there is a very cute small beach called Crystal Cove with nice resorts. A very nice place to relax.
The scooters, the best way to explore the island
As Ko Samui is a very big island it is not possible to explore it by foot. Songthaews (Bh50 per person) can be used but a much more flexible way is to rent scooters. The automatic ones can be rented for Bh200 a day and we managed to negotiate the price down to Bh160 as we rented two scooters. So this is in Ko Samui that for the first time of our life we drove scooters! This was a lot of fun, a bit scary at the beginning as there is a lot of traffic on the main road, but very quickly we became more confident.
Beaches
All the beaches suitable for swimming are built up with restaurants and bungalows but some are quieter than others.
Chaweng is the busiest, the beach is nice and its very longgggggggg main street offers hundreds of shops, bars and restaurants.
Lamai has also a nice beach with very special rock formations at its South end, Hin Ta & Hin Yai (see pictures!). At Lamai and Chaweng the sea was quite ruff with big waves but we have been told that it becomes much quieter later in the year. We stayed in Lamai as this is where our friend Rica set up for a couple of weeks to write a book. We liked Lamai as the beach is nice, there are some good restaurants (cheap and expensive ones!) and bars, however we did not like the doggy bars where young Thai girls offer special services to old westerners men. It is always uncomfortable to see those young girls with those doggy looking old men. We saw some of those "couples" in Penang and in other places in Thailand but there were a lot more in Ko Samui and especially in Lamai. However we have been told it is even worst in Phuket.
Bo Phut and Mae Nam North of the island are quiet beaches where the sea was a lot calmer. Bo Phut as a cute main street, however we found the prices very expensive in restaurants and bars.
Between Lamai and Chaweng there is a very cute small beach called Crystal Cove with nice resorts. A very nice place to relax.
The scooters, the best way to explore the island
As Ko Samui is a very big island it is not possible to explore it by foot. Songthaews (Bh50 per person) can be used but a much more flexible way is to rent scooters. The automatic ones can be rented for Bh200 a day and we managed to negotiate the price down to Bh160 as we rented two scooters. So this is in Ko Samui that for the first time of our life we drove scooters! This was a lot of fun, a bit scary at the beginning as there is a lot of traffic on the main road, but very quickly we became more confident.
For two days we drove around the island and went to all the beaches mentioned above. Not far from Lamai we visited the muslim fishermen village of Hua Thanon, a small authentic village where there are no tourists. It was very interesting to wander in the main street observing the day to day life of the locals. It was very surprising to see such an authentic place just a few kilometers from Lamai. We also ventured inland and visited the nice Na Muang Waterfalls (1 & 2). Next to both waterfalls there are places to do elephant treks. The prices are quite expensive for the short tours they offer, so we did not do it (we will do cheaper elephant treks in Laos), however it was great to see those big animals. There was also a place to be taken in picture with baby tigers, Rica did it, see picture! We checked out other waterfalls but they were nothing special. We visited two Buddhist temples, Big Buddha and another one just before Big Buddha. Both are nice and quick to visit. From Big Buddha we liked the view on the coast and we also enjoyed the challenge of riding the scooters though the very bumpy road that leads to the temple! We also tried to go to three view points but we managed to reach only two! The views from those view points were stunning but the roads to get to them were very scary, too steep to be two on a scooter! We could not reach the third view point as after a few kilometers the road was unsealed. We kept going for a while testing our abilities to drive scooters off road (!) but as the road became very bad we had to turn back.
When going inland we experienced a very different aspect of Ko Samui. As soon as we left the main road we entered a different world, much quieter, we passed houses of locals and witnessed their day to day life. One of the highlights was driving along the road that follows the West Coast from the Rajan Ferries pier. There was no traffic at all and we saw very nice landscapes. However we got caught under a torrential rain and had to hide under a porch for 45min! We where not yet ready to drive the scooter with one hand and hold an umbrella with the other hand!
During the 4 days we spent on the island the weather was not the best but we still had a great time exploring this big island with our friend Rica.
During the 4 days we spent on the island the weather was not the best but we still had a great time exploring this big island with our friend Rica.
