Beaches in Koh Samui – Thailand

Posted on Jul 26, 2016 in Places

The island of Samui boasts some amazing beaches with crystal clear water (on most days) and beautiful white sand. Sadly it’s true that Samui suffers from a garbage problem and this does affect some of the more uninhabited beaches on some days and this depends on wind direction. For this reason, it’s an unfortunate fact that the beaches with some development tend to be cleaner.

Chaweng Beach is where most visitors end up and with good reason. It truly has something for everyone. The long arc of sand is home to many, many resorts and bars so owners keep their patch of beach primarily rubbish free. At the northern end, a small reef means that the ‘surf’ is reduced to a lagoon – for some this is a bonus, for me it’s not a great place to swim but the beach is still lovely. In my opinion, the best section of the beach stretches from Baan Chaweng in the north to Seascape in the south. Here the sand is fine and, for the most part, the beach is reasonably wide except for the highest of tides. The water is usually clear and no more than a very gentle, rolling wave. Given the wall to wall development along here, it is a busy beach but there is usually room for everyone (except at Christmas!). If you don’t want to leave the beach, hawkers are abundant selling everything you could possibly want in a day… fruit, chicken, salads, bikinis, sarongs, beach accessories, etc. I no longer stay on Chaweng Beach because it is so busy but I always spend time on the sand here, enjoying a morning walk or visiting my favourite bars.

Choeng Mon Beach is a mini-Chaweng so although the beach is not quite as pretty, it still has beautiful sand, clear water (a few more rocks), enough shade and a few decent restaurants/bars for sustenance.

A little further around from Choeng Mon is Thong Son Bay – this is my favourite. Entry is via the road to the Melati Resort and Thong Son Bay Bungalows and with the exception of a few private villas, there are no other developments on this beach. It’s only a small beach but I’ve never seen it overcrowded. Sand is soft and white with just a little broken shell occasionally. Depending on the tide, entry to the water can be a little rocky but either way once you’re in, it’s crystal clear and the large rocks at either end provide pristine little pools to while away the hours.

Travelling west along the north coast, Maenam supplies a number of great beach spots but I find most to be only a thin sliver of sand and the water gets deep very quickly. For me that’s not ideal but for others that’s a better option. The exception to that is the divine little spot in front of the W Resort – with soft white sand and lots of tree cover, it’s a great spot to spend an afternoon swimming and napping.

South of Chaweng, the small beach of Chaweng Noi is nice to swim but I find it a little too crowded and there is a restaurant/beach bar that pumps loud music in the afternoons. If that’s your thing then this is the place for you!

Just around the corner (heading south) is Coral Cove and that’s a winner. With only a few bungalow operations on the sand, it’s generally not too busy. The sand is clean, there are many trees to provide shade in the afternoon and the snorkeling here is fantastic (when the weather is right of course). Obviously the presence of coral means there is some debris on the waters edge so it could be a bit scratchy on the feet for little toes.

Next is Crystal Bay and it’s another relaxing place to snooze the afternoon away. Being only a small beach with a couple of small resorts, it can get busy in the afternoons but still worth it.

Around the next point is the strip of sand that’s home to the Beach Republic Resort. It’s a lovely beach and long enough that when the resort’s DJ gets going, you can still listen from a safe distance.

The exception to the ‘developed/cleaner’ rule is the main Lamai beach which I find to be dirty all year round and with no outstanding features to make me see past that, I never stay longer than a quick look to check on progress.

The beaches I’ve listed here are just a few of my locals but around the south and south west corner (as with the entire island!), there are many small, hidden beaches to explore so always take a towel if you set off on a drive and if you find one I should check out, let me know!