The best beaches on Koh Samui, and who each one suits
By the Endless Summer crew · · 9 min read
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The best beaches on Koh Samui are not interchangeable, and the right one depends on what you want from your stay. Chaweng is the busy main strip. Lamai is a little calmer. Choeng Mon and Mae Nam suit families and quiet stays. Silver Beach and Coral Cove are where the snorkelling is, and Bophut is where you go in the evening.
We run one wooden boat along Samui's north and east coasts, so we see the north- and east-coast beaches from the sea every week, in good weather and bad. This guide is how we would match a beach to a traveller, including what goes wrong at each one and which change most with the season.
The best beaches on Koh Samui at a glance
Here is the quick answer. The details for each beach follow below.
| Beach | Coast | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chaweng | East | Nightlife, restaurants, a long walk on soft sand | Crowds; rough surf and red flags in the monsoon |
| Chaweng Noi | East | A quieter resort stay close to Chaweng | Small, resort-lined, little going on |
| Lamai | East | Couples and families who want some life nearby | Rough sea in the monsoon |
| Silver Beach (Crystal Bay) | East | Easy snorkelling in a pretty cove | Full by midday, limited parking |
| Coral Cove | East | Snorkelling off the rocks | Tiny, steep way down, rocky entry |
| Choeng Mon | North-east | Families with young children, calm swimming | Not much nightlife |
| Bophut / Fisherman's Village | North | Evenings, dinner, the Friday market | Narrower beach, not the best swimming |
| Mae Nam | North | Quiet stays, long walks | Spread out, early nights |
| Bang Po | North-west | Sunset and local seafood | Very shallow at low tide |
| West and south coasts | West / south | Sunsets, space, local life | Long drives, often shallow |
Which Koh Samui beaches are best in each season?
The coast matters as much as the beach. From mid-October to mid-December the north-east monsoon brings the wettest, windiest weather of the year, and it hits the east side of the island head on. The east coast takes the swell first. The north coast is sometimes easier, but a strong north-easterly makes it rough too; the crew decide on the day. For a beach day, that means checking the sea yourself before you go.
In practice, Chaweng, Lamai and the coves between them can be churned up for days in November, with red flags on the big beaches. The seas settle from late December. The calmest, clearest months are usually late December to April and June to August, and Samui runs opposite to Phuket: when the Andaman coast has its wet season, roughly May to October, Samui is usually at its best.
One thing the map won't tell you: Chaweng and Lamai face east. You get the sunrise over the sea there, while the sun sets behind the hills. For sunsets, go north-west or west.
Chaweng and Chaweng Noi: the busiest beach and its quieter neighbour
Chaweng is Samui's longest and busiest beach, with soft pale sand and the island's main run of restaurants, shops, nightlife and hotels just behind it. If you want to walk out of your hotel into everything, stay here. The central stretch is the liveliest and the northern end is quieter; in the monsoon the surf and currents can be strong, so watch the flags. It doesn't suit anyone after a quiet beach or a sunset over the water.
Chaweng Noi is the smaller bay just south, round a rocky headland: resort-lined, calmer, with Chaweng a short ride away and Coral Cove just beyond its southern end. It faces the same way, so it gets the same swell. Our Chaweng Beach guide goes into which part of Chaweng to pick.
Lamai Beach: is Lamai better than Chaweng?
Lamai is better than Chaweng if you want a big beach with plenty of places to eat but a slower pace; Chaweng is better if nightlife is the point. Lamai is Samui's second-largest beach, a few kilometres south of the Chaweng headlands, with a busier centre and quieter ends.
At its southern end are Hin Ta and Hin Yai, the Grandfather and Grandmother rocks, which almost everyone visits once. Treat them as a short stop rather than an outing, and expect company around midday. Like Chaweng, Lamai faces the north-east monsoon, and from mid-October to mid-December the sea there can be rough enough to keep you on the sand.
Silver Beach and Coral Cove: the best beaches for snorkelling
For snorkelling, the best beaches on Koh Samui are the two small boulder coves between Chaweng and Lamai. Most of Samui's beaches are sand; these two coves have granite running into the sea, and the coral and reef fish come with it.
Silver Beach, also called Crystal Bay, has more sand and an easy walk-in from the beach. Coral Cove, just to the north, is smaller and rockier, with a steeper way down and less room. Both fill up from late morning, both have little parking and both need a calm sea. Go early.
Bophut and Fisherman's Village: best for the evening
Bophut is the north-coast beach for evenings. The beach is narrower than Chaweng's, and the water is calm for much of the year but not the island's best for swimming. The reason to come is Fisherman's Village behind it: old wooden shophouses turned into restaurants and shops, and the Friday-evening Walking Street, when the beach road closes to traffic and fills with food stalls.
It suits couples, families who want an easy dinner by the sea, and anyone staying on the north coast. Hansar Samui Resort, one of our two boarding points, is on this beach.
Choeng Mon: the best beach for families on Koh Samui
For families with young children, Choeng Mon is the beach we would suggest first, with Mae Nam a close second. It is a sheltered, curved bay on Samui's north-east tip, with soft sand and water that is usually gentler than on the big east-coast beaches.
It is small and fairly quiet, with resorts around the bay and not much nightlife, which is the appeal for families and the drawback for anyone who wants nightlife on the doorstep. It is a short drive from the airport. A strong north-easterly can still make it choppy, and wherever you go with children, watch the flags and the tide.
Mae Nam and Bang Po: the quietest beaches on the north coast
For quiet, head to the north coast west of Bophut. Mae Nam is a long, relaxed beach looking across the water to Koh Phangan, with resorts and villas spread along it and a village behind rather than a strip. It is good for long walks, and the shallow water close in makes for easy swimming with children.
Bang Po, further west, is quieter still: a narrow beach, seafood restaurants on the beach road and one of the island's best sunsets, but very shallow at low tide. Our Sunset Cruise runs along this coast from 16:00 to about 19:30, past Fisherman's Village and Mae Nam to a swim stop in the open water off Bang Po.
The trade-off is distance. Chaweng's nightlife is a taxi ride away, and evenings here end early.
The west and south coasts: sunsets and space
The west and south coasts are the least developed side of Samui, and the place to stay if you want the sunset from your own stretch of sand. The beaches there face the evening sun, the water is often shallow and calm, and you see more village life than resort life.
We don't take the boat there, because our home water is the north and east coasts, so we will keep this general. These beaches suit long stays and people with a car or scooter. Expect fewer restaurants, longer drives to everything else, and quiet nights.
Seeing Samui's beaches from the water
From a boat you can see a good stretch of the coastline in a morning without moving your towel. Our Half-Day Trip runs Monday to Friday on a traditional Thai teak cruiser: north along the Big Buddha coast past Koh Faan, then round to the boulder coves between Chaweng and Lamai, with the snorkelling and swim stop at Silver Beach or Coral Cove, chosen on the day by what the guests want and what the sea allows. Lunch, snorkelling gear and transfers are included, and we are back alongside by 14:00. It costs ฿2,900 per adult and ฿1,900 per child aged 4 to 11.
Hotel pickup is free from anywhere on the island, so where you stay doesn't decide if you can join us. It isn't a beach day, though. If what you want is six hours on one patch of sand, take a taxi to the beach and skip us.
Beaches you can't drive to
Two of the most photographed beaches near Samui are on other islands, and we don't go to either. Koh Nang Yuan, off Koh Tao, is three islets joined by a sandbar; this Koh Tao and Nang Yuan snorkel tour makes it a long day by speedboat. Ang Thong National Marine Park, about 40 islands north-west of Samui, has quiet beaches and a famous viewpoint, but it is closed to visitors every year from 1 November to 15 December. Outside those dates, an Ang Thong day tour with kayaking and snorkelling covers it.
Questions people ask us
- Which is the best beach on Koh Samui?
- There is no single best beach; it depends on what you want. Chaweng is best for nightlife and a long walk, Lamai for a slightly calmer version, Choeng Mon and Mae Nam for families and quiet, Silver Beach and Coral Cove for snorkelling, and Bang Po and the west coast for sunsets. In the monsoon the east coast takes the swell first; the north coast is sometimes easier, but not always.
- Which beach is better, Chaweng or Lamai?
- Chaweng if you want the most restaurants, shops and nightlife within walking distance, and the longest stretch of soft sand. Lamai if you want a big beach with plenty to eat but a slower pace and slightly fewer people. Both face east, so neither has a sunset over the sea, and both take the swell first in the north-east monsoon.
- Which beach on Koh Samui is best for families?
- Choeng Mon, a sheltered bay on the north-east tip with gentle water, then Mae Nam on the north coast, which is long, quiet and shallow close in. Both are calmer than Chaweng or Lamai for much of the year. Wherever you go with children, check the flags and the tide, and keep little ones within arm's reach in the water.
- What is the quietest beach on Koh Samui?
- The quietest beaches are on the north-west, west and south coasts. Bang Po, west of Mae Nam, is a narrow, local beach with seafood restaurants and very little else, and the west coast is quieter still. Mae Nam is quiet too, but with more places to stay. On the east coast, Chaweng Noi is the calmest of the big-name beaches.
Come out on the water with us
One handcrafted Thai teak cruiser, fifteen guests at most, free hotel pickup anywhere on Koh Samui.
