Silver Beach (Crystal Bay), Koh Samui: a practical guide
By the Endless Summer crew · · 8 min read
Silver Beach on Koh Samui is a small cove between Chaweng and Lamai with soft sand, big granite boulders at both ends and often the clearest water on this stretch of coast. It goes by several names: Silver Beach, Crystal Bay, Crystal Beach and, in Thai, Thong Takian. They are all the same place.
It is also the stop on our half-day boat trip, so our crew spend a lot of time looking at it from the water. This guide is for people planning to go by road: where it is, how to get down to the sand, when to go so you are not fighting for space, and where the snorkelling is. At the end we explain what it is like to arrive by boat instead, and when that isn't worth it.
Where is Silver Beach on Koh Samui?
Silver Beach is on the east coast, on the stretch of headland between Chaweng and Lamai, a few kilometres north of Lamai. The ring road (Route 4169) runs along the hill just above it, so the beach sits below the road at the bottom of a short, steep lane.
Coral Cove, the other well-known snorkelling cove on this coast, is a little further north towards Chaweng Noi. People mix the two up, and some maps label them loosely. If your map shows a long beach, you are looking at Chaweng or Lamai; Silver Beach is the small crescent between them.
How to get to Silver Beach by road
By taxi or scooter, it is a short ride from Chaweng or Lamai: usually 10 to 20 minutes from central Chaweng depending on traffic, less from Lamai. Look for the resort signs on the ring road and turn down the lane towards the sea.
The lane is narrow and steep, and parking at the bottom is limited. By late morning on a busy day the spaces fill and cars end up squeezed along the lane. A scooter is easier to park than a car, and a taxi drop-off avoids the problem entirely. If you leave a car or scooter in a resort car park, ask first; arrangements change and we would rather not quote a price that may be out of date.
Songthaews (the shared pick-up taxis) run along the ring road between Chaweng and Lamai. They can drop you at the top of the lane, and you walk down. The walk back up is short but steep in the midday heat, which is worth knowing if you have small children or a heavy cool box.
What is Silver Beach actually like?
It is small: you can walk from one end of the sand to the other in a few minutes. Granite boulders frame both ends and break up the shallows, and palm trees back the beach. The water is clear on a calm day and calm in the shelter of the rocks, which is why it gets busy.
A couple of small resorts back onto the sand, so you will share it with their guests and loungers. It is a quiet cove next to Chaweng; the appeal is the water and the rocks, not what happens on the sand. Facilities beyond what the resorts run are thin, so bring water, cash and something for shade.
The sand fills from late morning. By midday on a dry-season weekday, towels are close together and the best spots in the shade of the boulders are taken. It is still pleasant, but it is not the empty cove in the aerial photographs.
- Bring: water, cash, reef-safe sunscreen, a mask and snorkel, reef shoes if you plan to explore the rocks.
- Leave behind: anything you would worry about on an unattended towel while you snorkel.
- Watch for: sea urchins in the gaps between rocks, and the boulders themselves, which are slippery where they are wet.
When is the best time to visit Silver Beach?
Go early in the morning, and ideally between late December and April or from June to August. Early, before the day visitors arrive in numbers, the cove is quiet, the sea is usually at its calmest, and the light comes in from the east over the water, so it is also the best time for photos.
By the afternoon the sun drops behind the hill and the beach falls into shade earlier than the west-facing beaches do. Some people like that; if you want afternoon sun, Silver Beach is not the place.
Season matters more here than on the north coast. From mid-October to mid-December the north-east monsoon brings wind and rain, and the east coast takes the swell first. Some days are perfectly fine; others the water is churned up, the snorkelling is poor and swimming off the rocks is unwise. If you are visiting then, keep Silver Beach as a fair-weather plan and check the sea before you go. Our best time to visit Koh Samui guide goes month by month.
Silver Beach snorkelling: where to look
The snorkelling at Silver Beach is around the boulders at either end of the cove, not in the middle, which is mostly sand. Walk in from the beach, swim out along the line of the rocks and stay a few metres off them, where the water is deep enough to float over the coral without touching it.
Expect small coral heads and boulder corals, sergeant majors, parrotfish, butterflyfish and shoals of small silver fish. It is good beginner snorkelling, not a reef you would fly across the world for. At low tide the shallows over the rocks get very thin, so keep your feet up and turn back rather than stand.
Stay inside the line of the rocks. Boats, ours included, anchor off the cove, so don't swim out into open water, and don't snorkel alone. For what to bring and how the rest of the island compares, see our honest guide to snorkelling on Koh Samui.
Coral Cove, next door
Coral Cove is the neighbouring cove to the north: smaller and rockier, with less sand and a steeper way down from the road, and similar snorkelling around the granite. It is the other stop our half-day trip uses, chosen on the day; our Coral Cove guide covers it properly.
Seeing Silver Beach from the water
Arriving by boat swaps the lane, the parking and the towel hunt for a deck you already have a seat on. On our half-day trip, the Thai teak cruiser leaves at 09:00 from Petcharat Marina in Bangrak or Hansar Samui Resort in Bophut, cruises north past the Big Buddha on Koh Faan, then comes round to the east coast and anchors off Silver Beach or, when the group or the sea favour it, Coral Cove next door. The crew adjust the route for the sea on the day and sometimes use the neighbouring coves, Coral Cove included, when conditions are better there.
At anchor, snorkelling gear is there for everyone and you drop straight into deeper water by the rocks. Children aged 4 to 11 get a supervised snorkelling session with the crew in the shallows. There are double floating beanbags for lying on the water, the roof to jump from, and the dinghy to take anyone who wants it ashore for time on the sand. Shade, a marine toilet and your bag stay on the boat. Lunch is served on board, and we are back alongside by 14:00, with free hotel pickup and drop-off either side.
It isn't the right choice for everyone. You are at Silver Beach when the boat is, not at seven in the morning, and your time on the sand is a part of the stop rather than a whole day. If all you want is a long, lazy beach day in one place, take a taxi and go early. The trip runs Monday to Friday, for up to 15 guests, and needs at least five to sail.
Questions people ask us
- Are Silver Beach and Crystal Beach the same?
- Yes. Silver Beach, Crystal Bay, Crystal Beach and the Thai name Thong Takian all refer to the same small cove on Koh Samui's east coast, between Chaweng and Lamai. Coral Cove is a different, smaller cove a little further north towards Chaweng Noi.
- How do you get to Silver Beach on Koh Samui?
- Take a taxi, scooter or songthaew along the ring road (Route 4169) between Chaweng and Lamai and turn down the short, steep lane signposted for the Crystal Bay resorts. Parking at the bottom is limited and fills by late morning, so a taxi drop-off or a scooter is easier than a car.
- Is Silver Beach Koh Samui public?
- Yes. Beaches in Thailand are public, and anyone can use the sand at Silver Beach. The access lane runs past the resorts that back onto the beach, and their loungers and car parks are for their guests unless they tell you otherwise, so ask before you use them.
- Can you swim and snorkel at Crystal Bay?
- Yes, on a calm day the cove is sheltered and the water is clear. The snorkelling is around the granite boulders at each end, with reef fish and small coral patches. From mid-October to mid-December the north-east monsoon can make the east coast rough, so check the sea before you swim off the rocks.
- Is Silver Beach worth visiting?
- Yes, if you go early or arrive by boat. It is one of the prettiest small coves on Samui and the easiest place on the island to snorkel from the beach. At midday in high season it is crowded and parking is tight, so plan around that.
- Can you visit Silver Beach on a boat trip?
- Our half-day trip anchors off Silver Beach or neighbouring Coral Cove (chosen on the day) for snorkelling, swimming and time ashore by dinghy, Monday to Friday. It costs ฿2,900 per adult and ฿1,900 per child aged 4 to 11, with hotel pickup, lunch and snorkelling gear included.
Come out on the water with us
One handcrafted Thai teak cruiser, fifteen guests at most, free hotel pickup anywhere on Koh Samui.
