Bang Rak fish market
The morning catch sold on the beach below the Big Buddha, and a row of stalls grilling it for breakfast.
Open≈ 0.2 km
A long, shallow, muddy-at-low-tide stretch under the flight path. Nobody comes here to swim; the view across to Koh Phangan and the sunrise are the reason.
Bang Rak, which everyone calls Big Buddha Beach, is not a swimming beach — it is shallow, and muddy when the tide is out. It is on this page for the hour after sunrise, when the light comes up over Koh Phangan and the fishing boats come back in.
The beach runs under the flight path and below the Big Buddha temple, with the Bang Rak fish market at its eastern end and the catamaran pier at the western one. Cheap guesthouses and long-stay apartments sit behind it, which makes it the most lived-in stretch of coast on the island.
Walk it at sunrise, then breakfast at the Bang Rak fish market.
Planes pass low overhead every few minutes in the afternoon; this is not the beach for a quiet nap.
On the map…
Open the full island map · Driving directions · Google Maps · © OpenStreetMap
The closest places on the map, straight-line distance.
The morning catch sold on the beach below the Big Buddha, and a row of stalls grilling it for breakfast.
Open≈ 0.2 km
A twelve-metre golden Buddha seated on the islet of Ko Fan, joined to Samui by a causeway. Steps, bells, a market underneath, and the north coast laid out behind it.
Open≈ 0.7 km
The catamaran pier on the north coast, and the fastest way to Koh Phangan and Koh Tao.
Open≈ 0.8 km
The island guide · The beaches of Koh Samui · Koh Samui map
See it with us · Sunset Cruise
Half of these places are easier with a driver who knows which hill road is paved. Tell us which ones you care about and we will build the day around them.