Chaweng night market
The stalls along Chaweng Beach Road: skewers, pad thai, tailors and copies. Louder and more touristy than the rest, but open when everything else has closed.
Open≈ 0.4 km
Six kilometres of white sand on the east coast, and the busiest strip on the island. The water stays swimmable all year at the northern end; a reef sits close in at the southern end.
Chaweng is the beach people picture when they picture Koh Samui: six kilometres of white sand facing east, deep enough to swim off most of its length, and backed by everything you might need. It is also the loudest part of the island, and that is the trade — you are never short of a restaurant, a pharmacy or a dive shop.
The northern half, above the Centara, has the widest sand and the calmest water. Chaweng Yai, in the middle, is where the beach clubs and the jet skis are. Towards the south the reef comes close inshore and the sand narrows until the headland cuts the beach off at Chaweng Noi. Sunrise here is the quietest hour of the day, and the only one with the beach to yourself.
Go north of the Centara for the widest sand and the fewest jet skis.
Jet skis operate close to swimmers on the central stretch; swim inside the buoys where they are marked.
On the map…
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The closest places on the map, straight-line distance.
The stalls along Chaweng Beach Road: skewers, pad thai, tailors and copies. Louder and more touristy than the rest, but open when everything else has closed.
Open≈ 0.4 km
Samui's main Muay Thai ring, behind Chaweng: five or six bouts, local fighters and a crowd that knows the scoring.
Open≈ 0.4 km
The second stadium, in Chaweng itself, walkable from most of the strip on nights when it has a card.
Open≈ 0.5 km
The island guide · The beaches of Koh Samui · Koh Samui map
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