Wat Plai Laem
An eighteen-arm Guanyin standing in an artificial lake, with a laughing Budai and a white temple hall around it. Chinese-Thai, and the most photogenic site on Samui.
Open≈ 1.5 km
A sheltered bay on the north-east corner, shallow and calm — the beach families end up on. A small island sits offshore, walkable at low tide.
Choeng Mon is the bay families end up on: a sheltered horseshoe on the north-east corner, shallow for a long way out and almost always flat. Ten minutes from the airport, which makes it a sensible first or last day on the island.
A small wooded island sits offshore and you can walk to it across a sandbar at low tide — the single best thing to do here with children. The bay has a handful of restaurants at the northern end and a scatter of hotels behind the trees, and no nightlife to speak of.
Ten minutes from the airport, which makes it a good first or last day.
Check the tide before setting off for the island; the sandbar covers again quickly.
On the map…
Open the full island map · Driving directions · Google Maps · © OpenStreetMap
The closest places on the map, straight-line distance.
An eighteen-arm Guanyin standing in an artificial lake, with a laughing Budai and a white temple hall around it. Chinese-Thai, and the most photogenic site on Samui.
Open≈ 1.5 km
The morning catch sold on the beach below the Big Buddha, and a row of stalls grilling it for breakfast.
Open≈ 2.3 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≈ 2.4 km
The island guide · The beaches of Koh Samui · Koh Samui map
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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.