Coral Cove
More rock than beach: a cove of boulders where the coral starts a few metres out. Good at high tide, awkward at low tide.
Open≈ 1.6 km
A 200-metre pocket of sand between Chaweng and Lamai, hemmed in by granite boulders. The clearest water on the east coast and a reef you can reach by swimming.
Silver Beach — Thong Ta Kian on the road signs — is a two-hundred-metre pocket of sand between Chaweng and Lamai, closed at both ends by granite. It has the clearest water on the east coast, and a reef close enough to reach by swimming out from the sand.
Two small resorts and a couple of restaurants sit above it; everything else is rock and sea almond trees. Mornings are calm and the visibility is at its best before the wind picks up. Bring a mask — the boulders at either end hold fish that the long beaches do not.
Tiny car park, full by 10 a.m. — come early or come by scooter.
The car park holds a dozen vehicles and fills by mid-morning; the roadside above it is a blind bend, so come early or come on two wheels.
On the map…
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The closest places on the map, straight-line distance.
More rock than beach: a cove of boulders where the coral starts a few metres out. Good at high tide, awkward at low tide.
Open≈ 1.6 km
Sunday evening in Lamai: grills, noodle carts, fruit shakes and a stage, cheaper and more local than its Bophut equivalent.
Open≈ 2.0 km
The roadside terrace on the ring road between Chaweng and Lamai, hanging over the water. Two minutes of effort for the postcard of the east coast.
Open≈ 2.5 km
The island guide · The beaches of Koh Samui · Koh Samui map
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