Nine stops, from a roadside terrace on the ring road to a jungle track that eats rented scooters.
Samui's interior is a granite dome six hundred metres high, which means the views are all a short climb away and the roads that reach them vary from smooth concrete to something you should not take a scooter up. Lad Koh is two minutes off the ring road; the Jungle Club ridge and the old lighthouse are another matter entirely.
The rocks belong in the same list. Hin Ta & Hin Yai, Overlap Stone, Cobra Stone and Valentine Stone are geology turned into landmarks, and three of the four come with the best views of Lamai bay.
Morning for the east coast, late afternoon for the west and for Lamai bay. Anything described as a hill track here means a car, a driver or a 4×4 — this is where visitors on scooters get hurt.
| In this category | Getting there | Entry | Allow | Best time | From Chaweng |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lad Koh Viewpoint | Ring road | Free | 20 min | morning | ≈ 2.7 km |
| Overlap Stone | Hill road | Small entrance fee | 1 h | morning, sunset | ≈ 7.8 km |
| Cobra Stone Viewpoint | Hill road | Small entrance fee | 45 min | morning, sunset | ≈ 7.7 km |
| Lamai Viewpoint | Hill road | Free | 20 min | sunset, morning | ≈ 7.7 km |
| Valentine Stone | Hill road | Free | 20 min | sunset | ≈ 7.6 km |
| Hin Ta & Hin Yai (Grandfather & Grandmother Rocks) | Ring road | Free | 30 min | high tide, morning | ≈ 8.3 km |
| Jungle Club hill | Hill road | Free | 1 h 30 | sunset, morning | ≈ 3.0 km |
| Apirom Viewpoint | Ring road | Free | 20 min | sunset, morning | ≈ 12 km |
| Old lighthouse, Laem Yai | Hill road | Free | 2 h | sunset, dry season | ≈ 17 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.
Lad Koh is the viewpoint you cannot miss even by accident: a terrace built into the ring road between Chaweng and Lamai, hanging over the water. Two minutes of effort for the standard postcard of the east coast.
Good to know · Morning light. By mid-afternoon you are shooting into the sun.
Open →From Chaweng ≈ 2.7 km
Two boulders balanced on each other in the hills above Lamai, with a terrace looking down the whole south-east coast. A small fee gets you through the gate.
Two granite boulders resting on each other in the hills above Lamai, with a terrace that looks down the whole south-east coast. The rock is the excuse; the view over Lamai bay and the reef line is the reason.
Good to know · The road up is steep but paved. Bring water; there is a café at the top.
Open →From Chaweng ≈ 7.8 km
A hundred metres from Overlap Stone, a rock shaped like a raised snake's head and a second, wider terrace over Lamai bay.
A hundred metres up the same hill road as Overlap Stone, a rock shaped like a raised snake's head marks a second, wider terrace over Lamai bay. Fewer people stop here, and the view is arguably the better of the two.
Good to know · Same access road; buy one ticket, see both.
Open →From Chaweng ≈ 7.7 km
The bend on the hill road where the whole of Lamai bay opens up below, coconut roofs and reef line included. No gate, no ticket.
The free one. A bend on the hill road above Lamai where the whole bay opens up below — coconut roofs, the reef line, the headland at Hin Ta & Hin Yai — with no gate and no ticket.
Good to know · Park properly off the road; it is a blind corner.
Open →From Chaweng ≈ 7.7 km
A heart-shaped rock on the same hillside, put on the map by couples and kept there by the view behind it.
A heart-shaped rock on the Lamai hillside, put on the map by couples and kept there by what is behind it — the bay, late in the afternoon, when the water turns green.
Good to know · Late afternoon, when the bay turns green.
Open →From Chaweng ≈ 7.6 km
Two granite formations at the south end of Lamai whose resemblance to human anatomy is not subtle, and which come with a local legend and a small market.
Two granite formations at the south end of Lamai whose resemblance to human anatomy is not subtle, and which come with a local legend about an old couple drowned on their way to ask for a bride for their son. Free, five minutes, and everybody goes.
Good to know · Free, five minutes, and best at high tide when the waves come in.
Open →From Chaweng ≈ 8.3 km
The terrace on the ridge above Chaweng, four hundred metres up, looking down on the airport, the lake and the whole east coast.
Four hundred metres above Chaweng, on the ridge behind the town, a terrace looks straight down on the lake, the airport and the whole east coast. It is a restaurant rather than a public viewpoint, which is why the view comes with a plate of food.
Good to know · The access track is brutally steep — take a taxi or a 4×4, never a scooter two-up.
Open →From Chaweng ≈ 3.0 km
A low bluff on the north coast road with Koh Phangan straight ahead and almost no one else stopping.
A low bluff on the north coast road with Koh Phangan straight ahead across the channel, and almost nobody else stopping. It is the north-coast answer to Lad Koh, without the coaches.
Good to know · Ten minutes from Maenam, on the way to Bang Por for dinner.
Open →From Chaweng ≈ 12 km
A disused light on the north-west tip, at the end of a rough jungle track. The reward is the sunset over the mainland with nothing built in between.
A disused light on the island's north-west tip, at the end of a rough jungle track. The reward is a sunset over the mainland with nothing built between you and the water — the wildest view on Samui that you can still walk to.
Good to know · Dry season and daylight only. The track is not for a rented scooter.
Open →From Chaweng ≈ 17 km
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.