Four waterfalls, one truth: from February to April there is barely any water in them.
Samui's waterfalls are rain-fed, and the island's rain arrives between October and January. In those months all four run hard and the pools are worth swimming in. From February the flow drops, and by March and April Na Muang 2 can be a wet stain on a rock face.
The difference between them is the walk. Na Muang 1 is five flat minutes and suits anyone; Na Muang 2 is a twenty-five-minute climb; Hin Lad is a proper jungle path; Khun Si needs a driver and a scramble. Below, all four, with the season and the shoes.
One warning worth repeating: the sellers at the Na Muang car park will offer a « compulsory » ride and an elephant trek. Neither is compulsory, and we send nobody to the elephants.
| In this category | Getting there | Entry | Allow | Best time | From Chaweng |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Na Muang 1 | Side road | Free | 1 h | rainy months (Oct–Jan), morning | ≈ 10 km |
| Na Muang 2 | On foot | Free | 2 h | rainy months (Oct–Jan), morning | ≈ 9.6 km |
| Hin Lad Waterfall | On foot | Free | 2 h | rainy months (Oct–Jan), morning | ≈ 11 km |
| Khun Si Waterfall | Hill road | Free | 2 h | rainy months (Oct–Jan) | ≈ 5.0 km |
An eighteen-metre fall over purple rock, five minutes' walk from the car park, with a pool deep enough to swim in when the river is up.
Na Muang 1 is the waterfall everyone can reach: eighteen metres of water over a wall of purple-tinged rock, five minutes' walk from the car park on a flat path, with a pool at the bottom deep enough to swim in when the river is running.
Good to know · Free. Ignore anyone at the entrance selling you a ride to reach it.
Open →From Chaweng ≈ 10 km
The big one: eighty metres of water down a rock face, twenty to twenty-five minutes uphill from the first fall. Dry to a trickle in March and April.
Na Muang 2 is the big one — eighty metres of water down a rock face in the middle of the jungle — and it costs a twenty-to-twenty-five minute climb from the first fall. That walk is the reason it is quiet even in high season.
Good to know · Proper shoes. The last section is wet rock and roots.
Open →From Chaweng ≈ 9.6 km
A chain of small falls and pools twenty to thirty minutes up a jungle path that starts behind the temple, just inland from Nathon.
Hin Lad is a chain of small falls and pools on the quiet side of the island, reached by a jungle path that starts behind the temple just inland from Nathon. It is the emptiest of Samui's four waterfalls, and the best walk of the lot.
Good to know · The best of the four in the rainy season, and the emptiest all year.
Open →From Chaweng ≈ 11 km
Deep in the middle of the island, at the end of a rough track and a short scramble. You will usually have it to yourself.
Khun Si sits deep in the middle of the island, at the end of a rough track and a short scramble, and you will usually have it entirely to yourself. It is the one waterfall on Samui that still feels like a find.
Good to know · Only worth it after rain, and only with a driver who knows the track.
Open →From Chaweng ≈ 5.0 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.