Koh Samet

Island of Tropical Paradise

Koh Samet is located in the east of Thailand and it only takes 3 hours from Bangkok by private car. After a 30 minute boat ride from the mainland, you will reach the tropical paradise. Koh Samet is part of the Marine National Park; therefore every foreign visitor needs to pay 400 Baht as admission fee.

For Whom?

This is a MUST place for those who love natural beauty and someone who want to escape from busy life in Bangkok. It does not offer any crazy activities at night as a major beach town. There are just simple things that you can enjoy here. For example, you can expect a swim in the crystal clear, warm seawater, lie on a fine sand beach, take a sunbath, read your favorite book and perhaps ride a motorcycle around the island.

A little note for you here, the main road is fine but the road down to almost every beach are pretty rough and hard to get through so I’ll suggest you to park the motorcycle somewhere and walk down instead.

How many beaches does Koh Samet have? There are over 12 beautiful beaches in Koh Samet. On the west side is a beach named “Ao Phrao”. There are fewer beaches on the east side of the island. Every beach is different. There is a very long beach and a private beach, which is mainly a short beachfront about 200-300 meters in length. However, most of the beaches are very fine with nice sand, no rocks and without slopes. They are very good for swimming.

Here are a few beaches that i would like to recommend:

SAI KAEW BEACH

This one is the most famous beach and let’s just call it “Tourist Spot”. Plenty of activities can be found here such as Jet Ski, Banana Boat, Parasailing and etc. There are convenience stores, bars and restaurant with live music band, café shop and many services. If you’re looking for other activities to do, there are tour counters for snorkeling, scuba diving. Interest for more details, click here

AO CHOR & AO WONGDUAN

These two beaches are next to one another. Ao Chor is smaller than Ao Wong Duan, There’s only one resort and 1-2 guesthouses, which are nice and quiet. Ao Wong Duan has more guest houses, convenience store, pubs and restaurants which mean that is more crowded than Ao Chor.

Therefore, I think it is a good idea to stay at a beautiful resort in Ao Chor and walk to Wong Duan for some activities. This way, you will stay at a private beach and enjoy nightlife.

AO PRAKARANG

Ao Prakrarang is a small but a quiet beach with white sand and lots of coral, natural trees growing, giving nice shades it also had a sunbed for you to sit or lay down watching the view of the beautiful ocean. There’s no activity for you to do here, but you can still swim or do sunbathing.

Why This Island is My Favorite?

I went to Koh Samet with a group of my friends last month. I had so much fun explored around the island; we ride motorbike around and stop at some cool beaches. Some of them are filled with people, but some are so quiet, like people don’t know that this place exist haha. My favorite spot is the scenic view point because I enjoy waking up early in the morning to watch sunrise and a breathtaking sunset view in the evening.

To be honest, I didn’t’ expect Koh Samet to look beautiful… I thought maybe it will look the same as Pattaya, but when I arrived …. This place has blown my mind. It’s so beautiful that I keep asking myself “Where have I been?”, “Why, I never been here before?”, “How could I miss something like this?” Okay, I might sound a little bit too excited sorry, but from a girl who has lived in Koh Samui for many years I could say that this is actually better. Especially when it only takes 3 hours from Bangkok to be here.

Crystal clear water, soft white sands, Blue sky with breezy air and charming locals people, what else can you ask for?

Favorite Restaurants

A restaurant called “Ploy” at the Sai Keaw Beach serves food on the beach like many beachfront restaurants. The difference is that a live band performs there; starting at 8.00 pm and the food is very fresh and quite reasonably priced. Favorite dish is “Yum Woonsen” because they serve it hot. The dessert here is superb! We had tapioca with black bean in coconut milk. In Thai, we call it “Sakoo Toa Dam”. The coconut milk is very fresh and not too sweet. After we ate that, our energy level rose suddenly.

Next day, we went to the Ploy Samed Restaurant for lunch. This place is special for its design and decoration. Here, they have converted a fisherman’s house into a restaurant. Table tops are made up of mirror. There are no chairs, so you need to put your legs in an empty area, where the floor is cut into square shape. When people are sitting on this table setting, they can see their legs and the school of fish in the water. How cool! They mainly serve seafood. The food is good, although more expensive than at normal restaurants. But it is worth visiting if you like to see something different.

Activities

Snorkeling to Koh Talu

is a nice activity in which you can spend 5-6 hours on an island called Talu. At the main beaches, such as Sai Keaw Beach, you can easily find jet ski, banana boat, Parasailing, catamaran, hours ride, massage service, pedicure, manicure and hair dressing.

But if you want to escape from people and just want to lay down read your favorite book or do sun bathing I’ll suggest you to go to ‘’Ao Prakarang” there’s not many people here, actually not at all. It’s so quiet and relaxing though, the beach here is not as big or beautiful as the others but still good enough for your desire.

When is a Good Time to Visit Koh Samet?

You can visit Koh Samet all year round. However, you need to be careful during the monsoon season (May-August), as there may be some rain or storm. As you know, due to global warming, the weather is always changing. So the monsoon may come early or later, my tip is to always check the weather before you plan to travel.

How long should I stay?

You should have at least three days for visiting this island, since traveling may take away 5-6 hours, including boat service. However, if taking a private bus or private boat, it may take just 3-4 hours of your traveling time. But still, I really want you to take your time to enjoy this beautiful island, exploring around or even lie down and relax at the beach. Believe me; you will appreciate this island as much as I do.

Are you ready to travel and spend quality time at this paradise? If your answer is yes, check out our tour to Koh Samet or contact us for suggestions and good plans. Click here