Koh Samui was discovered as an idyllic destination by backpackers in the mid 70’s and it is now evolved into one of South East Asia’s top vacation destinations.
Koh Samui has a broad appeal attracting a multinational melting pot of backpackers, budget travellers and an ever increasing number of the world's wealthiest guests looking to stay in luxury beachfront holiday rental villas and upmarket hotels with 5 star service.
It is a very much a choose-your-own-adventure island that strives to grant every visitor their ultimate holiday wish, with an abundance of activities on the water or land-based. Visitors come from across the globe to experience Samui's tropical beaches, vast variety of marine life, world-class international cuisine, luxurious spas and so much more.
Away from the just as popular peaceful holiday locations of the north and west coasts the main town of Chaweng is renowned for it's endless sandy beach and it's awesome nightlife and is complimented with some of the finest restaurants on the island.
Choose your dream Koh Samui holiday villa from the locations below or click here to view our full list of Koh Samui Villas
Koh Samui is situated in the Gulf of Thailand and being 247sqkm in size is Thailand's 3rd largest island
Koh Samui, one of the newest Thailand holiday resorts having been discovered by backpackers in the mid 70’s is now one of South East Asia’s top vacation destinations and is very much a choose-your-own-adventure island that strives to grant every visitor their ultimate holiday wish.
Every year visitors are drawn to marvel at the unspoilt beauty and relax in a sun-drenched embrace.
Koh Samui is a pearl in the Gulf of Siam. This beautiful island epitomizes the idyllic simplicity of a tropical hideaway. It is characterised by beaches of soft white pearlescent sand, azure crystal clear waters and bright clear sunshine.
Taking over from the original industries of fishing and coconut farming, Koh Samui executes its thriving tourism industry with panache. The island provides the best in hospitality and you can experience international standard vacationing with 5 star luxury beach hotels and luxury beach villas established to carefully blend in with the tropical palmed beaches.
The inner mountains and forests areas are densely populated with coconut trees and lush jungle and is mostly uninhabitable, therefore life generally revolves round the beautiful white sand beaches. The perfect location to unwind.
As the accommodation on Koh Samui has become more sophisticated, so have the opportunities for dining out. There are fantastic restaurants and fine dining opportunities all over Koh Samui.
Located in the Gulf of Siam south east of Bangkok, Koh Samui (Koh meaning island) is just 12km from it's neighbouring island Koh Phangan and 35km from the nearest mainland point where access to the island can be by sea. Samui boasts a picturesque mountain ridge that runs east to west with lush tropical landscapes swooping down to the palm fringed sandy shores.
By far the simplest way to travel to Koh Samui from the Thailand mainland is by air with a flight of 45 minutes from the capital Bangkok.
Koh Samui has an award winning boutique International airport operated by Bangkok Airways who have the majority of flights into Koh Samui.
Other domestic arrivals can be made from Phuket, Krabi, Chiang Mai and Pattaya with direct international flights from Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
If you think arriving at Koh Samui Airport is fun the departure experience is just as enchanting
Alternatively several ferries run from Surat Thani or Donsak. The mainland is only 35km away and is a pleasant slow journey to take in, once there it is very easy to connect with bus or train services. Please note however, that ferry times change frequently and long waits are common so a degree of patience is necessary. Boats also connect the neighbouring islands of Koh Tao and Koh Phangan.
The management of our Koh Samui villas will arrange for transportation to your villa as there are no taxis at the airport.
Located in the Gulf of Siam south east of Bangkok, Koh Samui (Koh meaning island) is just 12km from it's neighbouring island Koh Phangan and 35km from the nearest mainland point where access to the island can be by sea. Samui boasts a picturesque mountain ridge that runs east to west with lush tropical landscapes swooping down to the palm fringed sandy shores.
Koh Samui has a coastline made up of good number of various size beaches and secluded coves separated by headlands and connected by spur roads from the main Koh Samui road.
There are no private beaches on Koh Samui but some hotels or resorts have taken up some of the more remote beach coves and the only access is through the properties or by sea with kayak, jet ski etc.
The most famous of beaches and the most popular is the 5km Chaweng Beach. This busy beach commercialised beach stretches down the east coast to the southern tip and has the whitetist sand and calm waves and lined with hotels and small resorts. This is in quite a contrast to the palm fringed quieter beaches of the north, south and west coasts of the island.
Koh Samui has so many choices when it comes to getting out there and really enjoying yourself with the various activities on offer.
The islands of Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Koh Tao and the stunning Angthong Marine Park make up what is known as the Koh Samui archipelago. The waters surrounding these islands are perfect for exploring the vivid sub aquatic life and there are a number of tour operators offering boat trips for diving, snorkelling, kayaking and sight seeing.
There are now a number of Watersports Centres around the island offering offshore activities, such as jet ski tours, kiteboarding and wind surfing and wave boarding.
Alternatively you can have free reign tearing around the go-kart track, join a jeep safari trip through the jungle of inner Koh Samui, a must see cultural trip visiting temples like the golden Big Buddha, or enlist on a Thai cooking class and learn the secrets of the amazing local cuisine.
Long before wellness tourism became mainstream, Samui lured those in search of healing, new-age therapies and Asian beauty secrets. Today, the island is the Spa capital of Thailand with several dedicated holistic health, weight loss, detox and yoga resorts such as Kamalaya and Absolute Sanctuary offering all-inclusive packages to stimulate mind, body and soul.
There is also a great selection of stand-alone day spas, such as the award-winning Tamarind Springs while top-end resort spas such as Banyan Tree's hydrothermal The Rainforest also welcome out-of-house guests.
There are activities and something to do for everyone on Koh Samui - if you can tear yourselves away from lazing around the private pool at your Koh Samui villa.
Koh Samui has developed into a gourmet paradise with an amazing choice of restaurants with menus created by top international chefs who have settled here to serve the travellers in the luxury tourism sector brought about by the number of Koh Samui luxury villa rentals available and the high end hotels chains that have moved in. Naturally the delicious freshly made Thai food can also be enjoyed whether you choose to eat from the roadside stalls or dine in style with cutural and traditional surroundings accompanied by a 5 star service.
The main town of Chaweng beach has a high concentration of internationally acclaimed restaurants as well as the resort restaurants on the beach and more recenty the sophisticated Beach Clubs serving top class food and beverages for "Sunday Brunch" around the poolside accompanied by music and entertainment.
The new tropical style open air shopping experience - Central Festival - has a good choice of contemporary style al fresco dining on both floors as well as the normal family favourites such as KFC and Dairy Queen and both Chaweng and Lamai have a MacDonalds. They have solved the parking problem with a large underground car park entered from the "lake road".
At the ‘Old Fisherman’s Village’ of Bophut and you will find high quality reasonably priced Thai food in a mega choice of restaurants on either side of the villa streets with those on the ocean-side offering fine international cuisine as well as romantic candelight dining on the beach
From aromatic Thai food to international 5 star cuisines, Koh Samui caters for every taste with an extensive choice of places to eat.
When the sun goes down, Chaweng and Lamai come to life and offers spectacular evening entertainment for all ages in the form of beach bars, western style pubs most of which feature in live music and large screen TV and of the course the all night clubs starting at midnight.
In Chaweng centre particularly, the noise and loud music cannot be avoided after 8.30pm at night and will continue on into the early hours of the morning in certain areas on the beach and along the beach roads.
Resorts also provide magnificent entertainment such as dinner cabarets, where professional singers and dancers display their talents in stylish surroundings. Sophisticated Beach Clubs are also being established such as Nikki Beach at Lipa Noi that put on special party events.
Other areas of Koh Samui that have any form of nightlife at all do not stay open much after midnight at all and is more subdued in places such as the Old Fisherman's Village at Bophut which although has two or three pub bars really focuses on fine dining and the bistro scene.
The Big Buddha/Bang Rak area is frequented mostly by residents rather than tourists and there are hostess bars and sports bars that do get noisy at times however they are concentrated in one area and many close before the early hours.
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