Ko Samui

Samui Still Has It
By tezza (dabbler - 5 reviews)
Written on 5th September, 2009 after a visit to Ko Samui in August, 2009
Who says you can't find laid-back, scenic, good-value places on Samui these days? Try Jungle Club high in the hills behind Chaweng Noi with 180 degree panoramic views from the horizon-style pool, the hillside sitting-bales or the Bali-style restaurant.
You can check the coastline stretching from Choeng Mon/Ko Maitang in the north, down thru Chaweng and Chaweng Noi to the area around Coral Cove in the south. Accommodation here starts at backpacker/flashpacker level and goes thru midrange.

And who says you can't find a quiet, scenic white-sand beach with good value accommodation on the popular east coast of Samui within a few minutes of the shopping and entertainment of Lamai and Chaweng?
Get yourself to Thong Ta Kien, a small bay at the start of the hilly section of coastline between Lamai and Chaweng. There are four bungalow joints on this bay and since first seeing it way back I'd been determined to stay here some day.
The sand is white and the water very clear. At lower tide levels the far end of the bay becomes very shallow and there is a section of rocks mid-bay which is exposed. However the western section is sandy right out into deeper water, which at lowest tide is maybe 30m out to be deep enough to swim. Closer to the beach is nice for pottering around looking at fishies etc - or snorkelling when the tide is up. I also snorkelled along the western headland - there were small patches of fringing coral, but mainly mono-colour and underwhelming. Thongtakian Resort is a good value place on this beach with lower midrange rooms at flashpacker prices.

Here's another who says - that you can't get a beachfront budget bungalow of the old style on Lamai these days. New Hut has share-bathroom A-frame bungalows right on the sand were going for 350B high season. One the other side of the atmospheric beachfront restaurant were bigger places with bathroom for 450B.
The beach in front has a reef which runs down the northern third Lamai forming a shallow lagoon at low tide, way too shallow for swimming in most places. Some people like this because it allows for some fossicking or just sitting around in a shallow pool of water. Deeper water for swimming is available starting five minutes further south -- the centre and south end of the beach have no reef and good water depth low tide.

Again, who says you can't get a reasonably priced beachfront place on Chaweng Beach? Check out OP Bungalows (owned by the same people as P&P Samui Resort) which gets good posts on travel forums. Air-con - hot water bungalows were going for 1,050B when I called around.
OP is situated on a particularly nice section of sand about one quarter down from the northern end where the beach does a curve. This area also has a reef which creates a shallow lagoon at low tide. Central and southern Chaweng have no reef - low tide water is deep enough for swimming but you may have to go out a bit further than similar areas at Lamai.
Lamai's sand is pretty white, but Chaweng is even more so. Actually these are real attractive beaches - the resorts are stylish and not Miami Beach re-created.

I won't even start on the more laid back north coast or sparsely developed west and south coasts. Plenty more nice areas and good value accommodation.

Also reviewed by tezza: Ko Lipe, Ko Pha Ngan East Coast, Kuala Perlis, Thong Ta Kien Bay,