Bangrak, Fisherman's Village or Chaweng: Where to Stay on Koh Samui

Most people choose where to stay on Koh Samui from photographs, and the photographs all look the same. Palm trees, sand, a boat.

The three main areas on this coast are within fifteen minutes of each other and produce completely different trips. We are based in one of them, so read the last section with that in mind, but the rest of this is as straight as we can make it.

Chaweng

The biggest, busiest and the one most people default to.

The beach is the best of the three by a distance. Long, wide, white sand, and swimmable in a way the others are not. If beach quality is your first priority, this section is short: stay in Chaweng.

Everything else is a trade. It is loud, it is developed, the main road is congested and the strip is dense with bars, tailors, massage shops and people selling things. At night it is the island's nightlife centre and there is no version of Chaweng that is quiet.

Suits: first-time visitors, anyone who wants the beach to be the point, people who want a lot of choice within walking distance, and anyone who wants to be out late.

Does not suit: light sleepers, people working, anyone looking for a slower version of Thailand.

Fisherman's Village, Bophut

The middle option, and the one people who have been to Samui before tend to pick.

A restored old street of wooden shophouses running along the water, now full of restaurants, bars and boutiques. It is genuinely attractive and it has done the tourist-street thing better than most places manage.

The Friday night market takes over the street from late afternoon until eleven, and it is the best single evening on the island.

The beach is small and sheltered, with calm clear water. It is better for swimming than Bangrak and no competition for Chaweng.

It is busy but not loud. The register is dinner and drinks rather than clubs.

Suits: couples, people who want to walk to dinner, anyone who values atmosphere over beach, repeat visitors.

Does not suit: anyone who wants a long beach, or anyone on a tight budget, as it is the most expensive of the three for what you get.

Bangrak

The quiet one, and the one most guides give a sentence to.

The beach is the weakest of the three. Shallow, silty underfoot, with rocks you cannot see. It is a walking beach and a looking beach, not a swimming beach. We would rather tell you that than have you plan a week around it.

The bay is beautiful anyway. It faces north across flat water towards Koh Phangan, with the Big Buddha on the headland above, and planes coming in low over the water on their approach. The light in the morning is the best on this coast.

It is ten minutes from the airport, which is the most underrated feature of any area on the island. Late arrival, early departure, or a long last day all become easy problems instead of hard ones.

The food is better than the reputation. Sabienglae is one of the best Thai seafood restaurants on Samui and it is here, not in Chaweng.

It closes early. Most cafes are done by six, restaurants by ten, and then it is quiet. This is either the appeal or the problem.

Suits: longer stays, remote workers, repeat visitors, anyone with an awkward flight, anyone who wants a base rather than a scene.

Does not suit: a first trip where you want the classic beach holiday, anyone who wants to walk to nightlife.

The honest summary

| | Chaweng | Fisherman's Village | Bangrak | |---|---|---|---| | Beach | Excellent | Fair | Poor | | Food | Everything, variable | Very good | Good, small | | Nightlife | The island's centre | Dinner and drinks | Quiet | | Noise | Loud | Moderate | Quiet | | Airport | 20 min | 15 min | 10 min | | Best for | First trips | Couples | Long stays |

How to actually choose

One week, first time, want a beach holiday: Chaweng. Do not overthink it.

One week, been before, want a nicer evening: Fisherman's Village.

Two weeks or more, or working, or arriving late, or leaving early: Bangrak.

Want the beach and the quiet: neither of these three. Go to Choeng Mon, ten minutes east of Bangrak, which has a genuinely good small beach and almost nothing else.

The other thing worth saying is that the island is small. Anywhere on this coast is fifteen minutes from anywhere else on it, and you are not committing to a region so much as to what is outside your door in the evening.

Where we fit

We run Chillom on the Bangrak beach road. It is a licensed medical cannabis dispensary with a cafe and lounge attached, open from ten in the morning until two the following morning.

Being in Bangrak is a choice we made for the same reasons above, and being open late is a response to the one real drawback: the area goes quiet at six and there was nowhere to be after that.

If you are staying in Chaweng or Fisherman's Village and you find the evenings a bit much, we are fifteen minutes away and considerably calmer.