September 5, 2017

Koh Samui, Thailand

After the best week of diving on Koh Tao it was time to move on to our next and final stop in Thailand – Koh Samui.

Getting there

We finished our final two dives of our advanced open water course and arrived back at Bans at about midday. We had checked out early in the morning and booked our boat to Koh Samui for 3 pm. When you book with Bans you get a free transfer to the port which was very handy.

The Lomprayah catamarans are really new and the fastest way to get around. I would recommend them over any other company, any day! Especially if you suffer from sea sickness, they are so sturdy and don’t rock much at all. (Read about when we travelled with a different company here!)

We booked an Airbnb for our stay in Koh Samui. They met us at the pier and brought us back to the apartment with them for just 400 baht total. There is a Lomprayah transfer service available for 150 baht per person but we thought it would be handier getting directly to the apartment as it was not a hotel we were going to.

Staying There

The apartment we stayed in was on Chaweng Beach. It was modern, bright, and had everything we needed and more. It was so nice having a kitchen for our stay here. I really was starting to struggle with eating out all the time and was so happy when I got to cook. We also had a washing machine so we were able to do a lot of our washing here free of charge – a small luxury when you are living out of a backpack!

The complex itself had a small gym and swimming pool. They were both really quiet too which was a nice change.

Things to do

Stroll the walking street

The apartment was located on Chaweng Beach. Just a five-minute walk to the beach and start of the walking street. The walking street is about 3.5km and along it, you will find restaurants, bars, clothes shops, tattoo parlours, and lots of massage shops too. It isn’t the cheapest place as it is mainly where all the tourists stay so be sure to haggle when making a purchase.

Get your nails done

I broke two of my nails in Koh Tao while diving. I headed to Walking Street and found a shop called Nails4U that offered me refills and gel on my toes for 1500 baht. This works out at about 40 euros and is the cheapest I was able to get along this strip.

Climb to the jungle club

We headed up to The Jungle Club one of the evenings. Basically it is a bar and restaurant that overlooks Koh Samui. The views are spectacular and if you are lucky with the weather the sunset would be amazing up here.

We couldn’t manage to grab a taxi so we walked… I would highly advise against this! The hill is extremely steep and you will be very sweaty upon arrival if you do.

Drinks are pretty expensive up here but not as bad as I thought they would be. We ordered Mango shakes and paid the same price as a restaurant on the strip – 80 baht.

Chill on the beach

Andrew really hurt his ears while scuba diving in Koh Tao so we had to go to a medical centre to see a doctor. He was put on antibiotics and steroids as we were flying very soon, in an effort to clear them. We decided to take it easy in Koh Samui as a result, and switched off on the beach. There are clear waters and nice soft white sands all along Chaweng Beach.

koh samui chaweng beach

 

If you are looking for an action-packed stay, I would recommend renting a motorbike and cruising around to some of the many beaches and attractions on the island. Some places you might want to see:

  • Lamai Beach
  • Hin Lat Waterfall
  • Hin Ta & Hin Yai Rocks
  • Lad Koh View Point
  • Ang Thong National Marine Park