Chaweng Beach is the most popular one in Koh Samui. Its long stretch of beach has lots of posh bungalows and pumping bars. That means, majority of the tourists flock here. But if you’re content to just lay on the beach and have low-key, quiet nights, then Lamai Beach is for you. It is for us.
From Koh (‘koh’ meaning island) Samui’s Na Thon Pier, you can hail a songthaew to Lamai Beach. Though fare is only 60 THB, I honestly think this is still tourist price.
We spent our first night at Magic Resort, 400 THB for a really nice bungalow not far from the beachfront. It was already off-peak season, most of the tourists were on the western islands (Ko Phi Phi and Phuket) where it’s more sunny.
We slept almost the entire day and had an afternoon dip. Dinner was at a night market just a couple of blocks from our resort. We split a bottle of Tiger Beer for we needed to sleep and wake up early for our arranged tour of the island the next day – plus we had to check out our room before the trip.
After the island tour, the driver mistakenly dropped us off New Hut Bungalows. Our guide must have told him (we changed vans because the group we were with paid extra for a destination we didn’t want to go to) since she assumed we’ll be transferring to that place (we asked her information about it earlier just out of curiosity). It was alright though, at least we learned where it is located.
Unfortunately, Shervin already paid 200 THB, non-refundable to another guesthouse the day before so we had to spend the night there.
New Hut’s 350 THB rate for a beachfront bungalow was irresistable, we actually extended our stay in Koh Samui just for that. It was like having our own, private beach… I was able to go topless. Back to basics!
[This blog is part of the South East Asia in Six Weeks series which took place May-June 2009. Price of goods, transportation and so forth may already be different.]
naks topless hehe… ilang months pa lang baby mo dito gaye? i remember the first time i saw women walking topless sa beach sa phuket nagulat pa ako… saya ng southeast asian trip ah…
Haha! Yup, finally had the courage to do so. It was part of my to-do bucket list before turning 30. But I was not pregnant here yet.
First time I saw women topless, sa Bali. Ako pa nailang noon ;p
Hhmm.. Topless preggy huh? I wonder what’s next. Hehe. Good you’re having fun out there Mrs. Piglet! 🙂
Hahaha! Mrs. Piglet?! I think I know who you are. Mmm… Nostalgia. Thanks for dropping by dear 🙂
Oh I loved those huts on Lamai Beach! I’m totally staying there for couple of days next time I’m on Samui in December!
Highly recommended Lena! And the resto of New Hut Bungalows also serve great food. Your 6-month trip’s about to start very soon, have a blast!
Im going to Samui next week and Im having a hard time choosing between chaweng and lamai. i prefer less tourist — thanks to this post. 2009 na pa pla to pero really helpful Gay! 🙂 I think bet q na ang lamai. 😀
wow Topless!!!! Bongga!!! woot woot!!!!
Haha! Yeah, it was on my bucket list. So happy to have crossed it out. Never knew I had it in me.
Enjoy Lamai!