Bangrak Beach

West to east along the beach

West end

Narrow sand close to the ring road, shallow, with a muddy bottom and submerged rocks off the sandbar. Walk it, don't swim it.

Middle

Deeper water, but this is where the moored boats and the ferry piers are. Lomprayah's pier, Seatran's pier and Petcherat Marina sit within a few hundred meters of each other, with beach restaurants between them.

East end and the Big Buddha

Shallow again toward Koh Fan, the islet with the 12-meter Big Buddha (Wat Phra Yai), joined to the shore by a causeway. The Big Buddha pier, for the Haad Rin Queen to Koh Phangan, is here.

Bangrak is the beach you stay on for the airport and the ferries, not for the swimming. It runs about 3 km along Samui's north coast between Bophut's Fisherman's Village and the Big Buddha, the 12-meter golden statue on the islet of Koh Fan at the east end, which is why you'll also see it called Big Buddha Beach. Samui Airport is five to ten minutes away by car, and Fisherman's Village about five.

This is where many of the boats to Koh Phangan and Koh Tao leave from. Lomprayah's pier (Lomprayah and Lomlahkkhirin catamarans), Seatran's pier (Seatran and Boonsiri) and Petcherat Marina (Songserm Express and Echo Travel speedboats) sit within a few hundred meters of each other in the middle of the beach, and the Haad Rin Queen to Haad Rin leaves from the Big Buddha pier at the east end. If you have an early boat or an early flight, a night here saves the drive from Chaweng or Lamai, and I'd pick it over either for a short stay between islands.

The swimming is the weak point. Both ends are shallow with a muddy bottom and rocks you can't see until you're standing on them, the deeper middle is where the piers and moored boats are, and the water is murky, especially in April and May. Reviewers also mention glass in the sand in places, so keep your shoes on. For a swim, Choeng Mon is ten minutes east and much calmer.

What Bangrak does well is the evening. Restaurants put their tables on the sand along most of the beach, the lights come on across the bay after dark, and it's quieter than Chaweng. Beach hawkers work the sand and a few are persistent, so a firm no the first time saves you the third.