Lamai Beach

North to south, three different beaches

North Lamai

The quiet end, lined with resorts rather than bars. The seabed is shallow and littered with stones and coral fragments, so at low tide you wade a long way and barely reach swimming depth. Wear reef shoes if you swim here.

Central Lamai

The busy middle, backed by the town's bars, restaurants and water-sports rentals. This is the stretch to swim from. The sand drops steeply, you are out of your depth a few meters from shore, and low tide barely changes it. Expect music from the bars at night.

South Lamai

The least developed part, with fishermen's houses on the sand and rocks and coral along the waterline that make getting in awkward. The Hin Ta and Hin Yai rocks stand at the southern tip.

Lamai is Koh Samui's second-biggest beach, a curve of about 4 km of sand on the southeast coast, roughly 6 km south of Chaweng and 25 to 30 minutes from the airport. It has the same run of resorts, beach bars and restaurants as Chaweng at a slower pace, with fewer people and cheaper rooms, and for a longer stay that's the trade I'd take.

Which part you use matters more here than on most beaches. The north end is the quiet one, lined with resorts rather than bars, but the seabed is shallow and littered with stones and coral fragments, so at low tide you wade a long way out. The center, backed by the town's bars, restaurants and water-sports rentals, is the stretch to swim from, because the sand drops steeply and you're out of your depth a few meters from shore whatever the tide. The south end is the least developed, with fishermen's houses on the sand, rocks along the waterline and the Hin Ta and Hin Yai rocks at the tip.

Don't bring a mask. There's almost nothing to see underwater, and reviewers say so plainly. Lamai faces east, so it's a sunrise beach, not a sunset one. February to April are Samui's driest months, and July to September is a good second window. October to December bring the island's heaviest rain, about 445 mm in November, and the roughest sea on this coast, and red flags go up on the days it isn't safe to swim.

Evenings happen in the town behind the middle of the beach, and the Sunday walking street market runs there from about 17:00 to 22:00. For a room, the center puts you closest to the swimming and the restaurants, and Pavilion Samui Villas & Resort is on the beach beside a night market. Beluga, an adults-only hotel on the Maret side, is the one I'd pick if you'd rather not hear the bars.

It's a public beach with no entrance fee and no set hours. Google Maps drops you at a public entry point with free parking if you can find a space, which is far easier on a bike than in a car, and red songthaews run the ring road from Chaweng if you agree the fare before you climb in.