Things to do in Ko Samui
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Samui Shamrock
More classic than chic, Samui Shamrock is a good-times pub where house bands belt out dated cover tunes that inspire the tipsy crowd to sing along. At some point in the night you’ll hear ‘Hotel California’, the ultimate foreigner tribute song.
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Dining On The Rocks
Samui's ultimate dining experience takes place on nine cantilevered verandahs of weathered teak and bamboo that yawn over the gulf. After sunset (and a glass of wine), guests feel like they're dining on a wooden barge set adrift on a starlit sea. Each dish on the six-course prix-fixe menu is the brainchild of the experimental cooks who regularly experiment with taste, texture and temperature. If you're celebrating a special occasion, you'll have to book well in advance if you want to sit at 'table 99' – the honeymooners' table – positioned on a private terrace. Dining On The Rocks is located at the isolated Six Senses Samui.
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Bar Solo
A sign of things to come, Bar Solo has future-fitted Chaweng's outdoor beer halls into an urban setting with sleek cubist decor and a cocktail list that doesn't scream holiday hayseed. The evening drink specials lure in the front-loaders preparing for a late, late night at the dance clubs on Soi Solo and Soi Green Mango.
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Tropical Murphy's
A popular fa·ràng (foreigner) joint, Tropical Murphy's dishes out steak-and-kidney pie, fish and chips, lamb chops and Irish stew (mains 50B to 300B). Come night-time, the live music kicks on and this place turns into the most popular Irish bar on Samui (yes, there are a few).
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Twins Restaurant
Don’t let the frump factor deter you from this eager-to-please Thai restaurant. The food-phobic Europeans get plenty of hand-holding, but the food-flexible can get fresh and fabulous Thai meals in an oh-so pretty setting.
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Canopy Adventures
Be your own Tarzan on this zip-line course through the jungle. The 500m-long cable course is suspended 30m to 50m high between eight platforms. From your canopy eyrie, you can spy through the tree tops to the ocean.
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Koh Samui Full-Day Fishing Tour
7 hours (Departs Koh Samui, Thailand)
by Viator
Try to catch a Snapper or Barracuda on this full-day fishing excursion from Koh Samui.
You'll be picked up from your Koh Samui hotel and board the fishing vesse…
Not LP reviewed
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Ang Thong National Marine Park
Popularised by its role as home to a utopian beach society in the movie version of Alex Garland's novel The Beach, Ang Thong National Marine Park is made up of an archipelago of about 40 small islands combining sheer limestone cliffs, hidden lagoons, white-sand beaches and dense vegetation providing a postcard-perfect vista almost anywhere you look.
The numerous caves and crevices are home to nesting swallows and there's a narrow coral reef in the southwest of the park.
From Ko Samui, a couple of tour operators run day trips to the Ang Thong archipelago from Na Thon or Mae Nam.
There are bungalows available at the park headquarters on Ko Wat Ta Lap, but you may not be abl…
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Hin Lat Falls
Hin Lat Falls is worth visiting if you're waiting in town for a boat back to the mainland. Catch a sǎwngthǎew south 2km and get off after the 7-Eleven, then walk 2km or so south of town on the main road and turn left at the first major intersection. Go straight along for another 2km to the waterfall (you'll see the vendors). From here you'll need to hike for one hour, cross streams and climb over rocks to get to the uppermost of the numerous levels - but it's not too strenuous. Sturdy shoes are recommended. At the top you will be rewarded with a cool pool that's great for a dip. Look out for the temple with moral guidance inscribed on the tree trunks at the base of the fa…
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Five Islands
Five Islands defines the term 'destination dining' and offers the most unique eating experience on the island. Before your meal, a traditional longtail boat will take you out into the turquoise sea to visit the haunting Five Sister Islands where you'll learn about the ancient and little-known art of harvesting bird nests to make bird's-nest soup, a Chinese delicacy. This perilous task is rewarded with large sums of cash – a kilo of nests is usually sold for 100,000B to restaurants in Hong Kong (yup, that's five zeros). The lunch tour departs around 10am, and the dinner program leaves around 3pm. Customers are also welcome to dine without going on the tour and vice versa.…
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Five Islands Tour
The pretty silhouettes of these offshore islands disguises the fact that they are a gold mine, or rather a gold nest. Amid the rocky outcroppings, swiftlets make their nests of twigs and spit, an ingredient that ranks among the world’s most expensive animal products. The nests are collected and sent to Chinese markets for the delicacy of bird’s-nest soup, renowned for its health benefits. The Five Islands restaurant conducts tours to the islands to learn about the harvesting methods and scramble around the rugged coves. Afterwards a Thai meal is served at the restaurant.
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Dog Rescue Centre Samui
Donations of time and/or money are hugely appreciated at the aptly named Dog Rescue Centre Samui. The organisation has played an integral role in keeping the island’s dog population under control through an active spaying and neutering program. The centre also vaccinates dogs against rabies. Volunteers are always needed to take care of the pooches at either of the kennel/clinics (located in Chaweng and Taling Ngam). Call the centre for volunteering details or swing by the Wave Samui (opposite) for additional info.
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Samui Institute of Thai Culinary Arts
If you're contemplating a Thai cooking course, SITCA is the place to do it. It has daily Thai-cooking classes and courses in the aristocratic Thai art of carving fruits and vegetables into intricate floral designs. Lunchtime classes begin at 11am, while dinner starts at 4pm (both cost 1950B for a three-hour course with three or more dishes). Included is an excellent tutorial about procuring ingredients in your home country. Of course you get to eat your projects, and even invite a friend along for the meal. Complimentary DVDs with Thai cooking instruction are also available so you can practise at home.
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Sabeinglae
‘Everything there is delicious, ’ said our cab driver as he dropped us off. And indeed this rustic seafood shack, known for its Samui cuisine, delivered a table full of intensely delicious creations, like wai kôo·a (a coconut milk curry with octopus), yam tá-lair sà·mŭi (a zesty local-style salad) and a seaweed dish whose name has been forgotten. The Samui dishes appear in the menu in Thai only, so ask your server for recommendations. It’s south of Hin Ta Hin Yai.
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Hua Thanon Market
Slip into the rhythm of this village market slightly south of Lamai; a window into the food ways of southern Thailand. Vendors shoo away the flies from the freshly butchered meat and housewives load bundles of vegetables into their baby-filled motorcycle baskets. Follow the market road to the row of food shops delivering edible Muslim culture: chicken biryani, fiery curries or toasted rice with coconut, bean sprouts, lemongrass and dried shrimp.
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Spa Samui Village
The second Spa Samui branch, Spa Samui Village (or Spa Village) camps out on the side of a forested mountain. Steep paths lead from reception to the yoga and massage salas (open pavilions) overlooking the bushy headdresses of the coconut trees. The setting is rustic and peaceful, perfect for steeping in the herbal steam cave or breathing deeply during a yoga session. A complimentary shuttle travels between this branch and Spa Samui Beach.
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Ban Hua Thanon
Welcome to a morsel of southern Thailand, with a sprinkling of Muslim Thais living beside Buddhist Thais. The old wooden houses, only 50 to 60 years old, have weathered beyond their years, looking more ancient than antique. Pick your way through the parked motorcycles to the pier where the fisherfolk moor their small but stately boats. Continue to Hua Thanon Market and further on to the local mosque and the village’s Muslim quarter.
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Kamalaya Koh Samui
With a breathtaking setting, this wellness resort breathes new life into burnt-out professionals. Billed as a holistic spa, it offers a little of everything: yoga, detox, Chinese medicine, spa treatments and weight-loss programs. Open-air salas (pavilions) pose dutifully upon a sapphire ocean and forested pathways respectfully bypass ancient boulders. The spa and classes are open to nonguests with advance reservations.
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Q-Bar
Overlooking Chaweng Lake, Q-Bar is a little piece of Bangkok nightlife planted among the coconut trees. The upstairs lounge opens just before sunset, treating cocktail connoisseurs to various highbrow tipples and a drinkable view of southern Chaweng – mountains, sea and sky. After 10pm, the night-crawlers descend upon the downstairs club where DJs spin the crowd into a techno amoeba. A taxi there will cost between 200B and 300B.
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Café Aux Amis
Usually a high-powered view like this – stretching from Ko Matlang to the tip of Chaweng Noi – should cost a lot more, but Café Aux Amis is friendly to small spenders. The open-air restaurant is casual chic with a menu that expertly, but unpretentiously, fuses French and Thai cuisine. Enjoy the poisson avec trois sauces (basically Thai-style grilled fish with a French accent) and creamy gratin dauphinois.
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Health Mart
Considering the number of people wandering around the island on fasts, there are very few wellness stores. Affiliated with Spa Samui, Health Mart, only 100m from Wat Lamai, carries several natural body and beauty lines produced by royally sponsored economic-development projects. Look for the herbal shower gels and shampoos made by Khao Kho Talay Pu, Supaporn facial scrubs, Tropicana coconut shampoos and Power of Brown tea.
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Hin Ta Hin Yai
Lamai beach is weighted by massive boulders but none are as spectacular as the grandparent rocks, an honorific name considering that Grandfather Rock looks like an erect penis and Grandmother looks like the female counterpart. Don’t be shy about posing with Grandpa, even the monks take the photo-op. On a serious note, assigning human characteristics to rock formations is a common feature in Southeast Asian Muslim culture.
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Chaweng Lake
By the light of the harsh daytime sun, Chaweng Lake is an example of everything that is wrong with Samui. The public park is poorly maintained, half constructed and devoid of shade. But come sunset, it springs to life – ordinary Thai life, that is – with aerobics classes in one area, football practice in another and strolling families enjoying the cool breezes. It’s a charming glimpse into provincial Thailand.
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Wat Plai Laem
This little temple has several large attractions: three gigantic depictions of Buddha set in a man-made lake. The centrepiece is an 18-armed Hindu-style Buddha next to a lotus blossom and a fat, Chinese-style Buddha. Considered an act of merit, Thai Buddhists, especially the young ones, feed the hungry fish, who live a charmed life in the surrounding lake. Sometimes this temple is called Wat Laem Suan Naram.
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Nathalie’s Art Palace Bar
You’ve got to hand it to German TV personality Nathalie Gutermann for her unabashed self-promotion. She’s turned a hillside apartment into a boutique hotel and bar, which primarily promote the cult of Nathalie and her ‘fabulous’ lifestyle. Curious about the life of an expatriate claiming aristocratic origins? Stop by for a sunset cocktail, Friday night barbecue or some of the special party events.
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