Samui is visited mostly by holidaymakers wanting to "get away from it all", and its main appeal is its funky rural beach communities with white beaches and clear & warm seas, and it has a few exceptional ones to choose from. Ko Samui is hardly "away from it all" anymore, but rather a cool and bustling international island resort.

Chaweng Beach covers a large portion of the island's northeast coast, and is easily the most crowded and tourist saturated region on the island. The beach itself, while beautiful and clean often suffers from seasonal overcrowding as ever increasing numbers of visitors discover the island. Several hotels, ranging from budget resorts to luxury villas line up the shore. Restaurants are set right along the beachside, making Chaweng Beach seem to glow from within the sands.

Set back about 100 meters from the sand the one way beach road in Chaweng has developed into a bustling international tourist town packed with every kind of resort, restaurant, and bar (ranging from busy traditional family-run open air sea food and noodle Thai at Ninja, through exclusive Thai-Californian fusion food at Jeff Lord's Betelnut to Irish Pubs and American Fast Food places McDonald's and Starbucks), Fine art, tailors, and souvenir shops, markets and wild, rambunctious, or chilled out nightclubs.

It gets ultra busy on the beach road at night with a crazy and colorful mix of pedestrians, motorcycles, and 'Song Taos', or small truck-taxis carrying people up and down the village. Chaweng is a jumping place with people exploring the shops (which also stay open late) and dancing the night away. There is plenty of nightlife, and Soi Green Mango is ground zero for a raging club and bar scene that only begins to simmer down after two AM.

In the summer months the waters in Chaweng can occasionally have some wind swell & surf, so be prepared for strong rip tides or side shore currents. The waters are shallow, but inexperienced swimmers should either stay close to shore or swim with other people.

Also on the East coast is Lamai, just south of Chaweng and smaller, but Lamai's beaches are clean and occasionally less crowded than Chaweng. Lamai was the original destination for travelers to Samui, and compared to Chaweng the town is a bit more tawdry and low budget, but it has its own distinct charms.

Greater Lamai is actually a large and beautiful valley, and as one travels inland away from the beach village the landscape is striking. Lamai has some pretty outrageous 'social' bars in the middle of town, and the once a week all girl Muay Thai boxing matches always seem to draw an eclectic crowd. Lamai has a lovely old Wat(temple), and is also the location of two of the most endearing original spas on the island, one on the beach, a hipster paradise called 'The Spa', and the other called 'Tamarind Springs', which has long been the class act on the island.

In the center of the North coast of the island, Maenam offers spectacular views of Ko Phangan to the North, and the Ang Thong National Marine Park to the East. The waters are calm and clean, being protected from the North Easterly currents by Ko Phangan. Because the sans are golden rather than white Meanam is usually much less crowded than Lamai or Chaweng, and Maenam's restaurants and bars still retain much of the local Thai flavor as well as being more reasonably priced, or even inexpensive. Overall Maenam is quieter, more relaxed, with local Thai community still pretty much intact. Meanam is also home to the Santiburi Resort, still considered by many to be the premier hotel on the island. The major golf course on the island is also in Maenam.

Bophut is the beach/bay just to the east of Maenam. Its lifestyle is relaxed and more traditional than the larger communities, referring to itself as Fisherman's Village. Bhophut's laid back vibe is popular with the more chic sort of travelers, and has a number of pricey but very good French-owned cafes and restaurants.

Bang Rak, just two kilometers east of Bhophut, and part of Bhophut 'province' is also known by the name Big Buddha Beach, after the 19-metre gold tinted statue of the ancient spiritual master which overlooks the entire bay (Big Buddha). Bang Rak is quite close to the airport, and is one of the calmest beaches, though the huge sweep of its jade colored waters are often a bit murky. Bang Rak is the jump off point to sister island Ko Phan Ngan, and the ferry goes every day.One of the best restaurants here is Ocean 11 with their fantastic Italian/European and Seafood.

Choeng Mon is one of the smallest of Samui's tourist beaches, but lies in a secluded bay on the northeastern tip of the island, making it perfect for those who want peace and quiet. It doesn't have much of a town but there are a number of small restaurants and a couple of shops, in addition to some very luxurious (and expensive) hotels that surround the bay...and it is only five minutes north from the bright lights of Chaweng.

Ao Tong Takian is a small cove north of Lamai beach. It's long been popular among stoners and hip tourists for its inviting white sand, and is also known as Silver Beach. Here you will find five resorts: La Mer Samui Resort, the Samui Yacht Club (with no yachts or sailors at all), Tong Ta Kian Villa, Silver beach, and Crystal Bay. This used to be a relatively unknown spot. There is great swimming here if the local fishing boats are not around. Be a careful if you are walking in the water, as Tong Takian has a lot of sharp rocks.

Nathon on the Southwestern coast is the island's main port and the beaches here lack the beauty or deep water found on the east coast of the island. The city of Nathon offers great shopping with some of the best prices to be found anywhere on the island, as well as some truly good local restaurants, including a fantastic place on a side street where you can get a low priced Chinese Duck lunch. The open-air food market is piled high with inexpensive and fresh local produce. Some of the shops in Nathon are really offbeat, selling umbrellas, computer parts, stationary, and cheese in a single shop. Banks and Travel agencies here make it happen for travelers, and the ferry to the mainland and point beyond departs from this port.

Lipa Noi is really the only useful swimming beach on the west coast, and its wide sweep of sand is the last quiet place on the island. Lipa Noi faces due west and looks directly into the stunning Thai sunsets. It won't last long, but this is the part of the island where you can still feel like you are free from the tourist circus. It's really romantic, and there is not much to do.

Tong Krut on the South West corner of the island is currently one of the quieter areas of Ko Samui and is being proposed as the site for the islands future mega-yacht harbor.

Credit : http://en.wikipedia.org/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ebbtide/ , http://www.flickr.com/photos/guymcgechan for Picture

KOH SAMUI: Ray Roberts, the top Asian sailor for 2008, Matt Allen, Commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, and Andrew Short, also from the Sydney club, have won the top prizes in the International Racing Class (IRC)1, IRC 2 and Cruising Classes, respectively, in the 7th Samui International Yacht Regatta.

Roberts, a regular racer in Phuket and Thailand, and his team Quantum Racing won the King’s Cup Regatta in 2005. He placed second in the class last year.

In this year’s Samui Regatta, held from June 1 to 7, Radab Kanjanavanit and Kipsan Beck did Thai sailors proud by winning top honors in the Sports Boats and the Multihull classes.

Cedar Swan is well known in Phuket for racing in the annual King’s Cup Regatta more than any other boat.

The Samui regatta closed on Saturday, having attracted some 300 sailors from more than 10 countries. The last day saw good sailing conditions with 10- to 12-knot northwesterly winds, after some days of variable and light winds that on one day forced the race to be abandoned.

Read the Full Update of the weeks regatta here.
Official Photo's available from our photographer Jimmy

With a little over a month to go the Koh Samui Regatta organisation team is moving into top gear to ensure another great event.

Regularly attracting over 35 to 40 yachts this Regatta has a truly international feel as the upwards of 300 participants head in to this beautiful tropical island from all points of the globe.

The recent announcement that Matt Allen’s ‘Ichi Ban’ is being shipped from Dubai, fresh from her recent victory at the premier racing event in the Gulf the Maktoum Cup, ensures that there will again be a hot premier racing class at this years Samui Regatta. And although Ray Roberts on ‘Quantum Racing’ has already wrapped up the Asian Yachting Grand Prix championship there is still a matter of bragging rights to hoist aloft the beautiful KSR Waterford Crystal Perpetual Bowl on the winners podium come 7th June.

The ‘Quantum Racing’ DK 46 will face some stiff competition. Perennial line honours winner ‘Jelik’ the Reichel Pugh 76, under the guidance of Frank Pong will be looking to repeat her 2006 success but defending champion Bill Bremner is back from Singapore on his new ‘Foxy Lady IV’ a TP52 recently shipped in from the US. Going head to head with Bill and also sailing a TP52 will be Hong Kong’s Sam Chan on ‘Ffree Fire’. Unfortunately it looks like the other TP52, ‘Strewth’ from Hong will not make it in time following their ‘mishap’ on the recent Rolex China Seas Race. Neil Pryde and his professional crew is fast getting to grips with the Wellbourne redesigned ‘Hi-Fi’ which was a previous KSR winner as ‘Hollywood Boulevard’. But you can never rule out Kinmoth and Burns on ‘Mandrake’ a previous Admirals Cup winner and Chris Meads new Corby 43 ‘Full Metal Jacket’.

But the Samui Regatta is not just about the Grand Prix yachts and we should not forget the many other boats that travel the thousands of miles to compete in the other classes and come together to make this such a friendly and laid back event. From the super cruiser-racers such as ‘Moonblue II’ and ‘Intrigue’ through to IRC 2 with the likes of ‘Abraxas’, ‘Lunch Cutter’ and ‘Happy Endings’ from Singapore, as well as ‘La Samudra’ and ‘Remington’ from Phuket, as well as ‘Thai Raver’ and ‘Magic Roundabout’ from Pattaya. The multihulls will be well represented by the 50 ft. ‘Sonic’ and ‘Cedar Swan’ as well as the new Corsair trimarans from Pattaya, the Firefly One Design cat class is back in force with ‘Moto Inzi’, ‘Pagatoon’ and ‘Dhevetara Frog’. And this year the Sports Boats Class is shaping up to be the biggest to date with the local Elliott 7’s ‘Moon Shadow’ and ‘Ice Bucket’ being joined by ‘Somtam Express’ from Phuket and ‘Porn Star’ and ‘Big Blue’ from Pattaya, not to mention a sprinkling of Platu 25’s. The Sunsail ‘One-Design’ charter fleet also provides a great option to ‘fly in and sail’ as Aussie legend George Snow and his mates from the CYCA in Sydney proved when they chartered the fleet for some keen one design racing a couple of years back.

And be sure to make it to Samui for the 7th running of the ‘Tropical Island Regatta’ from the 1st to 7th June 2008.

An exciting opportunity for those people considering chartering a yacht for this regatta.

Currently we have Sunsail, Gulf Charter and The Frog are all available.


Reference : samuiregatta.com

From October through to December, there's no doubt Samui has got surf . The Koh Samui surfing scene is alive with dedicated local surfers and tourists, all out there to grab the most fun out of 3-4 foot beach breaks.

Chaweng beach is definitely the most popular surfing beach in Koh Samui.

There are surfboards and bodyboards for rent along the beach and many of the local surfers are happy to give you tips on surfing if you are a first timer.

The 'Left Alone' reef break off Chaweng beach is rarely ridden. The 'Left Alone' gives a long surfable left hander and is best surfed at mid to high tide, when the waves are over 4 feet. At low tide it can become too shallow for surfing.

In front of the Le Meridien Baan Taling Naam Resort is a reef break suitable for experienced surfers only.

It breaks on a shallow coral reef and as reports go can get quite fast and sucky.

The Tropical Island Regatta May 27th – June 2nd 2007

The Koh Samui Regatta, now in its sixth year, looks set to maintain its strong reputation as one of the highlights of the Asian sailing circuit at the 2007 event – being held between May 27th and June 2nd.

The week long sailing extravaganza, now officially recognised by the International Sailing Federation, brings together many of the world’s top sailors guaranteeing a week of fun filled racing action and passionate partying.

The Regatta is organised under the auspices of the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand. Racing takes place over five days comprising of a mixture of coastal passages and around the cans.

The event culminates in a VIP gala dinner and awards ceremony at the Central Samui Beach Resort. Evening cocktail parties are held at various locations throughout the Regatta.
The laid back luxury of island life, combined with exhilarating On-The-Water action offers a truly unique event.

“In six successful years the Koh Samui Regatta has made incredible progress and it is easy to see why it has
become one of the highlights of the Asian sailing circuit,” says Pornsiri Manoharn, the Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

“The Koh Samui Regatta can truly be called an international yachting event since it attracts boats from as far a field as Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong, as well as from all parts of Thailand, which make their way here solely to take part in this fun event.”

nitial participant response indicates that over 30 yachts are expected to head to Koh Samui this May with an even mixture of keelboats and multihulls. Racing classes include: Racing; Cruising; Sports Boats; Multihulls and Firefly One Design.

"We firmly support this regatta,” said Daweesak Somabha , President of the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand . “Our commitment helps ensure the success of an event which brings so much credit to the lovely island of Samui and her people.”

The 2007 event is being managed by Image Asia Events Co., Ltd. , who will draw upon their vast experience running the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta the Evason Phuket Raceweek and the Phuket International Marine Expo (PIMEX), to ensure that the 6th Koh Samui Regatta 2007 maintains its reputation as a major player in the marine events arena. Its proven expertise in the industry will encourage the growth of the event, while remaining truthful to its origins – providing an excellent platform to showcase the region and the
regatta.

Commenting on the relationship with Image Asia Events Co., Ltd, Peter Plant, Secretary of the Koh Samui Regatta Organising Committee said, “The tie up with Image Asia Events presents a great opportunity for the Koh Samui Regatta to move forward and to strengthen its place as one of the highlights of the Asian sailing circuit.”

For more click