Koh Samui is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Thailand. As an Island situated in the calm seas of the Gulf of Thailand there are plenty of opportunities to get your feet wet doing a variety of water sports.
Every year thousands of tourists from all over the world descend on Koh Samui in Thailand to participate in scuba diving, snorkeling, sailing, kayaking and more. Below we’ve given you the lowdown on water sports in Koh Samui.
Scuba Diving on Koh Samui
Scuba diving is probably the most popular water activity that takes place off the coast of Samui. There are dozens of diving companies that operate out of Koh Samui with good safety standards and qualified English speaking diving instructors.
In fact even if you can’t dive before you get here. Samui is a great place to get your PADI diving certification. It’s also reassuring to know that Samui, like Phuket, has its own decompression chamber. Diving operators offer both one day diving trips as well as live aboard trips that last several days. One day of diving typically costs 3000 Baht and includes two dives plus meals.
The most popular destination for divers based on Ko Samui is Ko Tao. Which is another island situated north of Koh Samui. Another popular diving spot is Mu Ko National Park which is a cluster of small islands south of Samui. The best months for scuba diving around Koh Samui are between October and March.
Snorkeling
Snorkeling is an easy and popular alternative for those who don’t want to invest the time and money in getting a PADI diving qualification. Anyone can go snorkeling off the coast of Ko Samui. Provided they can swim and afford the 100 Baht it costs to rent the snorkeling gear from various vendors located on the beaches.
The best snorkeling spot on Ko Samui is probably the rocky coastal areas between Chawang Noi and Lamai beaches on Koh Samui.
Kayaking
Kayaking on Samui is best done on the marine national park where the landscape makes for some interesting sightseeing. With a kayak you can explore the hundreds of small caverns under the limestone cliffs. Koh Phang Nga offers the best scenery for a kayaking trip. A day trip kayaking costs about 2000 Baht.
Sailing
A variety of operators are present on the island offering mainly one day cruises around the Island either on yachts or catamarans.
