The Best Beaches in Koh Samui for Families

Most lists of the best beaches in Koh Samui for families are secretly lists of resorts with a kids' club. Useful if you're booking one. Useless if you're standing on sand at eleven in the morning with a four-year-old, no shade, and a sea that's decided to be somewhere else.

We live here. So this list is judged on the things that actually decide a beach day with children: how far you walk before the water reaches their waist, whether there's shade you don't have to rent, what's underfoot, how much the sea is moving, and whether a toilet and lunch are within reach.

First, the rule that ruins more family beach days than anything else

The north and west coasts of Samui are gentle shelves. Lipa Noi, Bang Por, Maenam, Bophut. The water is shallow, warm and calm, which is exactly what you want with small kids, right up until low tide, when the sea backs off so far you're walking to the horizon to find something to sit in.

That isn't a reason to avoid them. It's a reason to check a tide chart the night before. Those flats have their own appeal anyway: tide pools, tiny crabs and shells, and a toddler will lose an hour to that without noticing.

Lipa Noi: the one for kids who can't swim yet

Over on the west coast, Lipa Noi is flat for a very long way. The shallow stretch runs up to 100 metres out, and the sand is soft and clear of rock, so there's nothing here for a child to get out of their depth in.

Shade and facilities are the trade-off, and both are thin. There's cover in the trees beside Nikki Beach Club, and the Lipa Noi Resort will let you use its toilets and showers for a fee, but don't turn up unprepared. It's about half an hour's drive from the north coast, so make a whole day of it and stay for the sunset. It's the best one on Samui.

Bang Por: the one with the shade already built in

Bang Por runs a good 3.5 kilometres along the northwest coast, and its best feature for families is embarrassingly simple. The trees grow right down to the water's edge, so you throw a towel under one and you're done. No umbrella rental, no negotiating, no midday retreat.

The water stays shallow and calm a long way out, so it warms up like a bath by the afternoon, and on a clear day you can see Koh Phangan across it. The sand is more golden than powdery and there's coral and rock in the shallows, so pack the reef shoes. It goes murky after heavy rain or a windy spell. Small family-run seafood places line the beach road, so lunch is fifty steps away.

Choeng Mon: the easiest one to actually do

Choeng Mon is a small horseshoe bay on the northeast tip, and it's the one families keep landing on for good reason. It's sheltered, the sand shelves gently, and it's calm enough to let a paddling child out of arm's reach without your pulse doing anything interesting. Cafés line it, which handles the two o'clock meltdown.

The party trick comes at low tide, when the two little islands off the eastern end, Ko Fan Noi and Ko Fan Yai, become walkable across the sand. Children treat this as a personal expedition. One warning: public access is limited and much of the frontage belongs to resorts, so know where you're getting on before you drive over.

Maenam: the one for a long, slow day

Maenam is a long, quiet sweep on the north coast, shallow for a good 20 metres out and emptier than anywhere on the east side. The eastern end has the development. Walk west and it thins out into scattered resorts and a lot of nothing, which is the point.

It is properly tidal, so time it. The street running down to the sand is lined with old wooden shophouses full of cafés and shops, which buys you an off-beach hour when everyone has had enough sun. Two local notes: the beach restaurants are spread out rather than clustered, so carry water, and fishermen run lines here early and late. Give them room.

Taling Ngam: the one worth the drive once

Down in the southwest corner, Taling Ngam is as remote as this island gets. Half an hour to Nathon, close to an hour to Chaweng. The jungle comes right down to the sand, the water is calm and pale blue, and on a clear day you're looking out at the Ang Thong marine park.

The gradient is the gentlest we know of. Families report three-year-olds wading a long way out before it deepens at all, palm shade behind them, the beach almost empty through the middle of the day. There are rocks in the water in places, so it isn't a swim-anywhere beach. It's a wade-and-stare beach, worth one day of your holiday.

Bophut: the one where lunch solves itself

Bophut is the pragmatic choice. Wide sand, trees for shade, and the whole of Fisherman's Village at the eastern end for food, ice cream and a browse when the beach has run its course.

Be honest about the water, though. The western stretch is the better swim. The eastern end, nearest the village and therefore nearest lunch, has the weaker sand and water. That's the trade every family makes here, and most of them take it.

The ones to think twice about with a toddler

Silver Beach. Beautiful, tiny, boulders at both ends, and it fills up in the middle of the day. The rocky entry is the problem with small children. Older kids with a mask will love it, because it's the best easy snorkelling on the island.

Coral Cove. The name is a warning. The entry is sharp coral, so it's reef shoes and confident swimmers only.

Lamai. The shore break picks up here. That makes it fun for older children who want to be thrown around by something, and a bad afternoon for anyone under about five.

Chaweng. The island's biggest beach is fine with kids first thing and loud by lunchtime, and the watersports operators take up a lot of the sand. The southern end is calmer than the north if you're set on it.

The best beaches in Koh Samui for families, summed up

If you're here for a week, don't chase all of them. Pick the beach nearest your bed for ordinary mornings and drive to one good one every few days. Choeng Mon if you want it easy, Bang Por if you want shade, Lipa Noi if nobody can swim yet.

The first part matters more than the list. The swim your kids actually take is the one they can walk to before breakfast, in pyjamas, twice a day. Ours is the quiet bay one headland south of Chaweng, which is the entire reason we live where we live: calm water, no jet skis, and nobody on it before eight. If you're still choosing where to base yourselves rather than which sand to sit on, we've written the honest guide to the best area in Koh Samui for families.

Quick answers

What is the best area for families to visit in Koh Samui?

The north coast, broadly. Choeng Mon, Bophut and Maenam sit on calm, shallow, sheltered water with food and shops in walking distance, which is the combination that matters with kids. The far west and southwest are quieter still, but you'll be driving for everything.

Which beaches in Koh Samui have shallow water?

Lipa Noi, Taling Ngam, Bang Por, Maenam, Bophut and Choeng Mon all shelve gently, and Lipa Noi is the flattest of them at up to 100 metres. The east coast beaches drop away faster, which is better for an actual swim and worse for a paddling three-year-old.

Is Chaweng or Lamai better for families?

Neither is a natural family beach, and they fail differently. Chaweng is calm and swimmable with plenty of room, and busy and loud from midday. Lamai has more shore break, which older kids enjoy and small ones don't. With a toddler, drive north instead.