While small enough to drive around island in about an hour, Koh Samui is still big enough that you can always find beautiful hidden spots no matter how long you stay. Despite its continuing development, large parts of the island remain covered with coconut groves, rice paddies and forest.

Chaweng boasts the longest and most popular beach on Samui. Accommodation can be found along its entire length, and while there is now a distinct leaning towards more upmarket hotels and resorts you can still find a few budget bungalows left over from the islands days as a backpacker haven. Chaweng is also home to a lot of the islands nightlife as well as featuring the highest concentration of shops and restaurants. The popularity of Chaweng means that residential developments tend to be found off the main strip on the outskirts of the town or in the hills overlooking the beach where land costs are lower.

Lamai is Samui's second-largest and some say most beautiful beach. The water is excellent for swimming and the southern end is studded with elegant boulders. Although slightly less developed than Chaweng, Lamai still has its share of nightlife, restaurants and shops as well as more mid range accommodation options. Similar to Chaweng, the restricted area available on and around the beach means that the majority of housing can be found in the surrounding hills.

Maenam on the North coast still offers a wide selection of budget accommodation however there are now a number of top end luxury resorts located there, with a number of restaurants and shops springing up on the main road to cater to visitors. Maenam is also home to many of the new villa developments on the island, and was one of the first areas to feature such development.

Big Buddha is located on the North coast close to the airport, and Samui's most famous landmark - the Big Buddha itself. Like Maenam it still offers a number of more relaxed and relatively low priced resorts. There are also a surprising number of excellent dining options in the area, and it is also home to the weekly Secret garden music festival.

Bophut is one of Samui's recently developed villages and as such has managed to retain some of its traditional Thai charm and values yet still has a slight Mediterranean feel. The limited traffic along this stretch of road gives the feeling of a more relaxed 'walking street', something which is increasingly difficult to find on Samui. Many of the converted shop-houses offer romantic beachside dining.