Photographers on Koh Samui

Koh Samui is the largest of the Gulf islands and the easiest to reach, with its own airport, and its weather runs to a different calendar from the Andaman coast. Chaweng and Lamai on the east coast are the long, busy beaches; for a session the quieter corners usually work better — the coconut groves behind the sand, the granite boulders of the headlands, and the calmer bays of the north coast looking across to Koh Phangan. Bophut's Fisherman's Village keeps a row of old wooden shophouses along the beach and is at its best in the late afternoon. The Big Buddha, a golden figure twelve metres tall on a small island off the north-east coast, has looked over the sea since 1972, and the Hin Ta and Hin Yai rocks near Lamai are a local curiosity with a legend attached. Ang Thong National Marine Park, forty-two islands of limestone and green water to the west, is a full-day boat trip with a steep climb to its viewpoint. The best weather is from about January to August; from October to December the northeast monsoon brings the heaviest rain, and November is usually the wettest month of the year.