Lying toward the south east of the island, the road from Chaweng climbs steeply to offer fantastic views of the east coast before descending through a series of acute twists and turns, that may be daunting for novice bikers, back to sea level. Lamai’s beach is separated from Chaweng by a rocky, overgrown promontory and at the northern end, a cove dotted, boulder strewn coastline unsuitable for swimming at periods of very low tides. Lamai is second only to Chaweng in popularity, its well developed entertainment infrastructure seems to draw more German and a mixture of Scandinavian tourists, the majority male. Many of the popular bars are owned and run by nationals of these countries adding to the appeal for northern Europeans, while discouraging others.
Another part of Lamai’s attraction for many visitors is its compact size and the centralisation of its ‘amenities’. Unlike Chaweng, the town is comfortably walkable from end to end relatively quickly, and easily has the greatest concentration of girly bars on the island.
But for many visitors Lamai’s principal draw is its beach. Fine white sand, studded with large, fat boulders that, tumbled together, make for nice rock pools towards the southern end. This also the location of Hinta Hinyai – Grandfather and Grandmother rocks. Eroded by the sea and wind over eons to form the appearance of male and (with a stretch of the imagination) female genitalia, viewing the strangely shaped rocks is a popular stopover on a tour of the island and for many, must come to characterise their time spent in Lamai.
Without a sheltering reef the waters around Lamai beach are largely unprotected and can experience quite rough seas when a strong wind hits the east coast. The upside is clean usually clear water for most of the year, without the broken coral typically shed by a reef, making it ideal for safe underfoot, swimming and snorkelling.
Lamai
Lying toward the south east of the island, the road from Chaweng climbs steeply to offer fantastic views of the east coast before descending through a series of acute twists and turns, that may be daunting for novice bikers, back to sea level. Lamai’s beach is separated from Chaweng by a rocky, overgrown promontory and at the northern end, a cove dotted, boulder strewn coastline unsuitable for swimming at periods of very low tides. Lamai is second only to Chaweng in popularity, its well developed entertainment infrastructure seems to draw more German and a mixture of Scandinavian tourists, the majority male. Many of the popular bars are owned and run by nationals of these countries adding to the appeal for northern Europeans, while discouraging others.
Another part of Lamai’s attraction for many visitors is its compact size and the centralisation of its ‘amenities’. Unlike Chaweng, the town is comfortably walkable from end to end relatively quickly, and easily has the greatest concentration of girly bars on the island.
But for many visitors Lamai’s principal draw is its beach. Fine white sand, studded with large, fat boulders that, tumbled together, make for nice rock pools towards the southern end. This also the location of Hinta Hinyai – Grandfather and Grandmother rocks. Eroded by the sea and wind over eons to form the appearance of male and (with a stretch of the imagination) female genitalia, viewing the strangely shaped rocks is a popular stopover on a tour of the island and for many, must come to characterise their time spent in Lamai.
Without a sheltering reef the waters around Lamai beach are largely unprotected and can experience quite rough seas when a strong wind hits the east coast. The upside is clean usually clear water for most of the year, without the broken coral typically shed by a reef, making it ideal for safe underfoot, swimming and snorkelling.
Photo source: Kinumi Yoshida コサムイ現地ガイド