A Big Buddha, or Bang Rak, is not the best beach on Koh Samui for swimming. The water here is cloudy, a proper depth and a comfortable entrance into the water are only in the central part of the beach, that’s where the piers for speedboats and speedy catamarans are situated, they cruise between Koh Samui and nearby islands. You can swim easily here even at low tide, what local kids and employees of water sports centres, located on the coast of Bang Rak, use with great pleasure.
T he strip of the beach is comparatively wide: 5-10 to the water edge. The sandy cover is diverse: in the east, the sand is fine and greyish-white, and in the west, the sand is coarse and reddish. The seabed on western and eastern ends is densely covered with stones. Big Buddha cannot be called a clean beach: there are plastic bottles here, seaweed and other garbage, disgorged by the wash. The part of the beach by fishermen’s market is particularly littered, and the smell, that the water gives off, clearly means that you’d better not enter the water here.
B ig Buddha Beach is a bay, which outstretch is more than 4 km. In the west a coastal curve ends with a cape Laem Mai Kaen, overgrown with coconut palms, and in the east – with a tiny isle Ko Fan, on which Big Buddha himself is seated. In the central part of Big Buddha beach there are a few working piers for sea express vessels. The western end of the beach isn’t quite lived-in yet. It is very shallow here, and there are a lot of stones in the water, and a palm grove rustles by the shore. On the opposite end, by the eastern edge, there is a small fish market.
T he first line of the beach is occupied by private villas for renting out, bungalows and small restaurants with sea view. Larger hotel complexes and comfortable villas for rent can be found higher, on Bang Rak hills, from where breath-taking views of the coast come into sight, as well as the district with pagoda Kho Hua Jook on one of the tops and the airport of Koh Samui. This place will appeal to fans of spotting: you can admire taking off and landing planes to the full!
B
ang Rak Beach could be called deserted. Walking on it, you will only come across a solitary jogger, a dog, busily shaking,
or a couple of locals, resting in the shade of palms or picking up seashells not far from a fish market. The matter is that
they mainly swim in swimming pools with sea view on Big Buddha, not in the sea itself. That’s why walks by the very water
edge are particularly romantic. Besides, the beach is famous for its unforgettable sunsets.
Probably, a special atmosphere of Big Buddha is all about the combination of privacy and comfort. It is a place for those,
who don’t want to hurry anywhere or dislike crowds of tourists, yet, don’t want to do without the merits of civilization.
The place doesn’t strike as black country like Bang Po, or as primeval nature, like Taling Gnam, moreover, a happening
Chaweng or a refined Bophut are in close proximity.
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