15 Awesome Viewpoints On Koh Samui, Thailand

Koh Samui is one of the most popular islands in Thailand with beautiful beaches and endless palm trees. It has some amazing lookouts and I enjoyed riding my motorbike all over the island and checking them out. I stayed on the island for a month with the mission of finding all of the best viewpoints in Koh Samui to create this guide!

The Best Viewpoints on Koh Samui

This is a blog post I put together about all of the best viewpoints on Koh Samui so you can enjoy them too!

Hillcrest Drive Viewpoint

On the southern end of the Koh Samui in Taling Ngam is an extremely steep hill. Hillcrest Drive winds its way up to the top of the hill, passing several resorts on the way. It is possible to drive the moped up, which I did but I highly suggest walking as it is very dangerous on the way down.

From the viewpoint, which is probably only frequented by locals in the area if by anyone at all you can see across the entire ocean and watch the storm clouds roll through. I enjoyed this viewpoint on several occasions while staying in Taling Ngam and each time a massive storm came straight at me, which was awesome to watch. You definitely won’t find this viewpoint in the tour guide but it really is one of the best views of Koh Samui. There are lots of lookouts on this list that you won’t find in the guidebook. Get ready to be adventurous as you discover some of the best viewpoints on Koh Samui.

Lamai Viewpoint

It sounded like it had the potential for the greatest view as it was suggested to me by multiple people as I asked around for good views on Koh Samui. At the entrance, I was greeted by a worker at a desk who said it was a $3 entrance fee. I reluctantly handed it over and to be honest, it wasn’t really worth the $3. A 10-minute climb with a pretty solid incline had me breathing heavily when I reached the summit. The view at the top was okay but it was mostly just a bed of trees beneath and the ocean in the distance. It’s worth it to enjoy a beer at the top but nothing mind-blowing.

Lamai Viewpoint – Siva Tara Waterfall

At the base of Lamai Viewpoint, there is a pretty spectacular waterfall. Unfortunately, it has a little manmade platform beneath it and is quite touristy but a great spectacle nonetheless. Alongside the waterfall is Valentine Stone which is a little less impressive. Included in your $3 admission is a fish foot spa.

Overlap Stone

This was my favorite viewpoint I visited while on Koh Samui. It is a 20-30ft rounded stone resting on a natural platform. It’s an unbelievable natural occurrence that I am glad I made the effort to visit. I sat next to the Stone for half an hour taking in the view of Lamai Beach and the surrounding areas. I wrote a full blog post about his because I loved it so much. 

View full blog post: OVERLAP STONE ON KOH SAMUI

The Intercontinental Pier

If you love jumping into the ocean there aren’t too many great spots to do so on Koh Samui. However, if you park at the luxurious Intercontinental hotel and walk along the beach you can hang out on their private pier. Jumping off the pier was something I did on several afternoons while staying on the southern end of the island. There’s a ladder to pull yourself back up and the water was definitely deep enough. This is a good spot to hang out during sunset as you will be looking directly towards the action and was one of my favorite things to do on Koh Samui.

Lamai Beach Viewpoint

Not to be confused with the Lamai Viewpoint I mentioned earlier this is a rock formation right on the beach. The rocks on Koh Samui really give the beaches a wow factor and I thought that was really what separated the islands from other tropical locations around Asia. At Lamai Beach Viewpoint I clambered over the rocks, while most tourists just stood around taking photos.

I found a spot to jump in the water much to the horror of the tourists who thought I was about to die. The water was only 6 feet deep so be careful in this spot and don’t jump from any crazy heights. This was definitely one of my favorite viewpoints on Koh Samui.

Grandmother & Grandfather Rock

This is a popular area among tourists for a bizarre reason. There is a rock formation called the Grandmother and Grandfather rock. Which is essentially a rock formation that resembles the female and male genitalia. I didn’t see any signs around but definitely, do not climb this. I witnessed one guy climbing on top of it for a photo and the local tour guides and vendors were up in arms yelling and screaming at him in disgust.

Lat Koh/Lad Koh Viewpoint

This viewpoint is very popular among tourists with a number of tour buses and vans dropping off groups to have a quick look. A steep staircase leads down to a view of the east coast of Koh Samui. Definitely worth stopping for as it is one of the nicer views of Koh Samui but it’s not as secluded as many of the other viewpoints on the island.

Silver Beach

Probably one of the coolest beaches on the Island, it has crystal clear water but also adventure at either end of the bay. You can rock climb your way up and around the giant rock formations to give yourself a view of the bay from either side.

Shortcut to Mae Nam

I didn’t quite make it the whole way along this drive as it started pouring halfway through the route. It is notoriously steep so I decided to turn back as the safe option. This was a very rural road, which cut right through the middle of the island. Coconut trees were plentiful and I would have loved to have made it higher up on this route to explore the views. You will have to tell me how it was.

Looking for great family spots to stay with the kids Thailand? Here’s a guide to the best family-friendly hotels in Thailand.

The next two viewpoints definitely don’t have a name that I know of and one of them involved ducking under a barbed wire fence. It wasn’t the riskiest trespass I have ever done but just a heads up.

Rock Bridge

On the northern side of the Cliff Bar is a set of stairs down the side of the cliff that has been overgrown by trees and grass. I saw it as I was driving and doubled back to check it out. Good decision. The stairs led down to a giant rock in the ocean that was attached to land by a small little bridge. It was a cool spot to hang out for a while and you can look back at Silver Beach. With its rock bridge and peaceful spot, this is definitely one of the most unique viewpoints on Koh Samui.

Tree Viewpoint

Just south of The Kala Samui is an open space where there is no building. A dilapidated barbed wire fence runs across the area. I stepped underneath the fence and a path led down to a beautiful viewpoint. The beach below was littered with amazing rock formations as is so common on this island. This was one of the best views of Koh Samui and I had stumbled upon it by chance.

Happy exploring! Hope you get some great views, and great weather, and maybe watch a storm roll in across the ocean while exploring the best viewpoints on Koh Samui.