Ko Samui

Granite lies in a cluster where Lamai beach ends to the south. Two of the blocks are held to resemble parts of a body, which is where the grandfather and grandmother names come from, and a deck past the shop arcade takes you out to them dry-footed.

It comes in two tiers and the lower one sits five minutes off the car park. The upper tier is another 1.5 kilometres up, with stretches you cross on rock, which rules out flip-flops. Water runs heaviest in December and January, after the rains.

A monk sits inside a glass case in the posture he died in: the abbot here, dead in 1973, who asked not to be cremated. The sunglasses were put on to protect the face, which the sign in the hall explains.

Nearly seven kilometres of the island's busiest sand, and the north and south ends do not feel alike. Coral lies shallow at the north and the middle stretch has the fine sand, while at night the road behind it works as the town.

Shorter and emptier than Chaweng, with a little more surf for it. Late in the wet season rips form and warning flags go up, and that is not the time for the rocks at the south end. Market and restaurants line the road behind the sand.

One row of wooden shophouses survives as restaurants and shops, and on Friday evening the street closes for stalls that islanders turn out for too. Boats to Ko Pha Ngan leave from the pier, but not often, so check the times.

Forty-two islands make up the park, so it takes a boat and a whole day. Mae Ko holds a salt lagoon closed off from the sea. Climb the five hundred-odd steps on the peak in the middle and look down on it. In the wet season plenty of days have no sailing.

Half an hour on the boat from Big Buddha pier, and hillier than Samui, so the inland roads are steep. Hat Rin fills for the full moon party on that date and stays quiet the rest of the month. A few northern beaches are still boat-only.

Where the ring road bends around a rock face between Chaweng and Lamai, the pull-in holds two or three cars and no more, and steps lead down to rocks that the swell washes right over on a heavy day.

The island's administrative town, and where the big boats from the mainland dock. Three lanes behind the pier keep their Chinese shophouses, mixing offices and banks with old tea shops, and nowhere on the island is cheaper.

A golden Buddha 12m tall sits on Ko Fan, an islet joined to Samui's northeastern corner by a causeway you walk over. Shoes are left below the stairs. The airport is close, so departing jets climb out behind the statue.

On a lake, an eighteen-armed Guanyin stands beside a laughing Budai. Toss in the fish pellets sold lakeside and the catfish churn the surface. With the Big Buddha five minutes off by car, visitors combine the pair.

A garden of stone figures a durian farmer began setting up in 1976 on a summit in the island's middle. Buddhas, people and animals sit among rocks around a stream. The road up is brutally steep, so most come on 4x4 tours.

A small boulder-framed cove between Chaweng and Lamai. The sea lies calm and clear, and swimming toward the rocks brings fish into view. The sand strip is slim, and towels claim all of it by afternoon.

A curved northeastern bay, gently shelving with soft waves, and many families bring children. On a falling tide, people splash across the shallows to the islet offshore. Nights are far quieter than in Chaweng.

A long northern strand facing Ko Pha Ngan over the water. Fast boats to Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Tao leave from the pier here. On Thursday evenings a walking-street market fills the old fishing-village lane.