Before the hotels and the shuttle flights, Koh Samui was an island of coconut groves, and palm trees still dominate every hill in the landscape. Ships drop anchor in the Gulf of Thailand, off Nathon, the main town on the west coast, and tenders bring passengers to the town's landing. The day then comes down to two temptations: stay in this little town of shophouses that tourism hasn't transformed, or head across the island to the beaches and temples that made Samui famous far beyond Thailand.

Nathon, the Island of Yesteryear

Around the landing, Nathon keeps its rows of wooden Sino-Thai shophouses, its old-fashioned pharmacies, its noodle stalls and its market piled high with mangoes, pineapples and dried fish. A good hour of strolling is enough to see it all, and it's time well spent: you see island life as it was before the big resorts, when schooners carried copra to Bangkok and everything arrived by sea. The waterfront cafés serve excellent iced coffee, perfect for watching the tenders come and go. Souvenir hunters will find batiks, coconut soaps and woven baskets, sold without the slightest hard sell, and the covered market deserves ten minutes on its own.

The Big Buddha and the Northern Temples

Half an hour to the northeast, the golden silhouette of the Big Buddha at Wat Phra Yai rises twelve metres above an islet linked to the coast by a causeway. Seated facing the open sea, visible from afar on clear days, it watches over the fishing boats and the rows of stalls leading to its naga-guarded staircase. The site is easily combined with the nearby temple of Wat Plai Laem and its colourful statues set on a pond where enormous carp swim. Along the way, you pass through Bophut, whose old fishing village lines cafés and shops in wooden houses facing the bay; the place has charm to spare in the late afternoon.

Eastern Beaches and Inland Waterfalls

On the other side of the hills, Chaweng unfurls several kilometres of golden sand lined with restaurants and shallow waters; its neighbour Lamai offers a more relaxed version of the same setting, popular with families. The mountainous interior hides the Na Muang waterfalls, where water tumbles down dark rock faces amid dense vegetation. The pickup-truck taxis called songthaews circulate all around the island and let you put together your own tour, as long as you keep an eye on the clock and allow a comfortable margin to get back to the tender pier. Riding in the open back of one of these trucks, hair blowing in the wind between villages, is one of the day's simple pleasures, and foodies will keep an eye out along the way for mango sticky rice stalls.

Distances from the Nathon Landing

On the way back, as the tender pulls away from shore, Samui resumes its silhouette of green hills topped with coconut palms. Everyone brings home their own version of the place: a golden Buddha facing the sea, a swim in warm water, or simply the memory of a market where no one was in a hurry. Perhaps that is the true luxury of this port call: letting each passenger choose their own island.