Koh Samui island has long been one of the country’s favourite hotspots for tourists and holidaymakers. These days, on arrival at Thailands second-biggest island you can find literally hundreds of things to do on Koh Samui, to suit any budget or traveller type. A quick google search will turn up numerous lists of the best-known Koh Samui activities.
Unfortunately, many of these “best things to do” lists show the same Koh Samui attractions listed time and again. Personally, we found this a bit dull – see the Big Buddha, watch a beach sunset, visit the fisherman’s village, get a massage, watch the Thai kickboxing. Not to mention, many of these are entirely sedate and passive activities that just don’t suit our travelling style for long.
Like any place, Koh Samui sightseeing does have its big hitters – the waterfalls and the Big Buddha are undoubtedly some of the most famous places to visit in Koh Samui. However, this list aims to showcase some of the more unique and untypical Koh Samui day tours and activities. We guarantee that this is the most unique list of what to do in Koh Samui that you will read this year!
7 Awesome Koh Samui Activities and Adventures
You can watch an overview of all these awesome activities from our YouTube channel below, or scroll down if you prefer just to read about them.
- Island Escape Game
- Indoor skydiving
- Rock climbing and rappelling
- Go karting
- Sea Walking
- Jet boarding
- Absolut Ice Bar
- Book accommodation and travel
Island Escape Game
Escape the Island is one of the most unique tours in Koh Samui that we discovered during our visit. If you have done a traditional escape room game, then you know the concept already. You have a fixed amount of time to solve all the clues and escape from the locked room. Except, in this case, you are not in a room.
To be honest, we thought about just staying on the island instead of escaping it
Once arriving at Koh Tan, the Escape the Island game starts proper. We and our teammates had to solve a number of clues which involved puzzle skills, as well as activities like trekking over swamps, walking wooden bridges through mangrove forests and kayaking over the lagoon to solve the puzzle. Escape the Island was great fun and one of the Koh Samui must-do activities that we experienced.
Sandals are perfect foot equipment for escaping an island.
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You can only escape the island if you work as a team
The tour is perfectly safe and is fully guided every step of the way. Although of course, the guides do not give away any of the clues – that would spoil the fun!
Escape the Island tour is one of the Koh Samui day trips that must be booked in advance. Either call +66 (0) 901650411 or email aquaclubsamui@gmail.com.
Find Escape the Island online, on Facebook or TripAdvisor, or check out their awesome trailer video below!
© Aqua Beach Club Koh Samui – Escape the Island
Indoor Skydiving
Who knew you could skydive indoors? The EasyFly experience is an opportunity for an indoor skydive in Koh Samui! Offering a freefall experience in a vertical wind tunnel, EasyFly Samui opened more than two years ago and is the first of its kind in Thailand. It’s now one of the top Koh Samui activities.
On arrival, we were asked to register, including providing height and weight for safety purposes. The EasyFly activity is open to everyone including children, as long as the individual weight is over 20kg.
Flying without jumping from a plane? Count us in
In the dressing room area, we watched the short safety video and then had a briefing by one of the team to ensure we understood the hand-signal instruction inside the wind tunnel. We then changed into our flying gear. The outfits were provided by EasyFly. For safety reasons, full shoes must be worn (no flip-flops) and all jewellery must be removed.
Inside the wind tunnel is an amazing and exhilarating experience! A massive propellor pushes the air upward at a speed of 200 km per hour. You can literally float around in the tunnel. Although I have never done a real skydive, I can imagine the roaring wind and flying feeling is the closest you can get to the real thing. Doing the easyFly experience has given us both the urge to go and do a full skydive, feeling that we have some experience of the freefall part.
The flying chamber
Photos and videos are available after the “flight” and the tunnel is transparent meaning that the flight can also be enjoyed as a spectator sport. The entire experience is accompanied by a guide so is totally safe throughout.
No matter what the weather, the easyFly experience is amazing fun and should be included on everyone’s Koh Samui itinerary! You can book online, or find Easyfly on Facebook or TripAdvisor.
Rock Climbing and Rappelling
To a newcomer, rock climbing can be a daunting experience. But doing so on a natural climbing wall can offer a great introduction in a safe and guided environment. Rock & Ropes is the only outfit of its kind on the island. It provides an excellent experience for any budding or advanced adventurers wondering what to do in Koh Samui.
The Rock & Ropes activity itself lasts for around 3 hours and offers a combination of rock climbing and rappelling. The site is just off the main ring road of the island.
© Rock and Ropes Koh Samui: A great adventure for kids!
The rock climbing wall is set into the natural cliff. It overlooks the ocean, with beautiful sea views throughout the activity. You can climb a number of “routes” to the top of the wall, of varying difficulty. The instructors Guy and Sharon explained to us that all the equipment used is tested rigorously and to European standards. With ropes that can bear up to 3 tonnes in weight, used in duplicate, this is undoubtedly a safer activity than trying to cross the ring road in Koh Samui!
Sometimes tougher than it looks
Rappelling is an activity we both love doing, and Rock & Ropes Samui has a great rappelling experience with the final descent down a 40m cliff, ending at the edge of the ring road itself.
Starting the 40m rappel drop at the end of the tour
Rock & Ropes Samui is also a very suitable activity for children – the company actually also runs instructional classes for local kids. We can recommend Rock & Ropes as one of the best of Koh Samui tours for adventure lovers of any age! Call +66 61 230 0767 for bookings, or find them on Facebook or TripAdvisor.
Go karting
EasyKart was started by a former French racing driver so this should tell you that it offers the very best Samui go-kart experience. The company opened it’s first premises in Pattaya in 2004 and expanded to its Chaweng lake location in Koh Samui around three years ago. They offer an 800m racing track, as well as a smaller track for kids or the overly nervous.
Look at these bad boys
EasyKart make their own vehicles from a location in Thailand, to European standards. They have 4 different types of vehicle including one that can be dual-driven for younger drivers. The vehicles can also have their power cut remotely by the staff in case of any impending accidents. This makes it a very safe activity to do on Koh Samui with kids. Children must be at least 1.1m to drive either solo or accompanied. Helmets are of course provided.
Even as total non-petrolheads, we loved whizzing around the 800m track in our go-karts! As it had been raining, the track was a little slippery but it never felt unsafe and just added to the fun if anything.
Do you feel the need? The need for speed?
EasyKart is located in the same complex as EasyFly. You can order food, or play table football or pool whilst waiting for your flight or karting experience. The complex is open 365 days per year. You can find out more online, on Facebook or on TripAdvisor.
Sea Walking
You can choose from a variety of Koh Samui water sports located all over the island, but there is only one SeaWalking experience! Operated by the Aqua Beach Club, sea walking is exactly what it sounds like. You will walk over the bed of the ocean, experiencing something akin to a “moon-walk”.
No scuba equipment or previous experience is needed for this tour. You will be given a helmet with a glass window to look through. Fresh air is pumped into the helmet as you walk around on the sea floor. You can observe the marine flora and fish swimming right past you as you walk. If you are looking for some spectacular scuba diving, then check out the Liveaboards in Thailand, to experience a unique adventure in the sea.
© Aqua Beach Club Koh Samui –
SeaWalking
This is another one of the adventure-type Koh Samui excursions that is perfectly safe for kids aged 7 and up. Particularly, given that all equipment is provided and no special instructional classes are needed.
The tour offers a hotel pickup, along with the boat transfer to the SeaWalking site, The Seawalking Samui tour is a half day activity. It operates every day subject to weather conditions, and advance booking is a must. You can book online, or find them on Facebook or TripAdvisor.
Afraid that your valuables could get wet?
Then check out our post about the best waterproof bags for traveling.
Jet boarding over the ocean
If you want to use a jet ski on Koh Samui then just head down to any of the major beaches and you can easily find one to rent. However, there are a few newer and more unique waterspouts experiences available on the beaches of Koh Samui.
On Bophut beach (in our opinion, the best beach in Samui), we found something we have never seen before, the jetboard! Jetboarding involves a platform that you stand on in the water, powered by a jet ski. Jets of water shoot out of the bottom of the board below your feet, powering you up above the ocean. The trick is then to stay upright!
The jet board activity is operated by Samui Sea Sports and offers a 30-minute experience, plus 10 minutes of training on how to use the equipment. Instructors are on hand to assist throughout. You can book online, or find them on TripAdvisor.
Absolut Ice Bar
For the less adventurous who may be wondering where to go in Koh Samui for a more sedate experience, then there is one more unique activity we have left on our list. This is definitely one of the Koh Samui tourist attractions NOT fit for kids – the Absolut Ice Bar in Chaweng.
Do you want to catch your amazing experiences on camera?
Then check out our post about the best cameras for travel photography!
We happened across this by accident when we were passing through Chaweng for another of our Koh Samui activities. Neither of us had been in an Ice Bar before. So, of course, we decided it was something unique to do on Koh Samui that we couldn’t miss!
On entering, we were provided with furry hats and warm jackets before we went into the bar itself. I was wearing shorts and unfortunately, no trouser-type cover-ups were available, hence I ended up with very cold legs.
Alaska on the top, Koh Samui on the bottom
Inside, the temperature is well below zero and the bar is decorated with sculptures and furniture made of ice. We opted for two shots each of flavoured Absolut vodka. I had the peach and a berry flavour, Tom had the melon and watermelon flavour. All our shots came in glasses made of ice. It was a really fun and unique experience for being on a tropical island! Although it is so cold inside that it is not somewhere we could hang around for a long time!
The shot glasses were actually made of pure ice
The Absolut Ice Bar is located in Chaweng and opens daily from 10 am to 2 pm. Entrance charges apply, as well as the cost of the drinks. No booking is necessary.
So these are the absolute best activities in Koh Samui that we experience during our time there. All of these are really unique and we believe many of them are even among the top adventure activities in Thailand. If you are rather into shopping at amazing markets, you should have a look at The Lively Saturday Night Market on Koh Phangan, Koh Samui’s neighbour island.
Booking accommodation and transport
We partner with Booking.com to bring you the best hotel deals in Koh Samui available online for your stay. If you are looking for the best place to stay in Koh Samui, then you can check out our deals finder below, which will show you all the best accommodation deals for your chosen dates on the island.
Wondering about how to get to Koh Samui? We use 12GoAsia for all of our transportation bookings across SouthEast Asia. They offer transportation to and from Koh Samui via flight, train or bus with fast ferry connections. Browse the available options for your dates below.
If you know anyone who is looking for the best in day trips from Koh Samui, feel, free to recommend our list!
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DISCLAIMERS: Some of the tour operators in this post provided us with a discount in exchange for an honest review on our site. All opinions, however, are our own.
Please note that this post may contain affiliate links. If you use these links to make a purchase or a booking, we will receive a small commission from the vendor at absolutely no cost to you.
6 comments
Escape the Island looks so fun! What a great twist on such a popular activity. Great to see that Koh Samui has some climbing too on offer
Thanks for reading Gemma! Escape the Island was great fun and is really a unique activity – doing this outdoors is much more fun than being locked in a room!
Sea walking!!! I’m hooked and now want to ditch all my plans and get there!!! Awesome write up and incredible photos as always!
Hi Audrey, thank you very much for your nice words. Sea Walking is surely a unique experience and I’m sure you would love it 🙂
Have a cookietastic day
Haha love that … a cookietstic day!!!
I thought you would like it 🙂