[shvstrapline]
[shortdescription]
The area of Bophut stands out as the place where Fisherman's Village is located - a Koh Samui top tourist spot offering a fantastic dining experience, enjoy cocktails, drink coffee and people watch!
Before major tourism evolved in Koh Samui back in the early 2000's the main street of the village along the coast was lined with quaint wooden shop houses with living quarters at the back and retail or a restaurant or bar at the front. This was part of the charm of the village together with a French feel to the village left behind from previous settlers in the area.
More recently with the increased tourism there has been a great deal of change with most of the wooden buildings now having been replaced with quality glass fronted boutique fashion shops, jewellers, Spa establishments and cocktail bars.
Of course the the well established English style pubs are still in existence but believe that the reason for extending the popular Fisherman's Village Friday night market to every night of the week maybe to retain that "local" feel for the visitors.
This not held in the main street of the village as previously but starts in a side street at the end west end of the village and ends at Koh Samui's main ring road around the island.
Here you will find market stalls starting from stretching for about 1km on both sides of the street with vendors selling watches, clothing, handbags, jewellery and much more with live music entertainment and a cocktail area in the middle section followed by stalls of street food.
A welcome change has seen both entrances into the village blocked for vehicles from 6pm every evening so that visitors can enjoy the shops and restaurants in the main street safely as most nights the village is very busy.
Evening dining on the sand in Fisherman's Village in such a beautiful setting should be on the top of your to do list. During the day the beach offers a host of watersports to enjoy.
Holiday villas in or near the Bophut location are in high demand and although the beach is mostly lined with hotels our portfolio of private villas do include 8 villas located on a secure beachside resort at the west end of the beach. 5 of the villas are absolute beachfront and can be viewed in our Luxury Villas in Koh Samui collection.. The remainng 3 villas are one row behind and have an ocean view and featured in our All Sea View Villas in Koh Samui collection.
The majority of our Bophut villas however are nestled on the exclusive hillside above the beach and all have stunning views and represent two levels of service in our Luxury Villas in Koh Samui collection and our Sea View Villas in Koh Samui collection
The village is where the majority of the bars and restaurants are located and they line both sides of the street in between the quaint shop houses. The dining scene is as eclectic as it can be, with a bohemian touch blending with both traditional and contemporary styled venues.
This restaurant is a popular favourite with both tourists and residents as it is one of the original eating venues to set up in Bophut. The Shack is not located on the ocean side of the street, but the reputation encourages you to go straight for it serving what is considered the best steaks on the island. It has booth seating, so you can watch the chefs at work and listen to jazz music over the speakers. It creates a western vibe. www.theshackgrillsamui.com
Although all the restaurants offer both Thai and International cuisine, it is the dining al fresco on a beachside balcony or on the sand itself that is far more picturesque and popular.
The ‘Happy Elephant’
Another popular restaurant and one of the originals and probably the most frequented being in the centre of the village (with parking) and offering ‘choose your own fish’ from the fresh catch of the day displayed outside, together with steaks and other western dishes to complement.
Karma Sutra
It is hard to miss Karma Sutra which is located on the corner of the junction opposite the pier with it’s colourful décor set in an old chinese shop house. The charming interior has all sorts of funky style wood seating topped up with a haze of purple and pillows. The restaurant serves meals until late (the menu is a newspaper and the food served on a chalk board!) and also has a great range of cocktails. With wifi throughout Karma Sutra is a great place to take the laptop have a coffee or cocktail and just people watch.
There are numerous other restaurants offering Italian, French, Mexican and Indian cuisine as well as a few English style sports bars and chill out chic cocktail bars offering the same amazing views.
Zazen
Still on the beach but right at the west end Zazen is part of a small hotel resort and would need to be approached from the main road rather than along from the village. With a French chef and first class food, the atmosphere here is one of romance, sophistication and intimacy. Glowing under the light of over 100 candles and the sound of the waves. An added bonus is on certain nights entertainment in the form of Thai Dancers to complete this perfect venue. www.samuizazen.com
Bophut nightlife is relatively low key compared to that of Chaweng and Lamai, the abscence of hostess bars and massage parlours makes this a pleasant place for all the family to enjoy.
There are a number of English style pubs in the main street of Old Fisherman’s Village, some of which are in a prime location on the beach side and most serve food in addition to just socialising and having a beer with friends enjoying the view.
Emerald Irish Bar
The Emerald Irish Bar is one of these venues in a great location and has live music some nights
The Frog and Gecho
A popular place for expats with a weekly quiz night which is popular with tourists too. Has a pool table and large screen TV for Saturday & Sunday football events.
Watersports
A watersports centre is located on the beach opposite The Wharf in the village and offers parasailing, jetski/jetski safari, water ski, wakeboarding, flyboarding, standup paddle boarding and many more.
Scuba Diving
Within the village there are a few dive shops that offer trips to other islands for scuba diving. If you want to learn to dive Easy Divers (www.easydivers-samui.net) are a well established dive company and have international management. They are a PADI-Five Star IDC-Centre and offer almost every PADI Dive Course – from Discover Scuba Diving all the way up to the Instructor Development Course
Snorkeling, Kayaking and Fishing Trips
You will find many tour shops within the village offering boat trips to the neighbouring islands to include snorkelling, kayaking, fishing and general sightseeing.
Go Karts
There is a simple Go-Kart Track just outside the village on the main ring road going towards Maenam, it has 3 kinds of Karts available 100cc – 200cc, for use by all the family. Safety is of paramount of importance, the circuit has extensive padding and safety barriers throughout and all the Karts are well regularly maintained and safety helmets (provided) are to be worn at all times.
Walking Street Night Markets
One of the top tourist spots of Koh Samui and a ‘must see’ is the "Walking Street Night Markets" at Fisherman’s village and is lovely way to spend an evening, where you eat drink and shop whilst walking. The markets takes place between 4pm and 10pm
Golf
A popular 9 hole 27par golf course is located in the hills beyond the beach with championship quality greens and a clubhouse, full bar and restaurant.
Shopping
As you stroll down the road towards the pier there are several places selling fake branded T shirts, sarongs, sandals etc, but as you walk along the main street nestled in between the various other stalls the shops are more boutique with better and more exclusive selection of clothes such as Siddharta and The House also selling accessories and jewellery, made in Thailand and imported from Bali, India and Hong Kong.
[shortdescription]