Koh Samui beach resorts are only behind Phuket in terms of popularity and visitor numbers for Thai resorts. And there is good reason for that, despite years of chronic over-development the island retains much of its natural beauty and picture postcard beaches. Travel to and from the island is easy with regular international and domestic flights direct to the island as well as regular ferry crossings from Surat Thani.
There is a huge choice of accommodation around the island to suit varying budgets, although the trend is to develop more and more upscale resorts. The main beach is Chaweng, which is a long stretch of beautiful white sand. Chaweng town is very built up with resorts stretching most of the length of the beach and shops, bars and restaurants line the streets behind. Quieter beaches can be found along the north of the island. Bophut has a more rustic, family atmosphere, although the beaches aren't so good.
There is a lot to do to occupy yourself in Koh Samui, whether you choose to hire a car, bike or use local transportation. (WARNING - If you chose to hire any equipment be it a car, motorbike, jet ski etc do your research beforehand and only use reputable hirers. There are known to be many scams operating in Thailand where the hirer will try to charge you an extortionate amount to repair minor scratches that you probably didn't put there. Such situations have been known to turn nasty. Do a Google search to read more about this).
So here's a rundown of the main activities:
Visiting temples - One of the highlights of most people's visits to Thailand is visiting a few temples, and Samui is no exception. The most famous is Big Buddha at Big Buddha beach. A short climb to the top of the temple offers some good views out to sea. There are also some rather gimmicky fortune telling machines and you can buy a brick to contribute towards the construction of new temple buildings. Another well known temple is Wat Khunaram which contains the mummified body of a local monk. Located along the southern stretch of the ring road, this is worth a quick stop off.
