Golden hour, west coast
7
Sunset from Koh Samui
A colour band, a horizon arc, and the string of west-coast beaches that face it, tracking the sky from the last full daylight to the moment the sun clears the water.
The colour change
Daylight into dusk
A band along this section shifts colour as you scroll past it, tracking the sky through the stretch of evening the rest of the page measures.
The band runs from ordinary daylight blue through gold as the sun drops toward the horizon, into the reds of dusk, and finally into night, the same run of colour a clear evening on this coast actually turns overhead.
The western horizon
Where the sun goes down, month by month
The horizon here is drawn as an arc, with a mark for where the sun sets in each month. The sun does not set due west most of the year; it swings well south of it around the December solstice and well north of it around June, and only crosses due west near the equinoxes in between.
| Where the sun goes down, month by month | Sunset | Compass bearing at sunset |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 18:18 | 249° |
| Feb | 18:29 | 257° |
| Mar | 18:31 | 268° |
| Apr | 18:30 | 280° |
| May | 18:33 | 289° |
| Jun | 18:40 | 294° |
| Jul | 18:45 | 292° |
| Aug | 18:38 | 284° |
| Sep | 18:21 | 273° |
| Oct | 18:03 | 262° |
| Nov | 17:56 | 251° |
| Dec | 18:03 | 247° |
- Earliest sunset of the year
- 17:56
- Latest sunset of the year
- 18:45
- Compass bearing at sunset
- 247°–294°
West-coast beaches
The beaches lined up to watch it
These are every beach on this coastline that actually faces the sunset, run north to south. A calm sea and an open horizon do the rest; none of them needs a bar or a viewing deck to work at dusk.
- 01
Laem Yai Beach
A small bay closed in by low headlands on both sides, quiet enough that the sunset over the water is mostly yours. The bay stays sheltered and calm well after most of this coast has gone dark orange.
- 02
Bang Makham Beach
A working shore lined with anchored longtail boats and fishermen's houses rather than sunbeds, so the sunset falls behind boat masts and drying nets instead of an empty view.
- 03
Nathon Beach
The island's ferry town, where the piers that carry all its traffic to the mainland double as the best vantage point once the boats stop running for the evening and the working waterfront empties out.
- 04
Tong Yang Beach
A quieter, less built-up stretch where a shallow reef sits just offshore, so the same low light that colours the sky also catches the water over it at low tide.
- 05
Lipa Noi Beach
A long beach that shelves out so gradually it draws families for the swimming by day, then empties enough by evening that the sunset over its flat water goes largely unwatched.
- 06
Taling Ngam Beach
Its name translates from Thai as beautiful cliff, for the rocky headlands that frame the water here and turn the sunset into a view rather than just a light show.
- 07
Phang Ka Beach
A quiet, coarse-sand beach with no beach road of bars behind it, where wading birds work the tide flats and the sunset closes out an already slow stretch of coast.
Plan the rest of the evening
Read the write-ups on the beaches themselves, or check our guides to sunset-view bars, boat cruises timed to catch it, and the island's other viewpoints before you head out.
Questions about the sunset
Are the sunset times on this page exact?
No. They come from a solar-position approximation, accurate to about a minute at this latitude, not from an observation on the beach. Close enough to plan an evening by, not to bet on the exact instant.
Why does the sun set in a different spot on the horizon depending on the month?
The sun's setting point swings along the horizon across the year rather than staying fixed due west. It reaches its southern and northern extremes around the two solstices and only crosses due west near the equinoxes.
Do all the beaches on this page really face the sunset?
Yes. They are pulled from our own beach survey by the same west-facing orientation, not chosen for having a bar or a view deck, so a beach with neither can still be on the list.
Can you swim at all of these beaches at sunset?
No. A few, like the ferry town waterfront and the working fishing shore, are not swimming beaches at all. Others shelve gently and suit an evening swim; check the beach's own page before you go.
What is the colour band at the top of the page showing?
It tracks the sky itself across this stretch of evening, from ordinary daylight through gold and dusk red into night, for anyone reading the page without the motion.
Sunset times and bearings come from a solar-position approximation published by the U.S. weather service, run for this island's coordinates. Which beaches face the sunset comes from our own coastline survey, not from any single tour operator or listing.