The Koh Samui Sport Year — Every Race, Ride and Regatta

Koh Samui’s sport calendar is smaller and less publicized than its festival one, but it runs all year: a week of keelboat racing at Chaweng in May, Muay Thai fight cards most nights of the week, a golf course that hosts club opens, and a paddling and cycling scene that never fully stops. This page tracks races and competitions only — for Songkran, Loy Krathong and the island’s holidays, see the events calendar.

Key takeaways

• The only fixture with a genuinely fixed annual date is the Samui Regatta — the 24th edition is confirmed for 22-29 May 2027 at Chaweng, per the organizer’s own site; the 2026 edition has finished and no 2027 entry detail is published yet. Free to watch from the sand.
• Muay Thai fight cards run most nights of the week year-round at two Chaweng stadiums, and are the one sport fixture you can reliably plan around.
• Running, triathlon, cycling and open-water swim events on Samui itself are mostly seasonal, small-scale and inconsistently published — treat every date below as provisional until confirmed with the organizer, with one exception: the Four Seasons Cancer Care Charity Fun Run each September, confirmed on the resort’s own site.
• Several fixtures readers travel for sit on Koh Tao, Koh Phangan or the Surat Thani mainland, reachable by the same ferries covered in the ferry piers guide.
• A closing note lists exactly which fixtures this page could not confirm still run — check that before you book flights around any of them.

What This Actually Is

This is a calendar of competitions, not celebrations — races, fight cards, tournaments and club opens, the things a visiting or resident amateur can enter or watch as sport rather than culture. Boundary rule: Songkran, Loy Krathong, Chinese New Year and the Fisherman’s Village Festival belong to the events calendar; this page never repeats them, and the Samui Regatta gets one line in that page’s own table plus a link here, not a second write-up.

Who Is In It

The fixtures split into three crowds: expat and Thai amateurs who train year-round (the Muay Thai gyms, the golf members, the paddling regulars), overseas competitors who fly in for one event (regatta crews, any visiting triathletes), and spectators who show up for a single evening — most people reading this page will watch before they ever enter.

How It Works

Nothing here runs on a single calendar system the way festivals do. The Regatta is genuinely fixed to late May; Muay Thai fight nights repeat weekly on a promoter’s own schedule; everything else — running, triathlon, cycling, open-water swim, football and volleyball — gets organized on an ad-hoc basis by hotels, clubs or charities, publicized mainly through Facebook groups and word of mouth rather than a public race calendar. That informality is exactly why this page cross-checks each fixture against an organizer’s own site where one exists.

What It Costs

How To Join

For the Regatta, crew places go through the organizer or a yacht owner, not open registration — see the Samui Regatta guide for how spectating and crewing both work. For Muay Thai, walk into either Chaweng stadium as a ticket-holder, or ask a gym listed in the Muay Thai gyms guide about arranging an amateur bout if you train there. For everything else on this page — running, cycling, paddling, football, volleyball — the honest answer is to join the relevant Facebook group or ask at a gym, bike shop or watersports hut, since none of them run a public booking platform.

The Koh Samui Sport Year — Month by Month

2027 dates for every seasonal fixture above are not yet announced as of September 2026 — only the Regatta’s window is confirmed, 22-29 May 2027 for its 24th edition per the organizer’s own site, with the 2026 edition now finished and no 2027 entry detail published yet. See the section below for exactly what this page could and could not confirm.

On the Water — Sailing, Swimming and Paddling

The Samui Regatta is Koh Samui’s one water-sport fixture with a real annual date — organized by Regattas Asia, run over a week at Chaweng Beach in late May. The 2026 edition (23-30 May) has finished, and the organizer’s own site now confirms the 24th edition for 22-29 May 2027, though no 2027 entry detail is published yet. It gets one line in this calendar and a link, not a second write-up — the linked guide covers crewing, watching and how regatta week affects Chaweng hotel rates.

Outside the Regatta, Samui’s paddling scene is informal: beach kayak and SUP hire runs roughly 150-300 THB (~4.50-8.50 USD) an hour at the calm north-coast beaches, per the kayaking and SUP guide, and a loose community of regular paddlers meets at Maenam and Bophut in the early morning before the sea breeze builds. Neither an organized SUP racing series nor an open-water swim series has an independently confirmed, currently active presence on Samui itself — if you find one advertised locally, treat the schedule above as a starting point to check, not a fixture.

Running, Triathlon and Multisport

Koh Samui has no equivalent of Phuket’s long-running Laguna marathon or triathlon, but it does have one confirmed, dated running fixture: Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui’s Cancer Care Charity Fun Run at Nathon Pier, now in its 16th year, with the 2026 edition confirmed for Saturday 26 September — 2 km, 5 km and 10 km routes, 500 THB (~14 USD) entry including a T-shirt and breakfast box, registration from 5 a.m., start at 6 a.m., benefiting the Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer under the Thai Red Cross Society. Beyond that one fixture, the picture is smaller and less predictable: other hotels and schools organize occasional charity fun runs mostly between November and February, when Thailand’s nationwide cool-season running calendar makes early-morning racing bearable, and multisport days occasionally appear on the Thai Triathlon Association’s listings without becoming fixed annual traditions. The 009 content plan flags a dedicated Samui triathlon page as a future addition once one such event’s schedule is confirmed — nothing on the ground yet supports a firm date for this page to publish.

If a marathon-distance or half-marathon date is what you’re after, the closest consistently-run option is on the mainland or on Phuket rather than Samui itself; check the Surat Thani fixtures below before assuming Samui has one.

Cycling Sportives and Group Rides

No organized cycling sportive — a mass-participation timed road race — has a confirmed, currently active annual date on Koh Samui. What does run reliably is informal group cycling on the 51 km Route 4169 ring road and the hillier interior lanes, organized through local bike shops and expat cycling Facebook groups, heaviest from the cooler, drier months of November through February and lightest during the June-October monsoon. These rides are free or donation-based, open to join, and the closest thing to a “turn up and ride” fixture this calendar has outside Muay Thai.

Muay Thai Fight Cards and Amateur Bouts

This is the one sport fixture on the island you can plan around with real confidence, because it runs weekly rather than annually. Samui International Muay Thai Stadium has listed Tuesday, Friday and Sunday fight nights, and Phetchbuncha Boxing Stadium (“Chaweng Boxing Stadium”) Monday, Wednesday and Saturday — between the two, Chaweng has a live card most nights of the week, full detail in the Muay Thai fight nights guide. Cards run roughly six bouts, opening with junior or lower-weight fighters and building to a main event; tickets run 1,500-3,000 THB (~43-86 USD).

Most of what you’ll see is professional, but several gyms covered in the Muay Thai gyms guide — Yodyut Muaythai among them — arrange amateur or first-fight bouts at these same stadiums for students who train seriously and want to compete, rather than running a separate amateur circuit. Ask at the gym, not the ticket booth, if that’s what you’re after.

Golf Opens and Club Tournaments

Santiburi Samui Country Club is the island’s only 18-hole course, an elevated, hillside layout with a standard green fee around 4,500 THB (~129 USD). The club periodically runs member and invitational opens, but it does not publish a public annual tournament calendar the way the Regatta or a golf resort on Phuket might — the honest move is to contact the pro shop directly for what’s scheduled in your travel window rather than assume a fixed date. Spectating a member event is usually possible by asking at the clubhouse; a closed invitational may not be.

Football and Beach Volleyball

Beach clubs along Chaweng and Lamai occasionally host informal 5-a-side football or beach volleyball tournaments, usually tied to a sponsor, a charity or a beach club’s own events calendar rather than a recurring island-wide competition. These surface through beach club social pages and expat sport Facebook groups closer to the date, generally in the shoulder months of September and again around the cooler season, and they’re free or low-cost to watch from the sand.

Gulf-Wide Fixtures — Koh Tao, Koh Phangan and Surat Thani

Some of the sport people travel from Samui for happens on neighboring islands or the mainland, reachable on the same routes covered in the ferry piers guide. Koh Tao’s dive-community calendar has, in past years, included open-water swim and paddle events tied to the island’s marine-conservation groups, though this page could not verify a currently active, publicly scheduled edition as of September 2026 — confirm locally or with a Koh Tao dive operator before planning a trip around one. Koh Phangan is best known for its monthly Full Moon Party, which is a festival, not a sport fixture, and outside that this page found no independently confirmed recurring race or competition on the island. Surat Thani, the mainland provincial capital, sits within Thailand’s broader nationwide running-event calendar that clusters race dates in the cool season (roughly November-February), but no single Surat Thani race could be confirmed here as a fixed annual fixture — check the Thai Marathon Association or Sports Authority of Thailand listings closer to your travel dates.

What We Could Not Confirm

Being direct about the gaps: this page could not confirm a currently active annual marathon, half-marathon or triathlon based on Koh Samui itself, a formally organized SUP or kayak racing series, a public cycling sportive, an open-water swim series, or a fixed annual date for golf opens at Santiburi. It also could not confirm whether the events sometimes referenced for Koh Tao’s swim and paddle community are still running in their previous format. What this page could confirm directly — the Samui Regatta’s dates and organizer, the two Chaweng Muay Thai stadiums’ weekly schedules, Santiburi’s green fees, and the Four Seasons Cancer Care Charity Fun Run’s date and entry detail — comes from this site’s own verified guides and the organizer’s own press release, linked throughout.

FAQ

What sport events happen on Koh Samui every year?

Only the Samui Regatta has a genuinely fixed annual date — late May at Chaweng Beach. Muay Thai fight cards run weekly rather than annually and are the most reliable fixture overall. Running, triathlon, cycling, open-water swim and ball-sport tournaments happen on Koh Samui, but on an ad-hoc, inconsistently published schedule rather than a fixed yearly slot.

When is the Samui Regatta and where do I watch it?

The Samui Regatta runs a week in late May at Chaweng Beach. The 2026 edition (23-30 May) has finished; the organizer’s own site confirms the 24th edition for 22-29 May 2027, though no 2027 entry detail is published yet. Watching is free from Chaweng Beach itself or a beachfront bar; no ticket is needed. Full detail is in the Samui Regatta guide.

Is there a Koh Samui marathon or half marathon?

Not a marathon or half marathon, but one confirmed fun run: Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui’s Cancer Care Charity Fun Run at Nathon Pier, 16th edition, returning 26 September 2026 with 2/5/10 km routes and a 500 THB entry. Beyond that, hotels and schools organize occasional charity fun runs, usually 5-10 km, mostly between November and February. For a dependable marathon-distance race in the region, the closest confirmed options sit on the mainland or Phuket rather than on Samui itself.

Can I watch Muay Thai fight cards without fighting?

Yes — this is the easiest sport fixture on the island to attend as a spectator. Samui International Muay Thai Stadium runs Tuesday, Friday and Sunday cards, and Phetchbuncha Boxing Stadium runs Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, both in Chaweng. Tickets cost 1,500-3,000 THB (~43-86 USD); see the Muay Thai fight nights guide for seating and timing.

Does Koh Samui host a triathlon?

Not with a currently confirmed recurring date, as of September 2026. A dedicated triathlon page is planned on this site once an event’s schedule is confirmed, but nothing on the ground today supports publishing a fixed date. Check the Thai Triathlon Association’s listings closer to your travel dates if this is what you’re after.

What sport events on nearby islands are worth the ferry?

Koh Tao’s dive community has, in past years, run open-water swim and paddle events, though this page could not verify a currently active edition. Koh Phangan’s best-known date is the Full Moon Party, which is a festival rather than a sport fixture. Surat Thani sits within Thailand’s cool-season (Nov-Feb) national running calendar, but no single race there could be confirmed as a fixed annual fixture here.

Turning Up

The one fixture on this page you can turn up to with real confidence, any week of the year, is a Muay Thai fight card in Chaweng — Samui International Muay Thai Stadium on a Tuesday, Friday or Sunday, or Phetchbuncha on a Monday, Wednesday or Saturday, doors from around 20:00. If your visit lands in late September, the Four Seasons Cancer Care Charity Fun Run at Nathon Pier (26 September 2026, 500 THB, 2/5/10 km, registration from 5 a.m.) is the one dated running fixture on this page worth building a morning around. Everything else on this calendar is either genuinely seasonal (the Regatta, late May only) or organized by arrangement rather than on a fixed public schedule — for those, the honest move is to check the linked guide or local Facebook group for the current date before building a trip around it, not to trust a repeated date from a previous year.