Hi folks


My wife and I have visited Samui for a holiday before, and are looking to spend a few months out there next year (2011) and have a few questions we wanted to ask, if there are any locals on these forums...

1: Weather - we've read some differing reports on what the seasons realy are on Samui... I'm a very keen snorkeller and want to be able to have calm seas for a good part of the time we're out there. Last time we went was in late Jan and we had a good week of poor visibility due to rain/wind... wondered when really was the best time of year to go?

2: Car rental - if we're going to be out there a few months we really want a car. We have a baby too so transport safety is key (especially given the number of bike accidents on Samui). How easy is it to rent a car on the island?

3: Villa costs - we've seem some WILDLY different prices quoted for villa rental out there... from a few dollars a night to a few thousand dollars a night. We are happy to spend $1500 - $2000 US a month for the villa, but need high-speed internet and a pool, or to be real close to the beach. Is that reasonable? Should we go through an agent and book it all long before we head out? Or do we risk trying to find somewhere when we're out there? The latter is a bit scary given the baby being with us to be honest.

Lastly... is there any area on the island that is particularly good for snorkelling sites? We stayed on the west side near Nathon last time and didn't find any good sites... any recomendations?

Thanks all!


Ben

Hi rocketand roll. I will answer your question as best i can unlike 'poppva1' who continues to spam this site with pointless comments!

I have visited samui twice in March and april and the weather was fabulous both times, very little rain and even when it does rain it's a downpour for about 1 hour max thensunshine again. Ithink generally December to April are the best times to go.

Ref car hire - There are the usual at the airport like Hertz etc but you could always check this portal for others places locally:

http://www.siamdir.com/auto_and_marine/vehicle_sales_and_rental/index.html

Im afraid i cant comment on villa hire because ive only ever stayed in Hotels here.

Happy holidays