August
2004
Updated July 2006
Ko
Samui: Charlie's Huts on Chaweng Beach
Part
2
Now
of course you could find more luxurious places to
stay in Samui. You can find teak Lana style residences
replete with Thai silk and exotic wood carvings for
instance. But Charley Huts is economical too. Bungalows
are in the 500 range and you're right on the beach.
I would rather stay in a moderately-priced tasteful
place. Not so much to save money, but because the
other expensive places seemed too over-the-top. It's
like resorts have to find excuses to charge a lot
of money so they come up with a lot of extras that
are meaningless: obsequious doormen, DVD players,
private whirlpool, etc. And then, if you walk around
barefoot and shirtless, you feel uncomfortable because
the place is too high-class. I go to places like Samui
to get away from formality and artificiality, so why
would I want to spend time in an uptight expensive
resort? It's like paying more for less.
Chaweng
beach is a long crescent-shaped stretch of white sand.
There are some outer surrounding reefs in certain
places that would be useful for shallow water snorkeling.
In line with the general commercial character of the
island, the water sports promoted are those that provide
the vendor a chance to collect some serious money.
But this is normal at all seaside resorts, I think.
Is scuba inherently better than snorkeling? Well,
scuba requires a lot of equipment, much more expensive
than snorkeling equipment, and you have to pay to
take courses to get certified. You also need a dive
boat.
But
compare: with snorkeling you are light and able to
move freely. In scuba, you are constrained by heavy
equipment. In snorkeling, you have no time limit and
you need to exercise your lungs to sustain yourself
under water, so you are getting a beneficial workout,
developing a stronger heart and lungs. With scuba,
you are limited to the amount of time that the oxygen
in your tanks provide. With scuba, your equipment
provides the adaptive tools you need to be under water.
Better equipment equals better adaptability. With
snorkel, your body itself adapts, you become like
a fish, able to swim and manoeuver with small efficient
twists of your body. Your lungs and heart grow and
improve and a single breath can sustain you for minutes
under water until a resurface.
But
there is little money to be paid for snorkeling so
travel agents don't promote it. No money no honey.
Same with kayaking. Kayaking is a low-cost activity,
extremely fun and healthy and preserves the environment.
But it can't generate the same kind of money as jet-skis,
speedboats and para-sailing, so it is not promoted.
One
of the cleverest money-making adventure activities
is the jungle canopy ride. In this ride, you climb
up the hills in a rain forest and dangle from a harness
attached to wire cable suspended between trees several
hundred meters above the rainforest ground. Your harness
runs along the wire cable and they give you leather
gloves to slow the thing down without blistering your
fingers.
