The map above was prepared as a fun and useful tool in helping you orientate yourself. Featured here, are the location of hotels, local businesses and of course the popular beaches.

Fondly referred as the "Pearl of the Andaman", the island possess remarkable beauty with tropical hillsides in the north and along the south and west.

Once renown for its tin mines and rubber plantations, visitors now arrive looking for a place to relax and explore the scenery.

You can find rubber plantations but gone are the tin mines. The popular beaches are Patong, Kata and Karon, situated on the western part of the island with tidal mud flats in the east.

In all, the island is 530 sq km in size and is large enough to be a provincial center. Commuting by car is easy and the roads are generally quite good. If you plan to explore the island by car, beware of motorcycles especially in the city centers.