Koh Lipe

Turquoise water, golden sand, sunsets to die for….has Koh Lipe got it all? Or is it drowning in tourism?

• 

• 

Koh Lipe is the southernmost island in Thailand and is actually closer to Langkawi in Malaysia than it is Thailand. It is part of the Tarutao National Marine Park and is a very popular place for divers and snorkelers because of the wealth of marine life.

Ever since we first heard about Koh Lipe we were excited to check it out. We followed the #KohLipe hashtag on Instagram, watched YouTube videos, devoured blog posts about it, talked about it to anyone who would show any interest and we couldn’t wait to get out there and see it for our own eyes. Visiting the Maldives is off the table for us purely because of sky high costs, but this place was being given the tagline the Maldives of Thailand so it should be worth waiting for….

How to get there?

The easiest route is a flight into Langkawi and then a 30minute ferry over. However, we were coming from Koh Lanta where you can get a ferry, there are ferries from most of the Krabi/Trang islands that will take you there. It cost us about 4000bht (£100) for the 4 of us and took around 3 hours including stops to get there.

• 

• 

On arrival you disembark on a jetty where you are then loaded onto a long tail for the 5minute trip through the shallow water to get to the island. Here is where you need to be careful – make sure when you buy your initial ferry ticket to Koh Lipe that it includes both the National Park Entry (mandatory for every visitor) and the longtail taxi ticket. We somehow got knocked and ours didn’t include these extras, so with little or no information and lots of people frantically trying to locate luggage, get on a longtail or find out what to do next it took us a while to sort out the next steps. Another tip – once you get on the longtail make sure that they load your case on with you so that you don’t have to go back over to the jetty to get it! Fail!

Where to stay?

We agonised over this for a long time, too long! We were spending the Christmas period here (23rd-28th Dec) and wanted to get it right. We didn’t want the kids to be waking up on Christmas morning in a hovel somewhere but neither could we afford the gorgeous boutique hotels on Instagram. Koh Lipe is EXPENSIVE (for Thailand anyway!) and to be honest we begrudge paying over and above the standard rates of the country just for some fashionable stay for the gram!

We settled eventually on San Pita Resort near Sunrise Beach, the reviews were good, location seemed to be good and it had a pool and breakfast included, always a bonus. We were happy with our choice – the room was spacious, clean and location was perfect. We had a double and a single bed and we were steps away from the pool so we could let the kids have a nap in the afternoon and we were able to sunbathe or go in the pool which worked well for us.

• 

• 

Sunrise Beach

We were about 150m from this beach so it was the one we spent the most time on, but we also believe it is the best. It is the beach where you will find ‘that bar’ that you see on Instagram all the time – Sea La Vie – with the wooden seating, chilled music playing, colourful signs and banners everywhere….you know? It is a pretty good bar mind and we spent an amazing Christmas Day afternoon/evening there.

• 

• 

• 

This is also where you see all those pictures of the paradise beach, the water is like something we have never seen before; crystal clear, turquoise and shallow as far out as you want to walk. It is a real take-your-breath-away moment when you walk out onto that beach and look at that view for the first time. Needless to say we spent most of our time here.

• 

• 

Christmas Eve we decided to get up and watch the sunrise on Sunrise Beach, we got there a little too late – at 5.50am – so if you are going check the sunrise time and get there a good 30-45mins beforehand. The beach was quiet at first but got busier with lots of people filming and taking pictures, some morning yoga going on as well but it was a lovely way to start the day and our Christmas celebrations.

• 

• 

There are lots of nice juice bars, restaurants and bars along sunrise beach with happy hours and decent prices. The Castaway Resort is also there which has some cheaper accommodation, we tried to get in here but it was booked up well in advance. We did have dinner here which was nice, but it was so so busy…we actually felt sorry for the people working there as they were trying their best but there were just so many people around!

• 

• 

• 

Sunset Beach

Being the sunset lovers that we are, we headed straight here on arrival in Koh Lipe. It is about a 10 (15/20mins with kids!) easy walk from Walking Street. It is a small stretch of gravely sand with a couple of shacks selling beer and mojitos and one expensive looking hotel built into the cliff at the end. I’m not sure what we had been reading or looking at but I was expecting something much bigger, sandier and to be honest a better sunset! Also it got PACKED! There was barely a spare metre of sand once it was sunset time. The sun went down round the cliff so you couldn’t see it drop into the water – something us sunset lovers are always on the lookout for. Nevertheless, it was worth a look and a mojito on the beach but we didn’t head back here after that first night.

• 

• 

Pattaya Beach

This is where you first arrive in Koh Lipe, where the jetty and all the boats are. It is a lovely, wide stretch of sand and is adorned with pricey hotels and bars. It is also where Walking Street begins/ends whichever way you look at it. We steered clear of this beach during the day opting for the closer and shallower Sunrise Beach, however, we did spend a couple of evenings here as we discovered that the sunset is actually better here than Sunset Beach – who would have thought it!

• 

• 

There are a few beach bars that put out bean bags, beach chairs and light torches on the beach followed by fireshows. Very similar to what we had just seen in Koh Lanta. The bar staff were very welcoming of the kids and often wanted to play football with them on the beach, which was ideal for us getting a bit of peace watching the sunset and sipping on a cocktail.

• 

• 

Walking Street

Wandering round here at night is when you realise the volume of people on the small 3.5km x 2.5km island and the saturated tourism on the island, granted it was high season and Christmas but you could barely move down there around 7pm. It reminded us of a smaller, less seedy, Patong in Phuket. Think of restaurant workers shouting and trying to get you inside, bar workers advertising happy hours, tens of Chinese tourists moving in a pack not moving aside for anyone and souvenir shops and clothes shops ‘take a look ma’am.’ It has character, it is fun and undoubtedly has atmosphere but we preferred to stick to Walking Street by day or early evening to avoid the crowds.

• 

• 

• 

Check out Tropical and Elephant cafe/restaurants, we had a lovely breakfast in there (they are sister cafes) we also had a decent meal in the King Crab Koh Lipe restaurant. We bought some toys and sunglasses and enjoyed wandering during the day time but the crowds in the night really did put us off.

Snorkelling

You can rent snorkelling gear from many of the beachside cafes and simply walk out into the sea from Sunrise Beach and go snorkelling, apparently the closer you get to the small island the better the snorkelling becomes.

We did a snorkelling tour on Christmas Day, it only cost 450bht each (Elis was free!) and it was from 8am-130pm there was another family on the longtail with us from Sweden with 2 older kids. We stopped at 4 different places and we saw lots of multicoloured fish and beautiful coral. We even got Elis in the sea a few times – remarkable as he was petrified of the water 2 months before this trip. Dylan couldn’t get to grips with the snorkelling gear but he gave it a good go – we need to practice in the pool back in Dubai before our next trip!

• 

• 

• 

One of the stops on the trip was Koh Tarutao Island which is covered in black rocks, there is a sign up warning of a legend that says if you take any rocks from the island then bad curses will be bestowed upon you. We didn’t really know what to make of that, didn’t fancy our chances of taking a rock though!

Our final stop on this trip was Koh Rawi….wow, wow, wow! Even if you don’t do a snorkelling trip then get a longtail to take you over here for an hour or so with a picnic (there’s no stalls or restaurants) and go and relax over here. If you thought Sunrise Beach was beautiful, this is out of this world. It is like something off a postcard, utterly breathtaking. What an incredible place to be on Christmas Day!

• 

• 

Koh Adang View Point

To get here you need to take a longtail from Sunrise Beach (100bht return) and arrange a time with the driver to pick you up. There aren’t many longtails over on Koh Adang so make sure you give yourself plenty of time and arrange a time clearly – take his number too!

• 

• 

We read in our trusty Lonely Planet Guide as well as a few blog posts that this climb up to the viewpoint was a little tough but easily do-able….I guess the people writing those guides are hikers or avid climbers as I think ‘a little tough’ is a bit of an underestimate. Also, those who say you can get up in 45mins, I would say around 1hr to 1.15mins with stops to take in the views, water and shade breaks. Also – GO EARLY!

• 

• 

However, we were determined to give it a go and make sure the kids did too and we didn’t give up. It wasn’t particularly arduous just steep and at times the footing was tricky and required some scrambling about. For the kids it was a lot more difficult – some of the steps were bigger than them, so it took a lot of coercing, singing and games to get them up there. We did it in just under 2 hours. Was it worth it? Yes probably, there was a sense of achievement and we were all glad we did it just in hindsight we would have started at 7am as we were dripping with sweat and definitely didn’t take enough water with us.

• 

• 

Then we started the descent, slippery and slidey, hot and sweaty. Elis gave up! We had some lovely Malaysians who were chatting to us and helping us all the way down but Elis basically needed to be carried which was both dangerous and stupid. I had also been suffering with my lower back from the lugging of suitcases, children and hard beds and I was struggling. But, of course, we made it. The cold beer and fanta strawberry at the bottom had never tasted nicer!

• 

• 

*Verdict – without kids – 100% do it, the views are spectacular. With kids – still do it, just be prepared…a 4 year old and 5 year old can do it, wear trainers, take plenty of water and snacks and go early to escape the sun. Be prepared to take your time and for people to overtake you, do it slowly and it will be worth it.

Koh Lipe Summary

It is truly the most beautiful, picturesque island we have ever encountered. It is like paradise BUT there are too many people in this tiny space, we wish we had visited 3 or 4 years ago before it got popular and tourism boomed. However, we loved our stay there and had the best and most memorable Christmas and I am happy to have seen it with our own eyes. We won’t be rushing back but we will recommend it – just go outside of peak season.

If you have enjoyed reading about our experience in Koh Lipe have a look at the rest of our trip to wonderful Thailand by clicking here or head over to our Main Page to see some of our other travel adventures.

Come and follow us on Instagram @the_wandering_whites where you can see full highlights of our Christmas in Koh Lipe or Tweet us on @wanderingwhites we love to hear your comments and get involved in daily travel chat. Thank You!