Our time in Malaysia ends a little too soon, but at least we are headed for one of our favourite places in the world: Ko Lanta. We’ve chosen to go there by boat from Langkawi. This, as we find out, means a lot of waiting. We bought our ticket online and it states to check in at the pier no later than 45 minutes before 9, which is the indicated departure time. We aim to arrive minimum one hour before, but we are too lucky with getting a Grab and with traffic, so we are there already before 7.30. And we find out that before being able to check in, the agent from the ticket site will need to give us some kind of a confirmation. He, however, will only show up at 8.30.
Grudgingly, we wait around, also not sure how to identify the agent. He does indeed show up and just types something in his phone, before we can finally proceed to check in. Shortly before 9, all passengers get to pass through an excruciatingly slow passport control. It’s 9.30 by the time the boat leaves. After only an hour we arrive at Ko Lipe, where we enter Thailand. All passengers disembark via long tail boats. Everyone’s passports were collected back in Langkawi and upon arrival we understand why: you are basically dropped off at the beach and could just take off into Thailand without declaring your arrival or any goods. The staff of our onward trip to Ko Lanta is already waiting for a us, so we get VIP treatment and are the first ones to pass immigration and collect our luggage. A few minutes later, we are headed north on a speed boat.
The speedboat trip to Ko Lanta is not the most comfortable, but we get to admire an incredible scenery. The boat stops in Ko Libong and Ko Kradan, islands we had never heard of and are wondering why. They look absolutely stunning and we already make plans to come back here. Four hours or so after leaving Ko Lipe, we finally see familiar sights, passing Lanta Old Town, and pulling into Saladan pier after cruising through beautiful mangroves. After a short car ride, we are dropped off at Long Beach, and it feels a bit like coming home, even though we’d only spent four nights here in December 2017.
We treated ourselves with quite a bit of lazy time in Ko Lanta, because we had to recover from all the stress of the last six weeks ;). In all seriousness though, we enjoyed not having to pack up after three or four days. And we ended up staying 10 days, 8 in Long Beach and two in Bamboo Bay.
In Long Beach, we enjoy being close to restaurants and shops, and we can reach pretty much anywhere on the island by scooter in no more than 20 minutes (with the exception of Bamboo Bay). Bamboo Bay is one of our favourite beaches in the world and spending a couple of nights there is great – we just move from the beach to the pool and back during our stay.
We spend some time going back to places with know: our favourite restaurant/bookshop in Ban Saladan, Old Lanta Town with its shops, the super simple restaurant in Long Beach serving noodle soup. But we’re also exploring new corners of the island, notably we take the scooter over to Koh Lanta Noi, connected to Koh Lanta Yai (i.e. the touristy part) by a bridge.
It’s insanely hot most of the time, so we move quite sluggishly and are usually exhausted between two and four, before heading back to the beach and watch the sunset.
We love Ko Lanta for being authentic despite being touristy, for being calm even when it’s busy, and for it’s beautiful sunsets and nature. We’ve started to know it in and out, but we’ll probably be back!
Activities
Diving/Snorkelling
We went on a dive/snorkelling trip to Ko Haa with Dive&Relax, located in the Castaway Resort on Long Beach. Very friendly staff and because of low season, the ratio of divemaster to diver was 1:1. Julia also had a snorkelling guide to herself. The possibility to go snorkelling and diving on the same boat is great for us, as of course otherwise Julia always has a bunch of waiting around to do (or she doesn’t go at all). Unfortunately, Julia got really seasick (it’s a very small speed boat that moves a lot with the waves when anchored) and couldn’t particularly enjoy the trip so we would definitely recommend to take something before (they also have pills on board, but it’s too late…). But other than that it was perfect and there were a lot of things to see. 😉 It cost 115€ for two fun dives and 67€ for the snorkelling, including marine park fees, drinks, and lunch.
Yoga
Lanta Yoga offers Vinyasa Flow three times a week and also does yoga retreats.
Visit Old Lanta Town
Lanta Town, located on the east cost, is full of lovely seaside restaurants, and shops selling clothes, bags, jewellery, cosmetics, and even kitchenware – anything from handmade and local to your usual elephant print shorts can be found here. We enjoy the scooter ride through the jungle to get here from Long Beach, and we like to shop here!
Visit Ko Lanta Noi
The “small” Ko Lanta is a whole different world: small fishing villages, thick jungle, and barely a hotel in sight (we saw one in the north). Driving around here is a real pleasure and we stumbled upon a lovely restaurant. The main road (which runs around the island and to the car ferry) is excellent and there are plenty of side roads waiting to be explored.
Beaches
Ko Lanta’s west coast is lined with beaches and it’s not hard to find a beautiful one. The more south, the less developed and busy it gets.
Long Beach
Our first hotel is on the southern end of Long Beach (Prae Ae), a lovely strip of sand lined with hotels and restaurants, but enough space to sit down without being close to either.
Khlong Nin Beach
About 15 min by scooter from Long Beach, this beach was even quieter. It’s difficult to find shade without going to one of the beach bars. We went to Horizon, which has lovely staff and comfortable sun chairs and beanbags.
Bamboo Bay
The southern most beach, about 30 minutes from Long Beach. There are two hotels on the beach, otherwise there isn’t much. For us, this is the nicest beach on the island, and one of our favourite places in the world.
Where to stay
Fruit Tree Lodge, Long Beach (17€/night)
We came to this place the first time we went to Ko Lanta, and fell in love with the simple yet pretty bungalows. The owners are wonderful and you can rent scooters from the housekeeper – she’s also a Tuk Tuk driver in case you need to get places! All bungalows have a little terrace and a fridge. The only downside is that there is no air condition, only fans – we’re crossing our fingers that this may change some day. During high season it’s ok but now, when it was mostly around 35-degrees-feels-like-43 it was a bit challenging. They have a coffee shop, which serves tasty western hipster style fare like avocado toast, and delicious pastries. Lanta Yoga (see above) is run by them as well and you get a discount for the yoga classes if you stay in the hotel.
We love this place and will surely be back here, but in hindsight, when staying for more than a few days, we should have chosen a place with a kitchen. While it’s not too difficult to find cheap accommodation, it’s not easy to find a simple, cheap breakfast.
La Laanta Hideaway Resort, Bamboo Bay (35€/night, breakfast included)
We’d been discussing for a while whether we should stay here for a couple of days, and when we came to Bamboo Bay on Julia’s birthday, we decided to go for it and book for the following weekend – and it was a great idea! This place can cost at least double during high season, and while it’s actually nothing too fancy, we loved our bungalow (with a/c) and enjoyed the infinity pool! The resort is so tucked away that even from the beach the only clue of the hotel being there are the sun beds. Monkeys jump around in the trees (and try to steal your toast at breakfast). The hotel also has a really good restaurant. There is one other restaurant/hotel on the beach, but other than that nothing really is in walking distance. They also offer free pick up/drop off from the pier or, in our case, our first hotel.
Food
Long Beach
Long Beach village is lined with restaurants serving mostly Thai and western food. Most places are probably decent.
Time
Just across the street from the Fruit Tree Lodge. Really nice owner. Good pad Thai and excellent curries.
Sweet and sour
Good (reasonably priced) breakfast and coffee; some of the Thai dishes not great; they also do laundry.
Fat Turtle
This must be one of the most expensive places on the island. We’ve had breakfast here, which is pricy but copious (you could probably share one of the big ones). The coconuts are overpriced (100 baht/almost 3€ – most places are 70 and less), other drinks are ok. So why go here? For the setting, of course! Wonderful sunset view. Friendly staff.
Na Korat Noodle Soup
Delicious, dead cheap, no frills noodle soup.
Noodle soup (not sure what the name is)
Even better noodle soup (Vegetarian is available); they also have papaya salad and a few things on the bbq. Across the street from Unseen restaurant.
Spaghetti by mangia
Italian Restaurant run by an Italian – delicious Penne Arrabbiata, prices are ok. About 5-10 minute walk south from Fruit Tree Lodge
Other places on the island
Catfish, Ban Saladan
This is a restaurant and second hand bookshop in Ban Saladan, a short walk from the pier. We love the Pad Thai here. Plenty of fluffy cats around. You can bring books that you don’t need anymore for store credit.
Baan Puh Lae, Bamboo Bay
Hotel and restaurant at Bamboo Bay, a good place to find some shade. Park your scooter here to access the beach.
Cliff Sunset Restaurant, Kantiang Bay
Lovely setting with little huts, overlooking the bay.
Sea View, Ko Lanta Noi
Definitely try to come here for one of the most beautiful lunch settings. Little family run restaurant, around 20 min. from Ban Saladan.
Shopping
Best places for shopping are Ban Saladan and Old Lanta Town. The latter has more variety and also more artisanal and handcrafted options.
Where to get a massage?
We recommend The Sea massage in Long Beach, across the street from Sununtha restaurant. Super friendly staff. Try the coffee and coconut scrub!
Getting here
As described above, we took a boat from Langkawi. A ferry takes you to Ko Lipe, and a speedboat to Ko Lanta. The whole trip (counting from when the boat left Langkawi) took about 6 hours. The speedboat is very noisy, but the views are stunning. This cost around 70€/person bought online from Tiger Line ferry, including also the trip from Saladan Pier to our hotel. The boat leaves Langkawi from Telega Harbour Marina on the west coast (as opposed to the big terminal in Kuah in the southeast) – check if you can buy your tickets there to avoid the waiting around we had to do.
You can also join Ko Lanta by boat from other islands in the gulf of Andaman, or you can go to Krabi on the mainland and from there, take a ferry or a minibus (which goes on a very short car ferry ride).
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