For the last two winters I’ve taken a beach holiday in Koh Lanta in Thailand. It’s a great place to go if you’re looking for a relaxing break.
To get there, I fly into Phuket. From there it’s a one hour taxi ride to the ferry port. There are a couple of options for the different ferries which you can take. The slower ferry takes about 4 hours, but I recommend paying extra and taking a speedboat. It costs twice as much, but gets you there in half the time.
On both my holidays I stayed at a reasonably priced guesthouse in Long Beach. The rooms have hammocks on the porch where I spent a lot of time relaxing and reading.
Almost every day I would go for a long swim, jog along the beach or do some light yoga. The rest of the time I’d explore the island on a scooter. The island is the perfect size. Nowhere is more than a 20 minute ride away.
All the beaches are on the west side of the island. This is my favourite beach. It’s called Nui Bay. Very few people go there. The water is so nice. Perfect for swimming.
Farther down the coast and you will come to a national park, where you can see monkeys and take a hike through a forest. There’s a lighthouse on the headland. It’s a good spot for taking a picture.
The sunsets are really pretty. I liked to go paddle boarding around this time when the sun wasn’t too hot. It’s really good exercise. Next time I go there I’m thinking about hiring a board for three days and going all around the island.
Now heading over to the other side of the island. Go to Old Town to do some shopping for gifts. There are lots of great restaurants here. If you head farther down the east side of the island you will come to the sea gypsy village where fishermen lead a quiet life.
There are lots of things to do on the island. You can go canoeing in the mangroves. They give you some fruit to feed the friendly monkeys on the shore.
You can go horseback riding along Long Beach. I did this a couple of times, but the guy that owns the horses and who goes with you on the beach didn’t want me to ride very fast, so I found it a little boring. It might as well have been a donkey ride on the beach. I’d only recommend the horseback riding if you’re a beginner.
There’s a snake show which you can visit. The snake charmer has a variety of snakes, some aren’t poisonous, but others can be deadly. That’s a cobra in the picture. I thought it must have had its teeth taken out to make it harmless, but using a plastic cup he showed me its poison.
If you visit the island I highly recommend going on a day trip by speedboat to some of the nearby smaller islands to do some snorkelling or scuba diving. I went to Koh Rok and Koh Haa. At Koh Rok I saw a giant wild lizard. While snorkelling I saw lots of tropical fish and hard and soft coral. The highlight was seeing a moray eel at Koh Haa. The water was beautiful.
Koh Lanta is made of two islands with a river in between. There isn’t anything to see on the northern island, but if you decide to go there, you can take your scooter across the river on a Thai longboat. The beaches are deserted on the northern island, but I got lots of bites by some kind of bug, maybe ticks, that left a mark on my skin for about a month, so I wouldn’t recommend going there.
Food and Drink
My favourite restaurant is May’s Kitchen on the Long Beach road. They serve great Thai food at reasonable prices. In the evenings May barbeques fresh fish and chicken beside the entrance.
On my last trip I found the perfect coffee shop. Peak Café is in Khlong Khong. It’s run by two friendly sisters who serve great coffee. They have homemade bread and pastries. They didn’t seem to mind me nursing a coffee for an hour while I relaxed with a good book.
When to Visit
The best time to visit Koh Lanta is between December and February. Most days are sunny and hot with the occasional heavy showers. Book your hotel in advance, as it might be hard to find somewhere during the peak season.
All photos taken by me and appear here for the first time.