Thailand - Koh Lanta - the last of our island adventure

With time against us to make it to Bangkok before heading on to Myanmar, we decided to give some of the other islands a miss as we needed to keep moving. This sadly meant we didn't make it to Koh Ngai or Koh Rok, two of the other Trang islands that would have made for great stops to explore. Koh Ngai is similar in feel to Koh Kradan and looked beautiful from the boat, and Koh Rok is well known as a great snorkeling spot.

Our next stop was the subtantially larger Koh Lanta. Taking around one hour to drive from the north to the south, it was world's away from the small islands we had become accustomed to. If you'd come from Phi Phi, Phuket or Koh Tao, Koh Panyang etc. I think you would find Koh Lanta to be quiet and a welcome calm, but as we had been spoilt with the beauty and the peace of the small southern isles we found Koh Lanta to have less clear turquoise waters than we had been previously enjoying (yes we have now become what you would probably term beach snobs!).

Over to Lanta 

The boat arrived to the pier in Old Town on the East of the island, and we were bundled into a truck to be taxied to our accommodation on the opposite side of the island.

All aboard

Having read up on Lanta we decided to stay in Pra Ae (Long Beach) and found a great place in Angel Bungalows, which had relatively new bamboo bungalows set around some pretty gardens, and only a few minutes walk from the beach and a couple of beach bars.

Our little Angel of a Bungalow 

With Beckie and Nick staying at the Andaman Sunflower Resort next door, we decided the best way to explore Koh Lanta would be to hire a car between the four of us, which gave us the freedom to travel to the better beaches in the south of the island.

Road trippers!

Our day tour started south, with a stop for breakfast on Klong Nin beach. A bit more exposed, this area had much nicer sand than Pra Ae beach and made for a nice outlook with our buffet brekkie. We headed on down to the National Park at the bottom of the island, but with the park entrance fees being quite high we decided it wasn't worth it for the short walk and lighthouse which were the main sights of the park, and headed to Ao Mai Pai (Bamboo Bay) to relax, read and swim on this picturesque bay.

The more picturesque beaches of the South

We drove up the coast, stopping to see each of the bays on route, and headed over inland to the eastern side, stopping at View Point restaurant for lunch with a great view of the eastern islands.

Lunch with a view

Despite arriving into Old Town, we were pleased that we had decided to drive back there as the town, just off to the side of the pier, was actually a really pretty place to explore. The main street is lined with cute souvenir shops, fresh fruit juice sellers and wooden buildings on stilts over the water, and we quickly passed the time wandering up and down.

Wandering through the old town

We ended our road-trip back at the beach, driving back over to the west to catch sunset from a small un-named bay just south of Klong Nin beach, right by the Diamond Cliff restaurant. With handmade bamboo shelters from the sun, this was easily our favourite beach on Koh Lanta, it was just a shame that it was a good 20 minutes drive to get there.

The hidden beach by Diamond Cliff

With most places a drive / taxi away we made the most of staying put, and relaxed at the bungalow in our hammock and on the beach for our final day on Lanta, and went out with our island hopping friends Beckie and Nick for one last dinner and drinks as we were heading our separate ways...our next stop...the mainland!

Cheers to great company! Bye Beckie and Nick!