Koh Lanta is a slightly larger island, farther east in the Andaman Sea. It is much quieter here, with only a few hotels along the seemingly endless white sand beach.
How to get to Koh Lanta from Koh Phi Phi
During the low season, you can only travel between the two islands by speedboat, which is convenient enough. It is faster than the regular ferry and still fairly cheap.
During the main season, there are several options per day to travel either by ferry or by speedboat between Koh Phi Phi and Koh Lanta. The speedboat takes about 30 minutes and the ferry about one hour.
Koh Lanta
Koh Lanta is much quieter than the islands of Phuket and Krabi, and coming during the low season enhances this even further. When I disembarked from the ferry, there was only one other couple and me. All the stores at the pier were closed, and there was only one lonely driver waiting for the expected few visitors to arrive. Given the lack of alternatives, we shared that taxi at the not-so-cheap cost of 300 THB each. It brought us a couple of kilometers down the coast, where I then started looking for a nice place to stay for the next two nights. The first few seemed almost abandoned, so I picked the only one that actually had a few guests around the lobby and the pool area.
There is not much to do here other than just relaxing. I did not see any scuba options, just a handful of restaurants, and no real bar except for a small shack at the beach. There are some elephant sanctuaries, but I skipped those. There is an interesting cave to be explored; I met a local at the resort and together—with a mandatory guide as well—we ventured into the jungle and explored that cave. At the end, you have to crouch through a small crevice that is a bit under water, so that was quite adventurous. Other than that, Koh Lanta consisted of relaxing at the pool/beach and eating the usual tasty Thai food.
Click on one of the pictures to open the Koh Lanta gallery :
