I have been in Thailand more than once in my life but never twice to the same place. The country is so big and there is so much to see that there seems to be no reason to head out somewhere again, while you can also go to a brand new place and see something different.
Insane colors in the water at Koh Lipe, just stunning
Up until this trip I had no idea that Koh Lipe was reachable by boat coming from Malaysia and ofcourse this is what we did. Coming from the island of Langkawi in Malaysia, this was just a 1.5 hour boat ride away coming from there and the entrance to the island was just magical.
As it was low tide coming into the island, every one from the ferry was transferred over to smaller long tail boats that were actually able to reach to shore line in shallower water.
Customs
And there was the actual cool experience (don’t take this literally because it was scorching hot in the sun in the middle of the day even hanging underneith some trees) of going through customs and immigration right there on the beach. Now ofcourse you are not allowed to make any pictures around immigration buildings otherwise I would have because this was kind of cool.
Just a random snap on the beach of something else here, as no snaps at customs allowed ofcourse
What is a bit strange though is that in Malaysia you physically give your passport to someone else who takes all of the passports with him during the trip and only gives them back person by person by the building. The whole idea of crossing a border and someone else has your passport is a bit weird but I can see where they are coming from.
Otherwise it would be a bit too easy to arrive in the boat and scram over the beach into a bush or building if they wouldnt have given their passport to stamp it first. I guess in this kind way this is the most controlled situation but also a bit weird privacy wise as all names are called out then over the beach to collect your travel document again.
Absolutely a process that is way more entertaining whole hanging outside on a beach than being in a sterile government building.
Beach beach beach or something else?
Now the main question rises a bit what there is to do on Koh Lipe apart from having a very chill beach life and you already actually know the answer to that one. Just enjoy the beach life for a bit!!
Koh Lipe is a super small island of about 3km by 2km so that means walking is always the option towards somewhere. And honestly, there arent any cars on the island as well. Just some scooters and also scooters with like an extension where you can sit in and that is about it. That also means that the roads are more like 'paths' I would call them and that is all just fine.
Koh Lipe feels safe as everyone walks and no one stresses around and there are only 800 people living on the island whole year around. That amount ofcourse becomes a lot larger due to the amount of tourists coming in there and boating is the only way to enter the island
Boating is your way in and out of here
There are a couple of main roads and the one people know best is called Walking Street, which has a very much Khao Son Road vibe to it which I am not the biggest fan of honestly. Rather have the chill vibe and less the rowdy British shouters (sorry guys!). But walking street also does have the options one when you want to get something done or need a trip or a something.
As in..the island has like 5 ATMs on the whole island and from all days that I was here only 1 or all of those actually worked and the rest was out of order the whole time. So the one working ATM ofcourse was empty later on every day and I also saw a girl whose card was swallowed by the machine and had like a massive panic attack
I still wonder if she ever got it back from the yellow Krungsri machine ;)
Okay now really to the beaches
Because the beaches are really the main reason of heading out towards here honestly as they are truly stunning. I had mentioned the tides in the water already before and that is something that is really present here. The tides are like 1.5 to 2 meters in difference every 6 hours and because the beach is so shallow that means a whole part falls dry every couple of hours.
In front of 'sunrise beach' there is a reef around the beach which is totally swimable to, but not when the tide is low. When the tide is low there is not enough room to swim without hitting the reef just because there is not enough water.
What is an option is getting on a paddle board and padding over the water so see what is down there beneith. The water is so clear and also so calm that you can literally see the life underneith from just looking down.
Already here you can see where the reef is and where the water gets deeper
So the water is booming I must admit and I went for a lot of snorkling and swimming and paddling around here. And yeah also reading a lot of books under a palmtree and just taking it easy in general.
That is the thing on Koh Lipe, everything just slows down for a bit and you just have what is there at that moment and that is what you actually come here for.
I really loved Koh Lipe for it chillness but this was one the tailmoment of rainy season and it was not quiet at all.
I could totally imagine that this is whole different ballgame in high season which is just around the corner. As I saw price prices of lodging in a couple of weeks those are total bonanza and are not resembling on what Thailand prices normally anymore.
So high season I would 100% skip Koh Lipe honestly because of the prices and the amount of people on a small island and the dependance of only boats..but hey... I would skip high season in general everywhere ;)
In the end of low season and rainy season on the other hand, Koh Lipe was really a gem and really something different than the 'easier to get to' kind of islands