Koh Lipe | General Information | Photojourney
 |
| Koh Lipe in the sparkling azure waters of the Andaman. In the distance, larger Koh Adang and Koh Ra Wi are uninhabited islands that are part of Tarutao Marine Park |
Koh Lipe is a remote tropical island nestled in the sparkling azure waters of the Andaman Sea near Thailand's border with Malaysia. As a tropical paradise the island is without equal. Powdery white sand beaches line shores mere meters (yards) from coral reefs teeming with all kinds of aquatic life. Every moment of every day, from morning until night, the surrounding beauty is such that it feels as if the visitor has stepped into an Instagram photograph or tourism brochure. The island is low-lying, relatively developed, and fully walkable. Longtail boats transport visitors to numerous additional snorkeling sites as well as the nearby uninhabited paradises of Koh Adang and Koh Ra Wi. And the scuba diving is majestic! A friend visiting the island in November sent back enviable underwater photos taken with whale sharks feeding nearby. Note that Lipe is also a very popular tourist destination; we avoided the crowds and found the island almost deserted in late 2020 near the end of the travel lockdowns.
General Information
Koh Lipe is a fully walkable, 2-square-kilometer island. The island's three main beaches are Sunrise Beach, Pattaya Beach (no, not THAT Pattaya beach), and Sunset Beach. Sunrise Beach is easily Tiger and Bird's favorite: powdery white sand gently descends to the ocean just meters from shallow coral reefs. The waters take on a life of their own, shimmering with various shades of turquoise and azure that shift in intensity throughout the day. Lipe has swiftly risen in popularity in recent decades as a beautiful location in its own right and the only inhabited island that can provide easy access to Thailand's massive Tarutao Marine Park. Visitors will find Koh Lipe fairly well-developed, with hostels and (very) local resorts accompanied by several upper three and four star establishments. The island is quite touristy, although many islanders live in houses around Lipe and a small village near the center.
Koh Lipe is accessible by either: 1) flying to Hat Yai International Airport, van to Pak Bara, and speedboat to the island, or 2) taking a ferry from a series of ferry-connected islands that begin Phuket during the high season. In other words, not the easiest place to get to, but quite worth the experience.
Want to learn more? Koh Lipe has an official tourist website that is very well-curated with general information about the island, hotels, transport, and activities. Check out Koh Lipe's official website here!
Satun is a beautiful province and the stepping stone from the mainland to Koh Lipe by speedboat. We enjoyed driving among majestic palm groves between limestone cliffs, enjoying spicy curries from local Southern Thailand restaurants, and relaxing in the cool evenings at local resorts. If you've never had the chance to try Southern Thai Muslim food, Tiger highly recommends it! The goat curry is especially good. We made sure to get several portions from a small shop; the ladies beamed as we told them how delicious it was. At the end of a short tour of the province, we drove to the boardwalk (see above) to join a huge weekend market and the next day we were ready to embark for Koh Lipe!
 |
| First impression of Koh Lipe? A true tropical paradise! Here are several longtail boats moored in the azure waters of the Andaman Sea set against the white sands of Sunrise Beach. |
“This is unreal,” said Tiger, scanning the surroundings with a mixture of wonder and surprise. “Look at the color of the water- it’s so clear!" Bird didn’t reply. Phone in hand, she was already leaning out of the gently rocking speedboat to get better pictures.
Excited chatter filled the boat as the other visitors crowded around the sides to see Koh Lipe. Ominous, dark storm clouds loomed in the distance even as the intense rays of the tropical sun danced off of the waves of the Andaman sea. But before us - past a veritable fleet of colorful longtail boats - and beneath peacefully-swaying coconut trees were the bungalows and white sand beaches of Koh Lipe. We had just stepped into a picture.
Pictures, video, or ideally a personal visit are the best ways to experience Koh Lipe. But if a picture is worth a thousand words, Tiger would much prefer to write 17,000 words more in this blog post through pictures. And so, starting below you have it, ladies and gentlemen, a select photojourney of our Koh Lipe vacation from the minute we stepped on the pier!!
Photojourney
 |
| Sunrise Beach pier. Since speedboats aren’t allowed to approach the shore, visitors are required to transfer to longtail boats before landing on the island. We traveled to Koh Lipe at the end of the offseason in 2020 when the country was still in lockdown to international tourists, so this requirement was temporarily waved. |
 |
| Turquoise waters, moored longtail boats, and seaside resorts on the southern edge of Sunrise Beach. A small coral reef here that can be accessed by snorkelers coming from the shore! |
 |
| Several of the many dozens of colorful longtail boats eternally moored just off of Sunrise Beach on Koh Lipe. And yes, as with all visual media found on our website, we took this photo ourselves! |
 |
| Smiling receptionist preparing to welcome us for our brief stay at this resort. We always travel for the experience, and here we booked a small bungalow literally at the edge of the sea. No, really, at high tide, our front porch was over the water! We had to wait an extra hour for the room since a storm had washed out the path to the bungalow the night before. |
 |
| Bird admiring the view of the ocean from our bungalow. Most people have to travel by longtail boat to go snorkeling above coral reefs. Here, we could just dive off our front porch to do the same! Amazing Thailand, to be sure. |
 |
| A beautiful breakfast served in our villa above the ocean, and some of the best “island fare” we have ever had! We spent the better part of a week on Koh Lipe and shifted hotels several times to get the entire “Koh Lipe” experience. |
 |
| Several kayakers exploring the shallow waters off of Koh Lipe. Tiger has been canoeing and kayaking for most of his life, but he noticed a strong current in the waters here between the low and high tides. |
 |
| Sunset beach on Koh Lipe is slightly less accessible than the other beaches, but turned out to be quite beautiful at sunset (a very relevantly-named beach! Who knew?). While all resorts in this area were closed because of travel lockdowns, there was a small bar at the end of the beach that was setting up as the evening advanced. The barkeep supervisor turned out to be a thirty-something Italian guy that had stopped by the island circa 2016 and just decided to stay, finding a position at the hotel at the end of his vacation. There are many stories around the islands like this- Thailand can have that effect on people! |
Koh Lipe is a wonderful paradise and Sunrise Beach is the place to be! We lounged around the ocean, enjoying its dazzling colors and the occasional refreshing puff of breeze. When the heat became too intense, we jumped into the ocean and snorkeled around the coral reefs, chasing brightly colored fish around boulders or spending time watching the clownfish popping in and out of sea anemone. In the evening we kayaked, roamed the deserted beaches, or wandered around the town, talking with local fishing captains and snorkeling operators while planning the next day.
Remember our experience came during the early fall of 2020 when borders were shut. The town was deserted. Invariably, locals would shake their heads and say that business was hurting from a lack of tourists and ask us to extend our stay. Fast forward to December of 2020, and optimism has noticeably picked up among workers in the hospitality industry. There is now a light at the end of the tunnel and tourists are slowly returning. If you’re interested in taking a trip around Thailand, now is the time to book that trip! Prices are quite affordable, and for the discerning traveler, bookings locked in now may be exercised at any time in 2021 (note that this is establishment-dependent).
----
----
Coming up next, preparation for a snorkeling odyssey and roughing it on the Surin Islands in the Andaman Sea
Previous post: Relaxing in the untouched tropical paradise of Lanta Island in the Andaman Sea
----
Related Posts
Koh Lanta. Pristine, Authentic, and Remote would be three good words to describe distant Koh Lanta. A massive island sitting just off of Thailand's coast in the Andaman Sea, Lanta's resorts have something for everyone- ranging from beachside bungalows to luxurious villas.
Koh Thalu. Why not take a several day trip to kick back and relax on pristine white sand beaches? Or paddle board and kayak around the calm ocean waters of a crescent bay? The private island of Koh Thalu is just remote enough to escape the endless busy-ness of the concrete jungle of Bangkok.
