Koh Lipe Travel Guide

Yes, if snorkeling and clear water are the point and you have at least three nights. The reefs around the park islands are a short longtail ride away, Sunrise Beach is one of the prettiest in the country, and the whole island is small enough to walk.

It's not the quiet castaway island some photos suggest. Lipe has grown fast, longtails crowd the front of Pattaya and Sunrise beaches, and in December and January Walking Street is busy every night. It's also pricier than most Thai islands, because almost everything comes in by boat, and the trip in takes most of a day.

Krabi or Koh Lipe? Krabi for limestone scenery, easy flights and day trips. Lipe for snorkeling straight from a longtail and a small, car-free island. In season, the speedboat from Koh Lanta takes three hours, so plenty of trips do Krabi, then Lanta, then Lipe.

Trips are sold as the near or inner islands and the far or outer islands. The inner trip usually stops at Jabang's soft corals, Hin Ngam's stones, Koh Yang and Koh Adang, with lunch on Koh Rawi, in about six hours. The outer trip adds smaller islands further out and takes seven or eight. If you only do one, do the inner trip first.

Shared trips take a longtail of ten to fifteen people and cost about ฿600–800 each, usually with masks, lunch and water, but often not fins. A private longtail lets you leave before the shared boats and choose the order, for about ฿1,800–2,800 a boat. Bring your park ticket, reef-safe sunscreen and a shirt for the sun.

Four nights suits most people. That gives you a day on the inner-islands snorkeling trip, a morning on Koh Adang's viewpoint, a second boat day to the outer islands or a dive, and a day on Sunrise Beach.

Three nights is the minimum to make the journey worth it, since you lose most of a day each way getting in and out. Plenty of people stay a week, especially divers.

Lipe has no airport, so every route ends with a speedboat. The one that runs all year is via Hat Yai. Fly there from Bangkok in about 1 hour 30, and Bundhaya's van leaves the airport at 09:00 and 11:00 for Pak Bara pier, reaching Lipe at 13:00 or 15:00, for ฿950 in all.

From 15 October to late May, ferries cross from Langkawi in Malaysia in 90 minutes, with Thai immigration on the beach when you land, and island-hopping speedboats run down the coast from Koh Lanta (three hours, ฿1,700), Koh Phi Phi (about four hours, ฿2,350) and Phuket (about five hours, ฿2,500). The big boats stop off the beach, and a longtail takes you to the sand for about ฿50. Every route, with times and fares, is in How to Get to Koh Lipe.

On foot. Walking Street crosses the island from Pattaya Beach to Sunrise Beach in about 20 minutes, and even the farthest corners are only about 45 minutes apart. Visitors can't rent scooters, and there are almost no cars.

For luggage or tired legs, motorbikes with sidecars charge about ฿50 a person for a ride anywhere on the island, and longtails carry you between beaches for about ฿50.

Lipe costs more than the mainland and more than most islands, because food, fuel and drinks all arrive by boat. On my numbers, a budget day runs about ฿1,600 and a mid-range day about ฿4,500, before boat trips.

There are ATMs on Walking Street, but carry enough cash for the park fee, the longtails and small restaurants, since many don't take cards and those that do often add a surcharge. The park has banned plastic bags and foam boxes, so bring a bottle and a bag.

November to April is the season. February is the driest month, with about 24 mm of rain at the Phuket weather station, the sea is calm and all the boats run. December and January are the busiest and priciest, so book rooms early.

May to October is the monsoon, with about 350 mm of rain in September. The Langkawi ferries and the island-hopping speedboats stop, leaving only the Pak Bara boats, the sea can be rough, and at least half the restaurants, bars and tour shops close. Parts of the national park close too. If those are your months, an island on the Gulf side, such as Koh Samui, is the better bet.