Koh Lipe is a small island where any part is easily accessible within a few minute walk. There is no dock and if your lucky enough to arrive to the main beach (Pattaya) by speedboat, like I did, then your boat backs onto the beach and you hop out. Otherwise you transfer from a ferry to a longboat which ferries you to the shore. It’s a little bit more of a process, that will leave your feet wet (but really who wears shoes here anyways), and I did this upon leaving Koh Lipe. From the beach there is really only one major road that crosses the island with a handful of smaller roads that feed into it.
Arriving to Koh Lipe
The island is known for its beaches, and other water related activities. This is what I came for and pretty much what I did. Well that and eat some pretty delicious Indian food, which was a nice break. I also met some cool people on Koh Lipe,and little did I know at the time, that I would spend parts of the next couple of months travelling with some of them. It’s funny how you keep running into the same people backpacking. Below entails my couple of days in Koh Lipe.
Watch the Sunset at Sunset Beach and Sunrise at Sunrise Beach
In addition to Pattaya beach there are two other beaches which are aptly named for what they are best for watching – sunrise beach and sunset beach. I went to both and they are definitely worth checking out!
I watched the sunset at Sunset beach each day I was there and each day it failed to disappoint. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I like watching sunsets.
Sunset at Sunset Beach
The morning I saw the sunrise I awoke at about 5:45 AM, and we made our way to sunrise beach. Finding a suprising number of overly energetic, selfie-taking tourists, we made our way to a secluded area and sat there patiently waiting for the sun to rise. Then the sky turned red and then gave way to pink hues which illuminated the fishing boats parked off shore. The whole process was quick and reminded me how much faster the sun rises and sets near the equator then at home. After the sun was up we went back to the hostel, got ready, ate breakfast and headed out for our day of touring the nearby islands.
Sunrise at Sunrise Beach
Snorkelling Trip
There are numerous companies which offer boat trips into the area surrounding Koh Lipe. Some are short, some are long, some go in the morning, some in the afternoon,. Really the possibilities are endless. Thanks to some skillfull negotiating by one of the Dutch people at the hostel we managed to get a good deal for a trip. The only downside was that we wouldn’t see the bioluminescent plankton at sunset but O well.
Travelling by longboat we made our way to three snorkelling locations, which definitely topped the ones that I had seen near Koh Lanta. In between the snorkleing we stopped at a couple of spots in the National Park, eating lunch at one of them. It was a pretty fun day!
Exploring the islands near Koh Lipe
DISCOVERY DIVE!!!!
Scuba diving is something that I’ve wanted to try for a very long time and since I didn’t go to Koh Tao, and was still getting over a cold in Koh Lanta, Koh Lipe seemed like the perfect place to do it. Of course, this was after reading up on a few schools, talking to someone who had used one of them, and being told by someone else that while more expensive than Koh Tao it was probably the cheapest place I’d come across in my travels for a while. So I booked it, got fitted for my equipment and early the next morning made my way to the beach to set off on what was an incredible day!
I was paired with a girl from Poland, who like me had never dived, and was a bit nervous. Luckily, we had a great instructor, Maria who was from Romania and had been doing this for a few years (Although she was about to trade in the beauty of Koh Lipe for the cold of Canada, I told her she was crazy).
We made our way out to an area close to where I had snorkeled the previous day and with a bit of fear I penguin jumped into the water doning all my gear. After learning some basic diving techniques and commands in shallow water we made our way out into the coral and spent the next 30 minutes exploring the reefs under the close supervision of Maria. We then returned to the boat, debriefed and then sailed off to our next destination. The second dive was much more awesome and I was much more comfortable with spending time underwater. Although I will say the sound of your breath is a bit eiry at times. After diving for an hour and exploring the corals and diving through underwater tunnels we returned to the surface. I was exhausted but exhilarated at the same time and definitely left Koh Lipe understanding how someone can give up their lives and become a dive master in such a place.
Unfortunately since I didn’t bring my camera and was underwater I didn’t have any pictures to show, but trust me when I say it was an amazing day!
Leaving Koh Lipe is an adventure in its own. I was going to Malaysia next and had to clear Thai customs in Koh Lipe. This involved a small booth where a lone man takes your passport, picture and then stamps you out. You then are required to surrender your passport to the ferry company who assures you that you’ll receive it on the ferry. I guess their way of ensuring you don’t just stay in Koh Lipe.
After a while an announcement for the ferry is made and chaotic rush to long boats occurs. As I mentionedat the beginning of this post you have to take a longboat out and then transfer to a ferry. This was an interesting process as you see a relatively organized flotilla of boats loaded with tourists with too many suitcases converging on this ferry where you then have to jump up onto the deck of the boat. A similar rush to find a seat then occurs. After finding a seat the ferry engine starts and the boat begins to move. Did I mention passport, of course not. After what seemed liked an enternity and a man comes thru the boat holding up passports from different countries and a rush to find yours occrus. Luckily, finding mine was made easier by the fact that I was the only Canadian on board. After being reunited with my passport I relaxed, and settled in for the two hour ride to Langkawi excited for a new country and new adventures!
The Travelling Scientist 