I never planned to go to Koh Lipe. I was going to visit Koh Tarutao and Koh Adang, two undeveloped islands in the Tarutao National Park. There I would rent a tent from the park service and camp on the beach for a week or more. I had read that you could dive from there and rent kayaks as well. The park service has a basic commissary facility on each island as well.
It was very difficult to get current information. Telephone calls and emails went unanswered. So I finally got on the bus Gus, set myself free (he nods to Paul Simon) and headed to Pak Barra from where the various ferries leave. There I found that all the ferries had stopped for the season. I could rent a longtail boat, but I might have a heck of a time returning when I was ready.
Pattaya Beach, Koh Lipe
So I booked a ferry to Koh Lipe instead. I had heard that this beautiful little island was unfortunately suffering from the latest fad of unregulated development in paradise. I found a reasonable flash deal on Agoda, a $120 a night beachside bungalow for $42 and booked it for two nights. I figured that would be time to hop across the border to nearby Langkawi Island, Malaysia for a day trip and visa extension and perhaps I could find a dive shop.
Sunset Beach, Koh Lipe, Thailand
Lipe is still part of Tarutao National Park. It’s reefs are protected as is (supposedly) fishing. Yet massive development is allowed. This is the strange contradiction of Thailand’s National Park system. The ferry stops at a bobbing floating dock, well outside the barrier reefs. There one transfers body and luggage to one of the several longtails waiting to take you to your wet landing ashore for 30 baht.
Upon landing, one is charged an additional 40 baht to help pay for trash removal from the island (there is a gigantic ugly pile in the middle of the island). Then comes a 100 baht payment to a motorcycle with side care to transport me to the Mali Resort. Okay, I am feeling seriously nickeled and dimed to death at this point.
I arrived at the upscale, but casual, Mali Resort. It is quite pretty with thick grass and palm trees planted everywhere. Escorted to my casually chic bungalow, steps away from the fine powdery white sand of Pattaya Beach, my first thought was “I could get used to this!” Actually my first thought was I need a shower.
My new digs.
Shortly I found out the boat to Langkawi as well as that island’s Malaysian immigration office had ceased operations the day before until next season (October 1). Well, time to do what I do best: breath deep, surrender, adapt, flow and ease into the moment.
Koh Lipe is a small island. It can easily be walked in less than a day. In addition to Pattaya, there are two other principle beaches, Sunrise and Sunset. Eighty percent of the businesses and hotels had already closed for the season and there were almost no tourists.
Ka Pow! The name of this Thai dish says it all.
At the Mali, the owner and small remaining staff were friendly and helpful. I met Dan and Chloe, a Canadian couple, both experienced divers and a Japanese pediatrician, Doctor Gee. We ended up hanging out quite a bit.
Dr. Gee photographing the sunset.
I ended up staying six nights and could easily have stayed more. This despite the fact that on day three I found a more basic bungalow available on the beach for 300 Baht ($10) a night (1200B in high season). I knew I would have to leave in a few days to take care of my visa so it was an easy decision to remain and splurge a bit at Mali. Besides, it was the most comfortable bed and pillows I’ve had in a long time. In the evenings we would convene at the Boom Boom Bar on Sunset Beach to, you guessed it, watch beautiful sunsets over a beer.
Bartending at the Boom Boom
My second day I walked around the island. In the process, I found four open dive shops and talked with the proprietors I decided to book a fun dive day with Forra Divers. The French owner, Antoine, seemed very competent with 5,000+ dives as well as a Master Instructor License. The next day it rained heavily.
An iridescent evening, Pattaya Beach, Koh Lipe
The following morning was dive day. Heading out on the long boat to meet up with the larger dive boat, it rained quite hard for about 20 minutes. After that the skies cleared right up. We did two great dives, the second with visibility of 25 meters at a depth of 18 meters. These were the best dives, both in terms of visibility types of coral, and varieties of fish.
The first dive was just off the island of Ko Taru. I spotted trigger fish, lion fish, a white spotted puffer, yellow box fish, two stone fish, emperor angle fish, comet fish, a black spotted puffer, a fine spotted porcupine fish and a school of yellow stripe swordfish. This was followed by lunch on the boat and relocating to our next dive site.
Stonehenge is considered to be the best site in the area for soft coral. As mentioned the visibility was phenomenal and the fish were out! This was dive number eight for me and definitely the best one yet! I saw both small and giant moray eels, stonefish, trumpet fish, an estuary seahorse (wow), huge barrel sponges, lots of scorpion fish, a very large blue ring angel fish, another school of yellow stripe swordfish, spot fin lion fish, clown fish, durbin hinge-beak shrimp, and giant clams. There were immense “mountains” of purple cauliflower soft coral in every shape and hue of purple imaginable. I shot some video with the GoPro and hopefully will edit a few minutes of highlights out of it at some point. Any reservations about coming to Koh Lipe were washed away in a lukewarm sea of underwater life.
Crystal clear water for dive day!
We were so lucky as the next day it rained again, dive boats did not go out, and visibility was considerably reduced. It was a good day to watch DVDs (they had a good collection) and listen to the rain.
Mid morning, Sunrise Beach. Temperature about 97°F.
Sunset at Sunset Beach
I can see where Koh Lipe is having growth challenges. A new mega resort is going up at the end of Pattaya Beach. The dive shop next door is adding a second story. Of course now in June, most of the businesses were shuttered for the season. I think it would be a bit hectic for me in the high season not to mention the prices would double or more.
I would return and get that $10 bungalow for a week or two. However, as I write this in Krabi town on my third day of torrential downpour, I think perhaps not.
The liquid sunshine is a bit dampening eh?
It would enable me to give more sympathy for the gouging, if we knew the American dollar equivalent of a Bhat when your talking about it.
I’m glad to see you out and about and having a good time of it!
Sorry Scott. I do try and put it in periodically. One US doller approximately equals 30 Thai baht. The rate fluctuates from day to day but that is a rather safe conversion table. The humidity is about 101% here as I right this. The monsoons have struck and it is supposed to rain torrentially for at least another 10 days (it hasn’t stopped but a few minutes in the ast three). Time to go to Chiang Mai, have my surgery on my hand and then perhaps find a dryer spot, Like Malaysia or Borneo which have a totally different monsoon season (as in not now).
Bummer about the boat to Langkawi being closed for the season. Sounds like it worked out for the best though squeezing in some diving between rainy days. I hope that development gets under control (especially that trash situation) before all the beauty is overrun by resorts. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Dan @ A Cruising Couple recently posted..The No-Nonsense Travel Guide to Hong Kong
Unfortunately Dan, there does not seem to be any attempt to reign in development on Koh Lipe. The trash dump is slowly being removed from the island however. I am glad I went after the high season ended. I think it would be much more chaotic (and definitely much more expensive) during the October to May season.
I cannot wait to make my way to this part of the world. It would have to be another travel sabbatical though… way too much to see and do for a “vacation.”
Definitely sabbatical time. I\’ve been in SE Asia since January and have barely eft Thailand (well one month in Burma and two months back home). Of course my ittle accident slowed me down for awhile. You need some serious slow time out here.