The rain cleared as we neared Ko Lanta, a beautiful island in the Andean Sea on the west coast of southern Thailand. As we stepped off the ferry I knew I’d be much happier here than in Ton Sai. Ko Lanta is clean, has beautiful long beaches and has plenty of accommodations for all price ranges.
While we were there, we did a “Four Islands” snorkeling trip. Basically, you are taken in a longtail motor boat to three snorkeling locations and one sea cave you can swim through to a hidden beach. There were tons of fish to see at the first location and the boat driver through bread in the water, causing the fish to swarm around us. There were so many that they ran into me, which was a slightly disconcerting experience.
There were hundreds of stinging jellyfish in the water, so Pat and I decided to skip the cave. Some of the other snorkelers came back with welts all over their body, so I think we made the right decision.
Pat’s mom was concerned that we weren’t relaxing enough, so we decided to upgrade our accommodations for the last two days in Ko Lanta. Thanks to the great exchange rate, we could afford to stay at two beautiful places – The Houbin, a modern, sleek boutique hotel and Baan Lanta, which has luxury bungalows on the ocean. Both were amazing.
Other than the snorkeling trip, our three days on Ko Lanta were spent eating, laying on the beach and eating some more. Thanks for the suggestion Mrs. H!
I’m traveling to Thailand in the middle of peak marathon training. Do you think I can safely get a 20-mile run in on Ko Lanta?
Thanks!
That’s a good question. I did not run at all while we were in Ko Lanta. It was a very lazy vacation. There is basically one main road that follows the coast and all the cars and scooters use it. We did see people running on it, but it seemed a little risky. I think if you got up early and ran you might have some luck. If you are determined, you can do anything! Another thing to try would be one of the longer beaches – we definitely saw runners on the beach at the first place we stayed at. Nothing close to 20 miles though; you’d have to do repeats.
Cool! Thanks for the info.