After our stay on Chiew Lan Lake, we traveled to Ko Lanta (เกาะลันตา). The ferry crossing from the mainland to Ko Lanta was easy and inexpensive even with a vehicle.
Long Beach
On Lanta we stayed on Long Beach (หาดพระแอะ). We enjoyed the laid back atmosphere; the long, wide, smooth, open sand; and the many little ocean facing cafes and shops along the beach.
One highlight was a lunch date at Suza Hut.
Four Island Tour
Our second full day on Lanta we took the internet’s recommendation and went on a four island tour. You can read my daughter’s perspective on the trip here.
Getting there
The tour sent a song taew (สองแถว literally translates to “two rows”; it is a pickup truck with a bench down each side of the bed) to pick us up. We rode in the back with a Dutch family and a French couple to get to the pier to begin our tour. People can be so fascinating. It was also a reminder of the convenience I enjoy as a native English speaker—travelers from around the world use my language to speak to one another.
Ko Chueak (เกาะเชือก)
I very much enjoyed snorkeling at our first stop. There were so many different fish to see.
There were a few slight stings from something invisible in the water, but they were ignorable.
Ko Maa (เกาะม้า)
Our next stop was Ko Maa. Here we saw a similar selection of fish as we did at Ko Chueak and the stinging in the water was a little harder to ignore. Our kids didn’t stay in the water long.
Emerald Cave (ถ้ำมรกต เกาะมุก)
Our third stop was something I had been looking forward to: A swim through Emerald Cave—aka Morakot (Thai for Emerald) Cave—to หาดสวรรค์ (which translates to Paradise Beach, though in English the whole location is typically referred to as Emerald Cave).
I played around with editing video of the 80m journey in through the cave, but ended up deciding to invite you to experience the whole journey with us. There isn’t much to see in the cave, but the experience of coming through the long close dark into the light of a beautiful jungle and beach at the other end is hard to communicate in words.
Fortunately, we didn’t experience stinging in the water while swimming through the cave.
Ko Ngai (เกาะไหง)
Our last stop of the day was the visually stunning Ko Ngai. We enjoyed the view, but not the water; the stinging was the worst here.
Back to Lanta
We returned to our hotel by Song Taew and wrapped up our last day on Lanta with a great meal at Mr. Wee’s.
I recommend the banana chicken curry pizza.
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