Khao Sok Nationald Park, Koh Lipe, and Bangkok in 9 Days – Day 5
When someone says beaches in Thailand, what does come to your mind? White sandy beach shaded with coconut palm trees, turquoise water, and limestone cliffs with a background of blue sky – picture perfect. Which places in Thailand do come to your mind? Pattaya or beaches of Krabi or beaches of Phuket or Phi Phi island or islands of Gulf of Thailand? I have been to all of the above, but nothing could beat the picture perfect beach of Koh Lipe. It is a paradise found in Thailand. Koh Lipe is also known as “Maldives of Thailand”, now I know why. It is located in the deep south of Thailand in Satun province, very close to Langkawi island of Malaysia. I spent two heavenly nights here.
Highlights of the Day
- Transfer to Koh Lipe
- Lipe Beach Resort
From Pak Bara to Koh Lipe
The owner at the Farmsuk Residence and Resort had booked ferry tickets for us. That would take us to Koh Lipe from Pak Bara. The stay included free transfer by an aircon van to the pier. It is just 10 km away from the resort.
At the pier, we grabbed few fruits and local stuff for breakfast. There are plenty of shops to eat next to the pier, and also at the pier. But be there few minutes earlier so that you can check in easily before you board the boat.
Koh Lipe has 3 beaches. Pattaya Beach has all the boats coming to. Sunset Beach offers great views of sunset. Sunrise Beach is the nicest of all providing clean turquoise waters in unbelievably beautiful white sand beach.
We reached Pattaya Beach of Koh Lipe at around 11 AM. We purchased the entrance ticket for the national park. That cost 200 ฿ per person. The beach also has the immigration check point. It is for people coming down from Langkawi, Malaysia, which is only 30 min away from Lipe. The beach resort we booked was Lipe Beach Resort. It is located on Sunrise Beach. It is only 1 km away from Pattaya Beach, hence walkable. But as we had luggage, we took two motorcycle taxis that dropped us to the resort.
Lipe Beach Resort
Till date, Koh Nang Yuan was my most favorite island in Thailand, now it has moved to the second position, the first being Koh Lipe, especially this particular Sunrise Beach is breathtaking where Lipe Beach Resort is located.
The resort features different bamboo and wooden bungalows that are beachfront facing the sea, garden rooms facing the garden, and sea-breeze rooms having a partial sea-view. It also features family rooms. We had booked a beachfront wooden bungalow and a family room.
All the rooms have the facilities of attached bathroom, free WiFi, and hot shower, and the whole resort area is under CCTV surveillance, so you can chill and enjoy. There are also laundry facilities and travel desk at the reception. Breakfast is also included with the stay.
In the evening, all of us spent good time playing on the beach, getting photos clicked with such a postcard background scenery, and also got massage.
The beach makes a good, romantic quiet stroll in the dark. We had a great time in the balcony of the beachfront wooden bungalow. We sat till late night and did a lot of chatting. Later, off to bed – I had plans to get up early and catch the beautiful sunrise.
Khao Sok National Park, Koh Lipe, and Bangkok in 9 Days – Day 6
The surrounding archipelago of Koh Lipe is filled with unspoiled islands and reefs. Its clear waters is filled with bountiful of sealife. A boat-trip to the mystical islands around Koh Lipe and snorkeling on their waters was our plan. We had booked a sunset trip to 4 of the best snorkel sites. It includes a visit to Koh Hing Nam, the mysterious island made out of polished black stones, and a sunset stop at Koh Adang.
Highlights of the Day
- Relax on Sunrise Beach
- Sunset Trip to the Nearby Islands
- Walking Street of Koh Lipe
Relax on Sunrise Beach
Today we had the whole daytime for us to enjoy and relax on the beach.
Sunset Trip
As our breakfast was heavy and we had it late, we did not feel hungry at all for lunch. Also, we had plans to snorkel and getting into the water with heavy stomach was not a good idea, so we just had few nuts and dry fruits and headed to Pattaya Beach for the snorkeling trip.
Make sure you carry the ticket of the national park entrance, otherwise you have to buy it again. We were carrying the ones we got yesterday while entering Koh Lipe.
We reached the tour office in Pattaya Beach by 2 PM to take up the boat tour. The guide provided us with masks, snorkels, and fins, and then led us to a longtail boat on the beach. The boat departed at around 2.30 PM. In the boat, there was drinking water for all of us. Life jackets were also available for each of us.
We arrived at the Pattaya Beach at around 6.30 PM when it was dark.
Walking Street, Koh Lipe
We headed to the Walking Street that stretches from the Pattaya beach front until the middle of the island, which connects to the main road. We were surprised to see the crowd there.
Here, you can basically find everything you need on this island from convenient store, pharmacy, clinics, massage parlors, street food, restaurants, bars to even night bars.
Later, we walked back to our beach resort. It was the last night in Koh Lipe. We stayed up until late to the lovely sea breeze and sweet sound of the sea waves.
Khao Sok National Park, Koh Lipe, and Bangkok in 9 Days – Day 7
Koh Lipe was inexplicably beautiful – its turquoise mirror water and unspoiled powdery white sandy beach, especially that of Sunrise Beach will surely call me back again sometime soon. Sleep in the comfortable bed of Lipe Beach Resort was sound and well. Breakfast was usually served from 7 AM to 11 AM. I filled myself with rice porridge today with boiled vegetables on it sprinkled with a lot of black pepper. Finally it was time to bid adieu to the most beautiful beach of Thailand.
Highlights of the Day
- Back to Bangkok
Koh Lipe to Bangkok
We discussed with the receptionist of the Lipe Beach Resort about the right time to leave the hotel. We had to catch the ferry from Pattaya Beach at 11.30 AM. She checked our tickets and called two motorcycle taxis as per our ferry time. It took only 5 min to reach the Pattaya Beach by the motorchycle taxis.Â
The whole transfer took around 6 h.
We opted for the fastest way to reach Bangkok from Koh Lipe. It included water plus land plus air transfer. The whole transfer tickets were bought under one booking from AirAsia. Have a look:
- We checked in at Pattaya Beach at around 11 AM. The ferry departed at around 11.30 AM and reached Pak Bara pier at 1 PM.
- At Pak Bara pier, we did not have time to grab lunch, as the aircon van was ready to leave in 15 min as soon as we reached. It took us to Hat Yai airport by 2.45 PM.
- At Hat Yai airport, we grabbed some snacks and headed to board the flight. It departed at 4 PM and reached Bangkok at around 5.25 PM.
When we reached Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok, we were very hungry. So we binged on some vegetarian food from the airport only – that pretty much worked as our early dinner. Later, we took a taxi straight to the hostel we had booked earlier in the prime location of Asok-Sukhumvit intersection. To know more about it, follow my next blog, which will also feature how we spent New Year’s Eve in Bangkok. Bye for now!
NET EXPENSE FOR 1 PERSON (IN THB)
Let us have a look at the expenses of Days 5-7 in Thailand – Koh Lipe.
- Pak Bara to Koh Lipe: 800
- Hotel in Koh Lipe for twin sharing (2 nights): 4500
- Entrance fee of Koh Lipe: 200
- Sunset trip: 650
- Getting around: 100
- Koh Lipe to Bangkok: 3500
- Food: 800
Total expense (roughly): 9750 THB
For an overall idea of itinerary and expense of the trip, whether for solo or couple or group of any number of people, feel free to contact me on Contact Us page. You can also have a look at Khao Sok National Park, Koh Lipe, and Bangkok in 9 Days – Itinerary and Expenses.
If you are planning for a much-organized, tastefully-curated, stress-free yet exciting vacation, consider booking your holidays at Travel Love Repeat. It is going to be a treat for sure!
Koh Lipe looks nice! And I love the bamboo and wooden bungalows of the Lipe Beach Resort, it’s exactly the kind of place I love to stay at when I travel to a place with gorgeous beaches. Good to know that it is easy to get to Bangkok from here.
Koh Lipe is so pristine.
Wow Koh Lipe looks stunning! I’m in a very cold place when writing this so would love to be on that beach right now! The resort is very pretty too!
Where are you?
koh lipe looks so stunning..never heard of thsi place..as always thanks for jotting down all the info in one post…its quite useful..i luv this wooden houses…would luv to stay in one of those on my visit..
Yes, they are the best.
With beaches as pristine as this, sea water as crystal clear as this, and accommodation as luxurious as this how can you not call this place paradise? The perfect place to truly get away from it all and indulge 🙂
Yes, absolutely.
This place looks wonderful! I especially like the accommodations – nice, but they seem to fit in where they are. Of course, the beaches look gorgeous.
It’s really pretty.
Those beach-front wooden bungalows look so cool! And the food looks delicious! Also, I need to get me there for one of those massages too! Not to mention the beautiful beach! Definitely have to add Koh Lipe to my list now! 🙂
Yes, it’s the real gem.
I didn’t make it this far south when I was in Thailand but I wish I had now, the beach’s look amazing, especially sunrise beach 😀 – One of the things I did love about Thailand was staying in those wooden huts on the beach (apart from the mosquito always found a way in through the nets) – And really, is there anything better than getting a massage on the beach 😀
Glad you liked it.
I have always wanted to go to Koh Lipe! I had wondered about the speed boat transfer and you have just confirmed what it was like. I did a similar one in Koh Samui when we were heading out the National Park and omg….. they are crazy! Its like sport for them to see what waves they can crash into. One lady out the front hit her head and passed out. Food looks great and glad all your vegan options were met and the budget is so reasonable! Oh and the massages…. sooooo good!
Koh Lipe is deep down south, but totally worth the travel. Do visit this paradise, Amy.
Koh Lipe looks just about perfect right now. I definitely wouldn’t say no to spending 3 days here. I didn’t explore enough of the islands when I was last in Thailand, and now desperately want to return!
Koh Lipe is my fav.
Paradise indeed! Look at how powdery that sand looks. I am really dying to revisit Thailand. I never managed to visit Koh Lipe on my last visit but hopefully the next time I am in Thailand it definitely needs to be on the itinerary.
Totally agree with you, Bianca.
I can definitely see why Koh Lipe is your favorite island in Thailand – it looks like an amazing travel experience from your post and photographs. A stroll along that beautiful Sunrise Beach at Lipe Beach Resort sounds so perfect and I’d love to indulge in some of those delicious vegan Thai dishes served in the in-house beachfront restaurant . Your post makes me want to head off to this island for a much needed vacation! Thanks for sharing all these details.
You must visit Koh Lipe, Aditi.
Another gorgeous blog post about beautiful beaches that I wish I could hop on a plane and visit right now. Thanks for the great tips. The next time I’m in Thailand, I hope to get to Koh Lipe!
Without any doubt!
I love Thailand but I’ve never heard of Koh Lipe. I can see why it’s one of your favourite destinations in Thailand, it looks absolutely amazing. I’m already looking at planning a trip back.
Yes, this place is totally worth a visit.