There’s nothing weird or offbeat about these beaches and islands, but they’re still lovely.
Ko Lanta (Lanta island) is already a heck of a place to come. It has the aforementioned center full of cats and dogs, at least nine named beaches, and plenty of room to stretch out almost everywhere you look. The island is also the gateway to a number of other island tours; we went with a 4 island tour that involved snorkeling and lunch. So it’s clear, a number of local companies offer essentially the same tour for essentially the same price — the travel agents selling them don’t seem to make a lot of distinction between them.
The gist is the same, no matter the company — get picked up at your hotel early (6:30 to 7am), arrive at the pier, then file your way onto the covered longtail boat. While relatively loud, the 40–45 minute drive out to the first island offers up plenty of opportunities to break out the camera.
(One quick pro-tip: stuff you bring abroad will stay generally dry, but there’s always a chance of an errant splash or your handling something just after exiting the water. The backpack was safe, but my DSLR was encased in waterproof cases to be doubly sure. Pick up a Dicapac waterproof case on Amazon before arriving, as they’re not sold locally — this model looks to be good for smaller point-and-shoot cameras, while this model for DSLR’s is the same one I own and love)
Presumably due to language barriers, there was very little communication between the duo of Thais on the boat and the dozen or so tourists. The itinerary (at least, the one in the brochure we saw when we booked it) was to include snorkeling at Ko Chuek, swimming through the Emerald Cave at Ko Mook, lunch on the beach on Ko Ngai, and some more snorkeling near Ko Maa.
The first fail was a realization by looking at the other tourists — none of whom were wearing glasses. (Laura wears glasses, but can see well enough without them.) I’ve worn glasses for as long as I can remember, and haven’t worn contacts in years. While there are specially-made snorkeling masks that can accommodate spectacles, they’re far from standard issue on guided tours. Oh well — after trying my hand at snorkeling sans glasses, I opted to see the world in focus — and with my DSLR:
Taking it underwater wasn’t a problem, either:
Unfortunately, being unable to see underwater means you’re left targeting something you think you see, then hoping the auto-focus is getting it right… The one downside to the Dicapac waterproof cases is that it’s a bit difficult to fiddle with all the settings once it’s sealed (set them before sealing it up).
Thankfully, the above-water sights are spectacular as well:
Between snorkeling, swimming, floating, and getting photos, the guided tour managed to make an entire day fly. I was under the impression we didn’t exactly follow the itinerary, and there weren’t any signs to indicate which island you were on or near… Nonetheless, the Emerald Cave at Koh Mook (AKA Morakot Cave at Ko Muk) was a standout:
With the life jacket now on, it was time to follow the leader into the nearly pitch-black cave and swim the 75 meters or so to the other side. There’s no other way there — you have to swim through the cave to reach the other side.
Once through, step on the beach and explore a bit:
It’s a very small beach, and one where it’s difficult to explore too far — there are no trails to take you further inland. Still, there’s some scenery to appreciate:
No idea what it’s called, but it’s purty.
Head back through the cave to reach the longtail boat.
Koh Ngai — we had a longer stop here for a simple lunch and time to relax on the sand.
All good things must come to an end, however — by this point most of the tourists were either asleep or trying to nap as the longtail boat headed back to Ko Lanta.
As part of a weekend trip from Krabi, the four-island day-trip is worthwhile. Most tour booking offices on Ko Lanta can book a trip for you, though the better ones should have multiple options to consider. Prices looked to start at 800 baht for the day trip (prices during the high season, or November to April, may be higher). Bear in mind two different ‘4 island tours’, even if they visit the same places, will be far from identical.
