Koh Lanta is the island I had always imagined Thailand to be: wild, warm, alternating white beaches with jungle, and still, unlike so many of the other islands, genuinely Thai.
The name covers an archipelago of more than fifty islands, but the one everyone means is Koh Lanta Yai, the big one, where I have now been four times over the years. It is the kind of place that gets into you, and this is my honest, affectionate guide to it, drawn from a decade of coming back. If you are planning a wider trip, it sits inside my thoughts on independent travel and my other Thai islands, Koh Samui and beyond.
How Koh Lanta has changed
The first time I went, in 2009, almost all the roads were still sand, and getting off the scooter you would find the pattern of your clothes and sunglasses printed on your skin in dust. Year after year the roads were paved, and perhaps a little magic was lost, but at least you no longer have to hold your breath every time another vehicle passes.
The biggest change came later: Koh Lanta Yai is now joined to its neighbour Koh Lanta Noi, and the mainland beyond, by the Lanta bridge, opened in 2016. The old car-ferry hop that used to be part of the adventure of arriving is largely gone. It is faster now, and easier, and a little less wild, which is the story of the island in one sentence.
Getting around is still best done by scooter. Rental is cheap, usually arranged through your resort, and one quirk endures: you can refuel almost anywhere, not just at proper stations but from roadside stalls and shopfront windows, where petrol is sold by the bottle. Check the scooter over before you take it, and always wear the helmet.
The beaches
After many trips and a good deal of thorough, unhurried research, I long ago chose “my” beach: the wild Ao Klong Jark, on the quieter southern stretch of the west coast. A few hundred metres of fine white sand, a lovely sea, and some of the best sunsets on the island.
The west coast is really a string of beaches, each with its own character. Klong Khong is another sunset beach, laid-back and low-key. Klong Nin is a beautiful white bay set against the tropical forest. Kantiang Bay, further south, is a small snorkelling paradise. Up north, Klong Dao is the most famous and the easiest to reach from the Saladan pier, a genuinely beautiful bay, though for my taste too built-up and too loud, with every bar playing its own soundtrack over the next.
The beach inside the Mu Ko Lanta National Park at the southern tip is lovely, with a lighthouse and a short jungle trail where you will meet monkeys, though whether it is worth the entrance fee is a matter of taste.
A note from experience: the island has two very different seasons. The dry high season, roughly November to April, is when everything is open and the sea is calm. In the wet season, much of the island quiets right down, some beach places close, and the boats to the smaller islands stop. I have loved it in both, but plan around it.
Beyond the hammock
It would be easy to do nothing here but lie in a hammock, and there is no shame in that. But Koh Lanta rewards curiosity.
Lanta Old Town, on the east coast, is the island’s old heart, once a Chinese and Malay trading port and still home to a small Chao Ley “sea gypsy” community. On my first stay I rented a wonderful old teak house on stilts here, with a veranda over the water, and it remains my favourite corner of the island: weathered wooden shophouses, jetties reaching out over the sea, and a slower, older feel than the beach strips. The stilt houses that run out over the water have long been known for hand-woven hammocks, and I confess I have collected rather too many of them over the years.
From the long jetty of Lanta Old Town you can take a longtail boat to the tiny islands of Ko Bubu and Ko Talabeng, the latter known for its sea caves and limestone cliffs.
The Khao Mai Kaew Caves inland are a genuine little adventure: a guided scramble through a multi-level cave system of stalactites and stalagmites, complete with a resident bat colony and, at the bottom, a natural cave pool. A guide is required, the ground is slippery, so wear proper shoes, take it from someone who did not, to the great amusement of everyone else.
Ko Lanta Noi, the wilder island just to the north, is worth a wander for how untouristy it still is: small local restaurants, empty beaches, and rubber plantations, a glimpse of what all of Lanta felt like not so long ago.
On elephants, one clear word. I do not do elephant rides, and seeing them with chained feet makes me sick. If you feel the same and still long to see them, you sometimes catch them being walked down to the sea to bathe in the early morning or evening near Ao Klong Jark, which is a far better way to meet them. Please do not support the riding.
Getting there
Koh Lanta has no airport of its own. The gateway is Krabi International Airport, about 75 km away, and thanks to the bridge the whole journey is now by road, no passenger ferry required unless you choose one.
The options, roughly:
The simplest is a shared minivan booked at the airport arrivals desk or online in advance, typically around 400 to 550 baht per person; it waits until full, then drives straight to the island over the bridge and drops you at your hotel, taking around two to three hours depending on how far south you are staying. A private taxi or transfer costs more, roughly 2,000 to 2,800 baht for the vehicle, but is faster, door to door, and worth it for a group or a late arrival. In high season you can also book a minivan-plus-speedboat combination, quicker but pricier and seasonal.
One practical warning I wish someone had given me: the last public minivans generally leave in the afternoon, so if you land in the evening you may need a private transfer, or a night in Krabi town or Ao Nang and a morning boat across. Book ahead if your flight is late.
From Phuket the same kinds of transfer exist but take longer and cost more, and in high season there are also scenic passenger ferries from Krabi, Ao Nang and via Ko Phi Phi, a lovely way to island-hop your way in if you have the time and the seas are calm.
Where to stay
Koh Lanta has everything from beach shacks to smart resorts, and the honest truth is that the specific places I loved may have changed in the years since, so I will tell you how I did it rather than send you to a name that might no longer be there.
On my first stays I based myself in a traditional teak stilt house in Lanta Old Town, which was perfect for feeling part of a real village rather than a resort strip. Later I gravitated to a very simple beach bungalow on Ao Klong Jark, the kind of basic-but-blissful wooden hut on the sand, breakfast and a shady hammock included, that is exactly right for a slow seaside week. Both are ways of doing Lanta that I would repeat tomorrow.
My real advice is this: do not book your whole stay in advance. Come for a night or two, take a scooter round the island, find the bay that fits your mood, and settle there. Lanta is small enough, and forgiving enough, to reward that kind of improvisation.
One last thing. Do not forget, as I did, that the moon here rises straight out of the sea, deep red on the horizon before it climbs and pales. It is a proper performance of nature, worth watching every night, and worth photographing just once. Bring something to steady the camera, then put it down and simply look.
If you would like this guide with you as you wander, there is a GPS-guided offline version of it on GPSmyCity, handy for finding your way around the island without a signal.
FAQ
Yes, especially if you want a Thai island that is calmer and more laid-back than the party islands. Koh Lanta has a long string of west-coast beaches, from lively Klong Dao to quiet southern bays, a genuinely characterful old town, jungle and caves inland, and an easygoing pace. It is a good choice for slow beach time, families and independent travellers.
The west coast holds them all. Klong Dao in the north is the most famous and most developed; Klong Khong is laid-back and good for sunsets; Klong Nin is a beautiful forest-backed bay; Kantiang Bay in the south is great for snorkelling; and the quieter Ao Klong Jark is a wilder favourite. The national park beach at the southern tip is lovely too.
Fly to Krabi International Airport, then travel by road, around two to three hours, thanks to the Lanta bridge that has connected the island since 2016. Options are a shared minivan (roughly 400 to 550 baht per person), a private taxi or transfer (around 2,000 to 2,800 baht), or, in high season, a faster minivan-and-speedboat combination. The last public minivans usually leave in the afternoon, so book a private transfer for late arrivals.
The dry high season runs roughly from November to April, with calm seas and everything open, and is the best time for beaches and boat trips. During the wet season, around May to October, the island quietens considerably, some beach places close and boats to the smaller islands stop, though it has its own peaceful appeal and lower prices.
The easiest way is by scooter, cheaply rented through most resorts, which lets you explore the whole island at your own pace. Always check the scooter and wear a helmet. A local quirk: you can refuel almost anywhere, including roadside stalls that sell petrol by the bottle, not just at proper stations.
