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Published: December 20th 2005
My own paradise...
...Sunlight beach, Koh Lipe...I have found thee!!
Sun 4th Dec - Sun 11th Dec After my little tip off, I found my way to this island and all that I hoped for materialised before my eyes...after a 5 hour mini bus journey from Georgetown to Hat Yai...another 2 hour mini bus journey from Hat Yai (Thailand) to Pak Bara...and then a 3 hour ferry ride from Pak Bara to Koh Lipe...
Koh Lipe is an island in the Tarutao National Park in the Andaman Sea in Southern Thailand. Everyone gets off the ferry about a mile off the coast of Lipe and takes a longtail boat to the island - the water here is too shallow with lots of coral for a ferry to go straight to the island.
Wow, all I can say are the reports were right! This place is amazing, sand so white that everytime I went on the beach I started to have sneezing fits! it was so bright I think I've permanently damaged my retinas! See the photos if you don't believe me!! The water here is soooo clear that even at waist deep, you can still see really clearly the grains of sand at
Riding the waves...
...on the way to Koh Lipe the bottom!
For the first 2 nights I stayed a bamboo hut about 15 metres back from the beach, which is pretty cool - it was very basic, with a hand held shower, 1 window, fan, mozzie net and...a squat toilet!! eeww! I'm sure if the electrics went on the hut, the whole place would go up in smoke...very quickly!! Got a bit freaked out after I found the hut's resident frog sat in the "bathroom" - everytime I shooed it away, it would just come back and sit there! Enough was enough, did my little stint of going basic - doesn't really agree with me so paid an extra 100 Thai Baht (GBP1.38) a night to upgrade to the resort in the middle of the island (total per night - GBP4.15!!) next to the dive school I found to do my dive course with. Pooh's resort was lovely, it had a normal toilet, outdoor bathroom with nice shower, sink and mirror, so what that the electricity was only on till 11.30 at night - I was in bed alseep by then anyway!!
again, take note - mozzie repellent is a must!!
So yes, found a dive
school next to Pooh's called Lotus Dive - nice bunch of people who were very good and very helpful. Started my diving course on the monday and did my skills training in confined water - obviously not in a swimming pool, but on Adang beach! - again, clear water and white sand!! It was fantastic, did some skills and diving in the morning followed by lunch on the beach and then more diving in the afternoon! I had one on one instruction - I couldn't have asked for anything more perfect!
There were loads of coral, nemos, saw some star fishes, lion fished, lots of other fishes which I have no idea what they were and also one ugly mean looking giant moray eel!! eek! but no sharks!
Met some really nice people who went out on the same boat as me, but were doing fun dives, Lucy (nz) and Paul (oz) and Franziska (sw) who was doing her rescue divers course - which looked pretty intense, don't think I'll be doing that one in a hurry!
So after my course, I did one fun dive with the dive master and then spent most of my time
These were the rocks...
...I slipped on - ouch!! eating, sunbathing on the beach, swinging from my hammock reading and having massages! oh, what a hard life this is!!
It was a brilliant week I spent on the island and would fully recommend a visit!! was quite sad to leave the place really, but had a plane to catch back to Singapore and then onwards to Vietnam!
Back in Hat Yai, decided to check into a 4 star hotel for a bit of luxury! for GBP16, it was well worth it - especially for the hot shower and air con!!
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