From Langkawi to Koh Lipe- Thailand

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After spending a couple of days exploring the beautiful island of Langkawi, we decided to visit the island of Koh Lipe of a few days. Getting to Koh Lipe shoud be easy from Langkawi as it's only an hour across the water but the immigration restrictions mean that it's not straightforward. We organised a couple of transport options including going on a catamaran owned by a lovely New Zealand couple we met. Unfortunately the immigration restrictions meant that our only reslistic option was a little speed boat that departed everyday from a little harbour on Langkawi. It felt quite strange going to a little boat and being checked out of the country by the harbourmaster but also felt very glamorous shooting across the stunning ocean towards a tiny island in the middle of nowhere!

Koh Lipe is the only inhabited island within a wider marine park that consists of protected waters and uninhabited islands. The diving and snorkelling was fantastic and D made the most of the opportunity to go diving every day.

The island itself serves as the main base for tourists using the marine park. There are no vehicles on the island and you can walk around it in about an hour, though the 'roads' are limited to paths that often get flooded due to the monsoon season that is just coming to an end. The Thai people are helpful, though there is a lot of people on the island, including tourists, people working in the tourist industry and then the locals themselves. Space is tight, so you really get to see how the locals live, including walking through their modest housing areas to get to your accomodation (it was a little like a shanty town in places - girls remember GCSE Geography!). Also on the island are all the animals that the locals have including the dog population which seems to be getting a little out of hand!

It has been really good to see Koh Lipe, but it is also sad to see the over-development of the island already... and they are still continuing to build!!! (I think they need some good Planners there - DJ!!) Koh Kipe showed us the Thai approach to life (very laid back), and it was a stunning place where we just chilled out, ate nice food and had our first (and my last) authentic Thai massage - oooouch!!!. However I'm glad we went there now as I suspect soon, it will be spoiled... if it hasn't already been.

I'll try to upload some photos soon, but for the moment, if you google 'Castaway Koh Lipe', you'll see where we stayed.

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Photos

Koh Lipe Island
These little long boats are the main form of transport on the island. They are also quite noisy!