Koh Lanta Yai was our first real introduction to Thailand. After landing in Phuket and spending a couple of days there resting and getting used to the new time zone, we took a speed boat and, in a couple of hours, we were on beautiful Koh Lanta. We spent two blissful weeks on the island, getting to know it pretty well.
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How to get to Koh Lanta from Phuket
I used the site 12go.asia to plan our transfer from Phuket to Koh Lanta. There are several options available, from shared minivans and private taxis to slow ferries and speed boats. We opted for a speed boat from Phuket, because it was the shortest trip (2 hrs) and we were still pretty tired from changing time zones. When going back to Phuket, we opted for the slow ferry (4 hrs) to save some money. We paid around $160 for the speed boat for the 4 of us and $100 for the ferry.
Once we got to Koh Lanta, we were picked up by a driver pre-arranged by our host. You don’t necessarily have to pre-arrange your transportation, but expect to pay more if you just get a taxi or tuk-tuk from the port.
Transportation in Koh Lanta
Although riding scooters is very common in Thailand and lots of tourists do it, please only rent one if you are a really skilled and experienced rider. My husband has been riding motorcycles for 20+ years and he was confident he could safely drive us all on a big scooter, but he was still a bit nervous about it. Not only that you have to avoid pot holes and, possibly, wild animals like snakes and monkeys, but the locals seem to have an unwritten rule of not having any rules. They flow in a rhythm that makes perfect sense to them, but could be scary and paralyzing to unexperienced riders.
The other common means of transportation on the island are tuk-tuks. You can usually negotiate the price, especially if you use the same driver several times. Tuk-tuks are everywhere and you should have no trouble finding one.
Taxis are not very common on the island and they are more expensive than tuk-tuks. You can find some on Facebook or through your hotel/host, but I would only pre-book a taxi for trips to the marina and back, if you don’t want to risk looking for a tuk-tuk at the last moment.
Where to stay in Koh Lanta
We stayed in Old Town Koh Lanta for one week and on Long Beach for another week. While we really enjoyed the more authentic experience we received on the less crowded part of the island where old town is, I do think it’s better to stay on the western side of the island, especially if you are not comfortable riding a scooter. Paying for tuk-tuks to go from one side of the island to the other can get expensive fast.
The resort we stayed at on Long Beach is called Lanta Pearl Beach Resort and I highly recommend it. We got one of the newly built family bungalows and it was one of the best accommodations we had in SE Asia. The pool at the resort is small, but we barely used it since we were on the beach.
The other two beaches I recommend staying on are Klong Dao and Klong Nin. They were my favorite beaches on the island, even more so than Long Beach. Klong Nin had spectacular sunsets and lantern decorated restaurants and the half-moon shaped Klong Dao, with its clear waters and star fish, seemed very family friendly.
What to do on Koh Lanta with kids
1. Explore the beaches
It can be very easy to get comfortable on the beach where your accommodation is and not want to go anywhere else, but I think you would miss out on the beauty of Koh Lanta if you didn’t explore the island more.
We visited a handful of beaches on Koh Lanta with our kids and they were all unique in their own way.
Long Beach is the central and, arguably, the most famous beach on the island. It’s long, just as the name suggests, and boarded by tall pine trees. Because it stretches for 5 km, people don’t have to crowd together. It also slopes gently into the sea, making it perfect for little ones to play along it.
Klong Nin is that kind of beach that combines gorgeous sunsets, with beautiful lantern decorated restaurants and bars with chill vibes. It was my favorite beach to go to in the evening for a cocktail with a view! Also, to make it even more pleasant, one of our favorite kid-friendly restaurant -Rasta Baby- in on Klong Nin. Happy parents and happy children – what else could you ask for?
Klong Dao – if some people prefer the long, stretchy beaches like Long Beach, I adore half moon shaped beaches, like Klong Dao. This beach is wide, with soft sand and crystal-clear water and lots of family friendly restaurants. If you look closely, you will also see starfish in the water. But if you do find some, please don’t pick them up. Getting them out of the water can actually hurt them. They absorb oxygen from the water through channels on their outer body and picking them up could result in them suffocating. We didn’t know this when we were on the island and, sadly, we did pick up a few. But we have educated ourselves on the matter since then and now we know better.
Bamboo Beach – located at the Southern end of the island, this beach was the most secluded one we went to. There were only a handful of people there at the same time and we felt like we had the beach to ourselves. Snorkeling is not great on Koh Lanta Yai in general, but Bamboo beach has some rocky formations where fish gather. We actually managed to spot a white moray eel, which was very exciting considering they are so rare!
Although Bamboo beach is secluded and pretty far away from the main beaches on the island, there is a restaurants that serves food and drinks, so you can plan to spend the whole day at this beach, to make the trip worth it. Also, on your way down to the beach, keep your eyes peeled for monkeys. We spotted a bunch of them alongside the road.
2. Go on an adventure
There are a multitude of tours that you can choose to go on from Koh Lanta: kayaking in a mangrove, island hopping, snorkeling, Phi-Phi islands and the Emerald Cave were just a few that I saw advertised on the island. Luckily, our first host offered tours to his guests, making it very convenient for us. We chose to visit the Emerald cave, hang out on a secluded island and snorkel at Koh Mook.
The Emerald Cave was one of the most spectacular sites we’ve ever seen and you can only understand its true beauty if you see it with your own eyes. The color of the water and the little, open-sky beach inside the cave make the whole experience feel magical. Imagine swimming through a dark cave and then emerging in a hidden, emerald lagoon surrounded by towering cliffs. It’s a picture that’s going to stay with me for the rest of my life.
3. Explore Old Town Koh Lanta and marvel at the architecture
You have to make your way to Old Town Koh Lanta at least once during your stay. The little town is worth a visit anytime, but it’s especially nice on Friday and Saturday nights when the main roads turns into a pedestrian-only walking street. Street vendors set up their stalls outside and you can get anything from dinner, to dessert and souvenirs. We even got to witness a local craft woman hand-painting tiny, wooden elephants and we bought a couple to take back home.
Lots of locals also come to the night market, so make sure to stop by the little playground or the soccer court, if you want your kids to play with other kids. The people on Koh Lanta are so friendly and inviting, even the teenagers playing soccer stopped their game and invited our little boys to play with them.
4. Watch a fire show on the beach
Every beach we’ve been to on Koh Lanta had a fire show going on at some point at night. Sometimes, multiple ones would happen at the same time. Usually, they are arranged by bars or restaurants to attract crowds. I don’t know if there’s a specific schedule for when they take place, but if go in high season like we did, it’s impossible not to happen upon one…or three. Our fire loving boys were mesmerized by the skills of the ”fire guys” and they still talk about it.
5. Go to Chomview waterpark
Chomview is a small waterpark that is perfect for both kids and parents. It’s affordable, not crowded, and big enough that the kids won’t get bored for a few hours, but small enough for parents of older kids to keep an eye on them from the coziness of a chaise-lounge.
6. Find rubber trees and learn about the rubber production
I can’t think of better way to learn about nature and human innovation that the hands-on learning. There are plenty of natural learning opportunities on Koh Lanta and one of them is the rubber trees that you can find scattered around the island. We first noticed the trees while riding our scooter and my husband, who’s a forester, wanted to take advantage of the opportunity and teach our kids what the sap is used for. We made an improptu stop on our way to Chomview park to look at the trees and then we googled and learned the whole process of rubber production. It’s interesting to discovered that something so simple that we take for granted in our day-to-day life like rubber, take a lot of hard work and a lot of time to make.
7. Have a massage on the beach
Just like the rest of Thailand, Koh Lanta offers a plethora of massage parlors to choose for. This can make it difficult to decide on one, although, to be honest, most of the massages we got in Thailand were good. However, one of our most favorite thing to do on Koh Lanta was to head over to Klong Nin beach and have a massage at the parlor next to Rasta Baby. That way, the kids could play on the beach or jump on the trampoline, while we took turns getting massages. It is still one of the things I reminiscence most about: massage, followed by a cocktail on the beach at sunset.
8. Go to the movies
What is cooler than watching a movie at a cinema? Watching the movie at an outdoor cinema, on an island. Every Friday night, at 6:30 pm, Lanta Cinema has a kid’s movie showing. There’s a fee of 100baht, but that covers the whole season, so you can go to multiple showings. The grounds are very nice too, with a little playground for kids and a snack bar.
*Sadly, upon checking Google for the showing times, I found out Lanta Cinema is temporarily closed. However, I will leave this section here, as a reminder for people to check and see if it reopens again. It’s a bummer that one of the best things to do on Koh Lanta with kids is no longer available. I do hope they will reopen next season.
9. Attend the Koh Lanta Entertainment family events
One of the best things to do on Koh Lanta with kids is to attend the events organized by Koh Lanta Entertainment. Their events usually take place at either El Pillax Lanta Resort or Eco Lanta Hideaway Beach Resort and they are usually FREE. Think clowns, balloon, foam parties, fire shows and much more. They are active on Facebook, so you can follow them there for up-to-date events.
10. Eat at a cool restaurant
One of the things we loved most about Koh Lanta was how child-friendly the restaurants were. A lot of them had play areas, or toys, or trampolines or swings making family meals out a lot less stressful. Some of our favorites were:
– ”Pinto” (Old Town) – this restaurant is worth a trip to Old Town on its own. The food is perfection, the views are mesmerizing and the style of the restaurant is so charming!
– Shine-Talay (Old Town) – the food is, perhaps, not quite as good as the one at Pinto, but Shine-Talay was still one of our favorites restaurants in Old Town. The prices are good and the scenery is beautiful.
– Rasta Baby (Klong Nin beach)
Although the food at Rasta is not necessarily a ”must-have” on the island, they do have tacos, nachos and cheese balls and our kids were thrilled to eat some familiar foods. We kept going back to Rasta Baby for the experience (and the cocktails at sunset :D) – they have a swing, a trampoline and toys and there were always other families with kids there, hence company for our kids. We also loved the chilled vibe and the affordable prices.
– Thai Cat (Long Beach)
Good food, affordable prices and tons of toys for the kids. Their house sauce is to die for and , although I couldn’t convince our waiter to share the recipe with me, they gladly served us as much sauce as we wanted, courtesy of the restaurant.
– Lap Roi Et (Klong Dao) – located across the street from the beach, this small, family-run restaurant had delicious traditional Thai dishes. It was the cheapest restaurant we ate at on the island and we always left with a full stomach and a smile on our faces. The service can be slow sometimes, but they have some scooters and toys for the kids.
Other activities on Koh Lanta
With only two weeks on the island, we did not get to do all the activities on my list. But it might be worth it for other people to be aware of these option, if they want to try them for themselves.
– Take a Muay Thai class at Lanta MuayThai complex. Muay Thai is the national sport of Thailand and it’s a big part of the Thai culture. We took Muay Thai classes for a month in Hua Hin and it was a great experience being taught by a native.
– Take a cooking class – one of the things Thailand is most famous for is their cuisine. You can learn how to make a delicious Thai dish at one of the cooking schools on Koh Lanta. For more info, check out this article by Amazing Lanta.
– Take a batik coloring class at Saychon Lanta Batik. One class is 500 baht/child and it takes 3-4 hrs.
– Visit the animals al Lanta Animal Welfare. They are a non-profit charity that rescue cats and dogs. For a donation fee of 250 baht/adult and 150/child, you can tour the facility and learn more about the animals in their care. For more info on the tour, press here.
The things we didn't love about Koh Lanta
1. Sea lice – the tiny jellyfish larvae are too small to see with your bare eye, but you will definitely feel their sting. They are not dangerous to most people, but the burning/stinging sensation is definitely uncomfortable. We also felt the sea lice in Phuket, so they are not only to be found on Koh Lanta, but they definitely made our sea splashing experience less enjoyable.
2. Limited Western groceries – Koh Lanta doesn’t boast any big grocery stores or supermarkets, so if you want to cook some of your meals or get breakfast supplies, you will be limited to shopping at the markets or at 7 eleven. On the other hand, Koh Lanta does have plenty of affordable restaurants with toys or play areas on the beach, so you can forget about cooking and really enjoy your vacation.
Other Tips
1. Join ”Koh Lanta with kids” and ”Koh Lanta info” on Facebook, for up to date events
2. The best time to visit Koh Lanta is between November and March. We went in January and the weather was perfect
3. Pre-arrange your transportation from the port to avoid high costs
4. Unlike restaurants in North America, many restaurants in Thailand won’t have paper and crayons for the kids. Carry a backpack with kids’ supplies to entertain them at the restaurants that don’t have a play area or toys.
5. You will find many delicious fruit water or juices on Koh Lanta. However, you should know that most restaurants add syrup to them. If you want them all natural, just say ”no sugar” when ordering.