We were ready for island living, and that is exactly what we got from gorgeous Koh Lanta.  After a short bus ride, and a brief ferry ride, we arrived to the Saladan Pier.  Ignoring all of the hustling tuk-tuk drivers, we walked along the ocean to our resort; Saladan Beach Resort.  We were welcomed by a gorgeous pool, and a very sweet woman (who later introduced herself as Tang) handing us ice-cold orange juice.  We had only booked the room for two nights, but as soon as we settled in, we knew we would extend our stay.

Koh Lanta is a long island, and the main form of transportation appears to be motorbike.  Here was my first mistake.  I am terrified of motorbikes- to the point of which I refused to get on one while at Koh Lanta, which restricted our travel a bit.  However, we made the best of our stay by lounging by the pool, floating in the ocean, and exploring Saladan by foot.

The first few days were spent by the pool, and hanging out with Babs and PJ (our Belgium friends).  We went to some decent restaurants, but found that the street food was the best option.  Not only was it cheaper, but it was far more delicious.  One night we found a night market with extremely loud music, carnival-style games, and some street food.  It was definitely more of a local hangout spot, but we enjoyed looking at the various trinkets they sold.

Our beach in front of Saladan Beach Resort was full of these spiral shells, and even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to take many, I loved collecting them and making designs in the sand with them.  This was really cool because when we explored a nearby beach, Khlong Khong, these shells could not be found; instead, beautiful coral littered the beach.

The highlight of Koh Lanta was our snorkeling tour to Koh Rok, a nearby island.  We booked the tour through Tang, and it was about 1,200 baht/person.  The next morning at 8am we were picked up and sat in the back of a pickup truck as we picked up other tourists.  Shortly after, we got on a fancy looking motor boat and set off to Koh Rok.  The first stop was forty minutes in, and we all got our snorkel gear on and hopped into the ever-warm Andaman sea.  It was Sam’s first time snorkeling, so he had to figure out how to breathe- but he picked it up very quickly.

Koh Rok’s coral reefs are absolutely stunning.  We swam alongside small striped yellow and white fish (I think they are called lined surgeonfish), saw giant clams, parrotfish, sea slugs, clownfish and anemone, and more!

The water was crystal clear, glimmering blue and turquoise with the white sand covering the bottom of the ocean.

 

TLDR; Take a snorkeling tour, eat the street food over restaurant food, rent a motorbike and explore the island if you’re not a chicken-like me.