Week 26 – Ko Lanta, Thailand

Celebrating Holidays on the Islands

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Snorkeling trip to the 4 Islands via longtail boat

Our goal this week was to find a great place for Thanksgiving and Lindsey’s birthday. We started by traveling to Ko Lanta by ferry via Ko Phi Phi. While Ko Phi Phi felt too busy, we fell in love with Lanta right away. It had just the vibe we were looking for: touristy enough to be easy, but not so touristy to be crowded… oh, did we mention the beach from your dreams? Yep, it had that too. We spent Thanksgiving day snorkeling (while Megan and Kelci scuba dived) and Thanksgiving evening enjoying a large family style Thai meal (no turkey or pie). We extended our stay an extra two nights to stay for Lindsey’s birthday and finish out the week in paradise. We spent Lindsey’s birthday on another snorkel trip, followed by drinks on the beach at sunset, and a clean-out-your-pores-spicy dinner. All in all, a perfect way to spend the holidays (but we will be eating twice as much turkey next year to make up for missing it).

1. Go

• Taxi – 36 km. To Phuket harbor, to Ko Lanta hotel, and to/from longtail snorkel tour.
• Boat – 100 km. Ferry to Ko Lanta, scuba boat, and longtail boat.

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Snorkeling trip to the 4 Islands via longtail boat

• Foot – 68,000 steps in 7 days (approx. 34 miles)

2. See

This week was a constant rotation of white sand, blue waters, sunsets, cocktails, snorkeling, pad thai, limestone cliffs, smiling faces, and fresh fruit. See the MOVE section for our snorkeling adventures.

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Lindsey’s Birthday Sunset

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Lindsey’s Birthday Sunset

3. Eat

Despite all the delicious Thai food, we did miss the traditional Thanksgiving feast this week. Thanksgiving is Lindsey’s favorite holiday, so it was a little sad to miss the fall colors, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. We did however, celebrate with a large family style Thai meal of fried noodles, curries, and stir fry.

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Thanksgiving Feast

For Lindsey’s birthday we went to a place that actually served spicy food! To our surprise, spicy food has been a little hard to come by. We expected to be happily sweating through many meals, but have only encountered a few dishes that have induced perspiration. However, we had tried this place for lunch early in the week and decided we had to bring the group there. To our delight our tastebuds were on fire for the evening!

4. Drink

We enjoyed some ridiculous cocktails this week with flowers and fruit sticking out of the top. We don’t usually have cocktails, but we figured we should do something to mark the occasions.

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Traditional Thanksgiving drinks?

Thailand – Phuket

5. Sleep

We really loved our first place in Lanta. It was a five person family bungalow with two rooms and two bathrooms. All the photos online showed a room with a king and twin for three people. To our surprise, when we arrived each room only had one bed. One room had a king while the other had a massive bed meant for three people (in actuality it was two doubles pushed together). We did a boys room and a girls room which worked out fine. Unfortunately, they did not have room after we decided to extend our stay, so we moved to dorm beds at a nearby hostel. The hostel was pretty good and had more services which made planning a bit easier.

6. Move

Pat was finally back to full health this week and we took full advantage by doing some pretty intense snorkeling. On Thanksgiving, we joined Megan and Kelci’s scuba boat with Palm Beach Divers. They had about 15 divers and 5 snorkelers on board. We went to Ko Haa about an hour and a half south of Ko Lanta by boat. It was a full day tour with three dives including breakfast, lunch, snacks, and water between dives. The first site was a lagoon surrounded by three islands. There were some impressive reefs and fish, but we were blown away by the cliffs around the islands. It was so clear that we got vertigo going over the cliffs. It was spectacular, surprising, and a little scary! The second location was more exposed, but had caves for the divers. The third location had a chimney for the divers and tons of fish. We saw numerous giant puffer fish and moray eels. In all, we were in the water for at least three hours.

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Snorkeling trip to Ko Haa

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Taken by Christophe Rouziou

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Taken by Christophe Rouziou

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Taken by Christophe Rouziou

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Taken by Christophe Rouziou

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Taken by Christophe Rouziou

On Lindsey’s birthday we decided to do another snorkel trip. Megan and Kelci generously gifted us the day trip for our birthday presents (Pat’s birthday is in January). We did a full day tour to the 4 islands on a longtail boat. We visited four locations. The first was a bit crowded with other boats and snorkelers, but the rock formations were fun. The second location had no other boats, but tons of fish and better visibility. We even saw a few clown fish (thanks Kelci for finding them!). The third location was a perfect white sand beach where we had lunch and a stroll. The fourth and final destination was a true highlight. It’s called the Emerald Cave and for good reason. It’s only accessible when the tide is low. We jumped in the water and swam straight into a low limestone cave. It went back for 80 meters with two bends. As you swim through the water is lit from below and is an emerald color. It took us nearly 4 minutes to swim through in pitch black, giggling and squealing the whole time (well, maybe that was just Lindsey). At the end is a perfect lagoon surround by 100 meter high cliffs covered in rainforest. It’s right out of a fantasy novel. In fact, pirates would often hide their booty there for short periods.

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Snorkeling trip to the 4 Islands via longtail boat

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Snorkeling trip to the 4 Islands via longtail boat

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Snorkeling trip to the 4 Islands via longtail boat

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Emerald Lagoon

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Emerald Lagoon

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Snorkeling trip to the 4 Islands via longtail boat

Pat was able to fit in some stand up paddle-boarding. Lindsey opted to get cocktails on the beach with Megan and Kelci which provided the opportunity to snap this photo of Pat:

Thailand – Ko Lanta – Pat SUP at sunset

Check out Pat’s CADENCE Week 26 post (coming soon) for details about this week.

7. Etcetera

We earned some serious travel karma this week! Megan, Kelci, and Lindsey stumbled upon a lost camera on the beach late at night. Thankfully, it was waterproof and still worked. We paged through the photos and were able to see some good shots of a family on vacation. We looked for them a little that night, but it was already pretty late. The next day we were on the scuba/snorkel trip and did not have time to search. Lindsey was determined to find these people and return their camera (think of all those lost photos!), so we looked through the photos again and saw that they had eaten at a beachside restaurant with distinctive chairs twice. The morning after Thanksgiving, we walked the beach until we found that place, then went to the hotel next door. To our delight, one of the children in the photos ran by! We followed him to his dad who was laying poolside. They were very pleased to have their camera returned and we were happy to have helped! Also, Lindsey’s detective work was so good that we figure she should open a PI firm upon our return to the states… 🙂

Check out our Flickr album to see all our photos from this week.