Koh Lanta

⚠️ Entry rules and local regulations change without notice. Before booking, check entry requirements and local rules — visas, access, nature reserves, visitor quotas — with the official authorities.

Koh Lanta is an island in Krabi Province, in the Andaman Sea, sheltered from the bustle of Phuket and Koh Samui. It actually comprises two main islands: Koh Lanta Yai (the large one) and Koh Lanta Noi (the small one, home to the Sea Gypsies, or Chao Leh). The larger island unfurls a string of long beaches along its west coast: Klong Dao, Long Beach, Klong Khong and Klong Nin. The interior is covered in dense jungle and a protected national park safeguarding mangroves and coral reefs. The Andaman Sea offers exceptional visibility for diving, especially around the Koh Ha and Koh Rok islands.

The quiet island of the Andaman coast

Koh Lanta is really Koh Lanta Yai, a long, thin island off the coast of Krabi province — 27 kilometres by six — and it has stayed what Phuket and Koh Phi Phi were thirty years ago: a string of long beaches on the west coast, each with a village of bungalows and beach bars, a forested interior rising to 500 metres in the national park at the southern tip, and a population of Muslim fishermen, Thai-Chinese traders and sea gypsies, the Urak Lawoi, who still live in villages on the east coast.

The beaches run down the west side in sequence — Klong Dao and Long Beach in the north, busiest and most developed; Klong Khong, Klong Nin and Kantiang Bay further south, quieter, longer and more beautiful; Bamboo Bay and the national park at the end of the road. The east coast is mangrove and the Old Town of Lanta, a single street of Chinese shophouses and stilt restaurants over the water, the most atmospheric place on the island.

Offshore, Koh Rok and the Hin Daeng and Hin Muang pinnacles are among the best dive sites in Thailand, with manta rays and whale sharks in season; the Trang islands and the Four Islands tour with the Emerald Cave are the classic day trips.

November to April

The dry season runs from November to April: 28–32 °C, calm sea, clear water for diving from December. December to February is high season, with the best weather and the highest prices; November and March–April are cheaper and nearly as good. The monsoon from May to October brings rough seas on the west coast, rain most days and a largely closed island — many resorts shut, the dive boats stop, and the Koh Rok trips do not run.

The visa rule is changing — check before you fly

⚠️ At the time of writing, EU citizens enter Thailand visa-free for 60 days, but a government decision to cut this to 30 days is awaiting publication and may be in force by the time you travel — check the current rule with the Thai embassy before booking. Koh Lanta is reached from Krabi airport by minivan and car ferry, about two hours, or by boat from Krabi, Phuket and Phi Phi in season; a bridge now links Lanta Noi to the mainland.

The currency is the baht; ATMs and cards are available in the main villages. Hire a scooter — the single west-coast road runs the length of the island — or use the shared tuk-tuks. Eat the seafood at the Old Town stilt restaurants, the southern Thai curries, massaman and the Muslim roti; alcohol is available but the island is more conservative than Phuket, and the beaches are not for topless sunbathing.

Essentials & your questions