Koh Lipe is located in the Thailand's most Southern province: Satun Province, in the Andaman Sea. The island lays about 40-50 km. from the mainland and is part of the Tarutao National Marine Park. Koh Lipe is a small island, about 2 to 3 kilometers wide. There are 3 main beaches and a small Chao Ley village, all connected by small sandy paths. You can do a full island tour (at a leisurely pace) in less then 2 hours.
High season starts every year in November, when the first ferries start running from the mainland. The last ferry to the Thai mainland runs in May, when most of the places close for low season. From May to November there are ferries in the weekend to and from Langkawi island (Malaysia). There are about 500 to 600 bungalows on Koh Lipe and the island often fills up completely. People often have to camp on the beach for a few nights (some of the resorts rent out tents) until a room becomes available. During Christmas and New Year, Chinese New Year, Songkran and other Thai holidays the island is often booked solid and showing up without a reservation is pointless. December, January and February are the most busy months, with the weeks around Christmas and New year as a peak.How to get here?
There are 4 places from where you can take a ferry so you need to get to one of these:
- Pak Barra: This is by far the most popular spot to take a ferry. In high season there are about 5 ferries a day to Koh Lipe, the last one usually leaving around 13.00h. All ferries from Pak Barra stop at Koh Tarutao.
- Satun: There is one daily ferry to Koh Lipe. In Satun you can also take a ferry to Langkawi.
- Langkawi (Malaysia): 2 ferries a day leave Telaga Harbor on Langkawi for a 1 hour trip to Koh Lipe.
- Koh Lanta: A speedboat runs every other day between Koh Lanta and Koh Lipe, stopping also at Koh Ngai, Koh Muk and Koh Bulon.
There is no pier on Koh Lipe
The ferry you arrive with will moore at one of the buoys spread around the island. Where exactly depends on the company, type of boat, tides and weather conditions.
The local Chao Ley will come with their longtail boats and take you anywhere on the island for 50 baht per person. If you don't know where you are going you usually get taken to the closest beach. The prominence of Li Pe lies on the natural beauty of colorful corals around the island. Particularly fascinating are the ones in the front of the island where visitors can see mazes of colorful corals and exotic tropical fishes under the clear water, a site comparable to a giant aquarium.
source Reference : SongkhlaTourism.org & Koh Lipe Thailand
source Photo :
kicapu's photos
Argenberg's photos
