We were super impressed with how clean and environmentally conscious Koh Lipe is and how the locals are making changes to help maintain their beautiful paradise island.

Is it our job as tourists to help them keep it this way, as none of us would want to visit if the place was filthy.

Here are some of the things that they are doing:

Don’t be  flushing any toilet paper….

 

Better still, Don’t be using any toilet paper at all….

“Oh no, what do we do” we hear you cry….

Introducing “The BUM GUN” 

 

Is this a delivery of water or plastic bottles??..

You really do not need to buy single use plastic bottles when you can buy one of these…

 

And you definitely do not need to use these…

OR, these….

A few other things, you should and shouldn’t do….

Thank you very much to the wonderful people of Koh Lipe for caring and sharing their beautiful island….

 

Date of Travel: April 2019

Well, we planned to stay for 4 nights and stayed for 8….

We avoided the crowded and built up beach of Pattaya and found a paradise to share with a hand full of locals and like minded tourists.

We stayed for 6 nights in a simple bamboo hut with a fan at Adang Sea Eco Village this cost 500B.  If you want a bit more luxury, they do have a variety of different rooms.

We absolutely loved this place for many reasons!  As the name suggests it is an Eco village so when we arrived we were given a stainless steel bottle to refill for drinking water. They ask you not to use toilet roll and to use the bum gun instead, this took a little getting used too.

And the location was absolute paradise!!!

It is a very short walk down some steps to the stunning Cozy cove. Which we thought was the most beautiful and best beach for chilling and snorkelling at high tide and to watch the sun go down – paradise!!

After sunset, we would pull ourselves away from the small cove and head towards the famous walking street for dinner and drinks. This is just a 15 minute walk.

Often we wouldn’t make it there as we would end up eating in the Barracuda restaurant.

Our favourite meal was a huge fresh tuna and chips that fed us both for just 300b or a vegetable massaman curry & rice for 130b each. Nikki the guy that worked there and Bartman (our nickname) the tattooist from the adjoined shop were absolutely brilliant guys and a few locals that would go here. We would often stay till the early morning, drinking, chatting, laughing and playing instruments. We would go back to Koh Lipe to see just them.

Rock Stones reggae bar is a super friendly place!! This is where a lot of the locals go after they finish work to have a free game of pool. We were made to feel very welcome and some nights snuck past otherwise we knew we would be in there until sun rise.

The Walking Street is the heart of Ko Lipe, it is full of bars, restaurants, massages, tour companies and guest houses, we were really spoilt for choice.  It has a fantastic holiday atmosphere and is the place to mingle with other tourists and barter with the shop keepers.  We were there in April and it was not over busy but we imagine that in season it would be a little crazy and lots of fun.

The Walking Street is a little pricey compared to the rest of the island but if its atmosphere you want then its well worth it.  You can always save a few baht and buy a beer from the shop opposite the Elephant Bar and still enjoy the buzz of the street.

Islanders Sea Sports bar on Pattaya Beach has incredible décor and well worth a visit.

On Sunrise beach we liked Sea le vie which is a cool reggae bar.

It is full of brilliant signs, here are just a few…

Whilst wondering around one evening we came across some workers, so we went over to have a chat (like you do in Thailand) to see what they were doing.

Each evening we then went back to see how they were doing and to took them some food and drinks.

For our last 2 nights we had to move accommodation as our hut was already booked. We stayed across the street at Happy which cost 700B for a double fan bungalow with hot water, flushing toilet and a cute pet frog…

We’re sure you guessed that we absolutely loved Koh Lipe, we hope this helps you to plan your trip there.

Date Of Travel: April 2019

Koh Lipe is a small island paradise with a big heart in the Andaman Sea.  Famous for it’s white sandy beaches, turquoise blue waters, laid back locals and not forgetting the walking street. 

It really does have everything from tiny secluded coves, long party beaches, small family bars to incredible decorated reggae bars.  You can party with the rest of them or escape to an island paradise.

Here are 10 reasons why we loved it so much:

1: Relax, relax, relax

2: Visit cosy cove at high tide to snorkel.

3: Watch the sun go down at Bennys Bar on Cozy Cove, whilst slipping a cocktail.

4: At low tide walk right from Cozy Cove along the beach to the white sand bar for a swim in the warm turquoise water.

5: Kayak off sunrise beach.

6: Grab a beer or two on the famous walking street and browse the many stalls.

7: Have dinner at the Barracuda restaurant, cheaper and better than most.

8: Late night drinks with the locals at Reggae Rocks bar.

9: Have a massage at one of the many parlours.

10: The residents care about their beautiful island and you should too by buying a Trash Hero reusable water bottle.  You can also volunteer for the day by going out and collecting rubbish with Trash Hero. 

Please read Koh Lipe – Doing It’s Part For Our Planet to see some of the other brilliant things that you can do to help reduce the waste on this beautiful island.

You have just read our top 10 things that we did whilst on Koh Lipe. But as always there are many things that we didn’t get to do whilst on the island, with scuba diving being one of them (due to Ian having a bad ear).  There are many diving centres where you can discovery dive or even take your Padi diving course and we hear that it is pretty unbelievable.

Please also check out Our Time On Koh Lipe

and Koh Lipe – Doing It’s Part For Our Planet

Many thanks for reading, we really do hope you get the chance to visit this magnificent island.

Parfectdays.com

Date Of Travel: 3rd April 2019

So the time has come for Ian and I to say farewell to England for 4 months or so and head over to Australia to activate our visas.  This of course can not be done without a 9 night stop over in beautiful Thailand.

What about Alf, I hear you scream!!…  Unfortunately he will not be joining us on this adventure ?.  We thought it too mean to put him in haulage and then 10 days of quarantine, so instead he is living with my Mum and Step Dad and his best friend Buster the Labrador.

Our journey began on 3rd April with a 6.35am flight from Gatwick to Dussaldolf, then on to Bangkok and then a third flight to Krabi.  This took 20 hours, followed by a 2 hour wait to get the bus and then a speedboat over to Koh Lipe.

We booked our flights using kiwi.com, as they allow you to be flexible and were the cheapest.  It cost £1,100 for 2 adults and also includes flights from Krabi to Kuala Lumpur and then onto Perth WA. (Please let us know if you know a cheaper website).

Just watch out, as we regrettably flew with Eurowings for our 11 hour stint to Bangkok and it was absolutely awful!!  Picture being stuck on a Ryanair flight for that long, the only free thing was a drink of water.  Anything else, you paid through the roof:

€6 blanket

€3.50 head phones

€9.99 to watch films or tv shows

€11.90 for really gross pasta

€6.90 pizza

Get my drift, it’s well worth doing a little homework on the airline and paying more, especially for such a long flight. A lesson well learnt by us…..

The bus and speed boat, we booked when we got to Krabi airport (you can also book online).  We used Black Tiger Tour, this cost 2,400B (£60) for two adults.  Be careful, there were some companies charging 2,300B for just the bus.

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The bus took around 1.5 hours and the speed boat with its stunning views, 2 hours.

When you arrive at Koh Lipe, the speed boat drops you at a jetty.  You then have to pay 250B per person to get a long boat to the shore – money making at its best….

BUT believe me, it’s so worth it!! ?