Koh Lipe is in the deep southern end of Thailand and is surrounded by uninhabited islands of the Butong Archipelago; here there is some of the best scuba diving and snorkeling anywhere in the country.
This stunning small tropical Island paradise has some of the finest coconut tree-fringed beaches anywhere in the country and the turquoise waters here are to die for. The interior is a fertile tropical rainforest – Koh Lipe is an island unspoiled by civilization and a dream for the naturalist.
Ko Lipe only has an open water pier located one hundred metres off shore from Pattaya beach, when arriving on Lipe, the speedboats and ferries will usually drop you there. Once on the island, all guests must pay two hundred baht per person for national park entry fee – this fee goes to the Thailand National Park Trust and helps maintain the area.
There are three main beaches on Lipe: Sunset Beach (Hat Pramong), Sunrise Beach (Hat Chao Ley), and Pattaya Beach –not to be confused with the huge resort city of Pattaya -just south of Bangkok.
The warm waters surrounding Koh Lipe are crystal clear and teem with life; the fish life here is spectacular and really is best enjoyed by snorkeling or Scuba diving. There many different fish species, all swimming among the shallow corals and just a few meters straight off of the beaches.
There is a wide range of accommodation on Ko Lipe too, one can simply rent a tent and camp out under the stars, or spend a little extra and have a cool Air-Con Bungalow right next to the beach, and this is a true island paradise to fit each and everyone’s budget.
As previously mentioned, there are some excellent water sports activities, and is quite easy to arrange these activities, as there are several diving and snorkeling shops on the island to rent equipment from and arrange boat trips.
On land, it is quite easy to ramble all around the island; this takes approximately an hour or so depending on your speed of course. The exotic tropical forest is home to some amazing flora and wildlife too. Another great thing about Koh Lipe is there are no cars and only a very few motorbikes.
After a hard day on the island, a good idea is to find a little beach bar and enjoy an ice cold cocktail and watch the sun slowly sink down into the Andaman sea -does life really get any better than this?
There is of course some fine dining on the island too, such as Thai cuisine and the seafood is some of the freshest anywhere in the country -freshly caught every day. There is also a wide variety of international cuisine including Italian, Indian, vegetarian, and Halal varieties.
In the southern parts of Thailand it is possible to meet the local Sea Gypsies and on Koh Lipe is no exception, here there are approximately five hundred Chao Ley, or Sea Gypsies, who have been given half of the island and they live in small villages, mainly around the eastern side of the island near Sunrise beach.
The island has now become an all year destination can be reached from Pak Bara. In high season boats also connect to Langkawi, Koh Lanta, Koh Phi Phi, Phuket Island.
Come and see it for yourself, it truly is beautiful Island and will take your breath away, those cold and wet rainy dark nights back home will seem like a world away once you have been here for five minutes.