Koh Lanta is thirty kilometres long with nine beaches in a row, so there is always more on your list than fits into three or four days. You do not need to do it all. This is the island where the best part of your day usually happens somewhere you stopped by chance, not somewhere you had marked in advance.
A few things really belong here: the ride down to the south, one day on the water, and the sun sinking into the Andaman Sea on the west coast. Others are on every list and fill a morning nicely, though a beach is a perfectly good destination here too. Choose on purpose and you will find you have time left over.
So where do your Koh Lanta days go, and what do you save for next time?
Still planning? How many days you need, where to stay and how to get there is all on our Koh Lanta page.
Riding down the west coast on a scooter
If there is one thing you have to do on Koh Lanta, it is this. One main road runs north to south across the island, and you can ride the whole length of it in a day. The further you go, the greener and quieter it gets: the restaurants thin out, the jungle comes right up to the road and on a weekday the beaches are half empty.
A scooter costs about €6 a day and you can rent one without any fuss at Long Beach. It is around thirty kilometres one way to the southern tip, so set off in the morning and plan three or four stops on the way. The little beach bars along the road where hardly anyone turns off are half the fun.
Photograph the scooter all the way round when you pick it up, and never leave your passport as a deposit. Take it slowly at night, because the main road is narrow, people drive fast and there are dogs on the road. If you have hardly ridden a scooter before, sort out other transport instead.
Our verdict: the best way to see this island
Nine beaches from north to south
The whole west coast is one row of beaches, from Klong Dao in the north to Bakantiang in the south, and each has its own character. Long Beach (Phra Ae) is the best known and the most sociable, Klong Khong is more relaxed and all about the bars on the sand, and Kantiang Bay in the south is tucked between green hills. The further south you go, the quieter it gets.
You do not have to see them all, and trying to is exactly the trap. Pick three that appeal to you, take your time and stay wherever feels best. A beer costs about €1.60 here, so spending the whole afternoon is rarely a problem.
Watch the flags in low season. Long Beach gets an undertow then, so do not swim on beaches without a lifeguard.
Our verdict: a must, and pick the three that appeal to you most
Mu Ko Lanta National Park
Right at the southern tip is the national park, and it is your reward for the ride down. You will find jungle, an old lighthouse and a trail along the cliffs with views over the Andaman Sea and the green coastline. It is the only part of Koh Lanta that genuinely feels like nature rather than beach.
You get there by scooter along that one main road, so combine it with the beaches in the south and a few viewpoints on the way. Give it half a day, no more: the park is small, and the view at the lighthouse is what you come for.
Bring cash. There are barely any ATMs in the south of the island, and you do not want to ride all the way back because you cannot pay the entry fee.
Our verdict: definitely go, together with the ride there
A day on the water
Underwater, this is one of the better bases in Thailand, and that is exactly the reason to swap one beach day for a boat. For snorkellers there are trips to Koh Rok, with bright blue water and white sand, and to the Four Islands via the Emerald Cave, where you swim through a dark cave to a hidden beach.
A trip like that is a whole day on the boat, so bring sunscreen and expect to be back late in the afternoon. Book one that appeals to you and leave it at that, because two boat days in a row feel alike and you have not had your scooter day yet.
If you are a certified diver, Koh Haa and Hin Daeng lie offshore and rank among the best dive sites in the country, with a chance of whale sharks. That is a full day of boating and diving. Pop into a dive school on the island and ask which site is in the best shape at that moment.
Our verdict: one day on the water is just right
Lanta Old Town on the east coast
On the other side of the island is an old fishing village built on stilts over the water. Wooden houses, small cafés and restaurants with their terraces out over the bay. After a few days on the west coast it feels like you have landed on a different island, and that is exactly what makes it special.
You eat over the water here, with that morning’s catch on your plate. It costs more than a street stall, but it is also one of the best places to sit on Koh Lanta. Half a day is enough: ride over via the east side and combine it with the south.
Koh Lanta has a Muslim majority, so cover up in the villages and around the mosques. You will also find less pork here and more fish, chicken and southern Thai curries.
Our verdict: go for the food, stay until the sun goes down
Kayaking through the mangroves
Behind the beaches is a completely different Koh Lanta: mangrove forests you paddle through by kayak, between the roots and along narrow channels you would never see from the road. It is quiet, it is green and there is no sand involved. A good change of pace halfway through your stay.
There are half day tours with lunch, by kayak or by boat if you would rather not paddle yourself. You are back by early afternoon, so there is plenty of day left for a beach and a sunset.
Our verdict: half a day is just right
Sunsets and beach bars
The whole west coast faces the Andaman Sea, so at the end of the afternoon all you have to do is pick a beach and stay put. Around Long Beach and Klong Khong you will find the beach bars with happy hours, live music and fire shows on the sand, and that is the entire nightlife here.
Nothing to book and nothing to plan. A beer costs about €1.60, your feet are in the sand and the evening takes care of itself. This is why people stay on Koh Lanta longer than they meant to.
Do this on your first evening. That way you know right away what you came for, and you will plan the rest of your days at a much slower pace.
Our verdict: absolutely, and again every evening
Got time to spare on Koh Lanta?
One more beach
There are nine and they are all beautiful. Pick three, say Long Beach, Klong Khong and Kantiang Bay, and use the time you have left to just lie down somewhere. With an extra day, ride the scooter past the southern bays, where it is quietest.
A second boat trip
Snorkelling trips, dive boats and island tours all leave from Koh Lanta. One trip and the rest of your time on the island itself is the nicest split, because a day on the water is a long one. Staying a week? Then a second trip, out to the Koh Rok islands, really is a different experience from the first.
Evenings on the beach
Koh Lanta is the island of beach bars with music, a fire show and your feet in the sand. You will not find beach parties like on Koh Phi Phi or Koh Phangan here, and that is exactly why people love this island. Up for a big night? Add an extra night on Koh Phi Phi, which is just an hour and a half away by boat.
Koh Lanta in September or October
These are the wettest months and most of the island shuts: hostels, restaurants and beach bars close their doors, and the direct boats to Krabi and Koh Phi Phi run less often or not at all. You have the island almost to yourself and prices are low, so if peace and quiet is what you are after, it can work well. Want everything open and every boat running? Come between November and April.
Our top five on Koh Lanta
Only got a few days? These are the five we would do no matter what:
- Riding down the west coast on a scooter, from the north to the southern tip
- Picking three beaches and really settling in
- Mu Ko Lanta National Park, with the lighthouse and the clifftop trail
- One day on the water, snorkelling at Koh Rok or the Four Islands
- Sunset at a beach bar on Long Beach or Klong Khong
Still got time after that? Ride over to Lanta Old Town for an evening eating over the water, or paddle through the mangroves for a morning. If you are a certified diver, Koh Haa or Hin Daeng will be the day you remember longest.
So what do you really have to do on Koh Lanta?
Honestly? Nothing on this list is compulsory, and that suits this island. Koh Lanta has nine beaches and not a single sight screaming for your attention. Ride the west coast once, remember which beach you liked best and go back there for the rest of the week. That is a proper plan here.
If we had to pick just one thing: rent that scooter and ride all the way south. Not because the national park at the end is so spectacular, but because the road there shows you how this island fits together. On the way you pass beaches where nobody stops and beach bars with four stools, and that is where the real Koh Lanta is.
And keep your last afternoon empty. Pick a beach on the west coast, order something cold and stay until the sun drops into the sea. That is exactly why you stepped off the boat here a few days ago.
