Off season on Koh Lanta

On our search for a perfect Thai tropical island paradise, we made our way from Phuket to Koh Phi Phi, where we were disappointed by the amount of rubbish on the otherwise beautiful beach. It was also a little too loud and crowded for the relaxing beach break that we were looking for. So we left Phi Phi and headed on the boat over to Koh Lanta, an island that I had heard was much larger, quieter and less developed.

Getting from Koh Phi Phi to Koh Lanta

We had a snorkelling tour cancelled the day before on Koh Phi Phi due to bad weather, but apart from that our time on the Andaman coast had seen quite lovely weather, despite the fact that it was smack bang in the middle of the rainy season. As we headed away from Koh Phi Phi, I watched as a huge storm engulfed the small island, removing it from sight. Koh Lanta slowly came into view in front of us, but behind us the storm was quickly catching up. It wasn’t until we began pulling into the pier that the storm finally did catch up, instantly covering the whole island in a huge downpour. Everyone on the boat raced to try and get their bags without getting soaked, but even a few seconds in this downpour was enough to be drenched down to your bones.

Our rain coats and waterproof pack covers thankfully kept us mostly dry, and we made our way to the street to find a taxi to take us to our bungalow. There were no taxis to be seen and we had little choice but to accept a ride on the smallest tuk tuk that I have ever seen. This particular tuk tuk was simply a tiny motorbike with a side car set up with a bench seat to hold a couple of people. There was just enough room to fit us both and our backpacks on, and I was happy (and surprised) to see that the driver had see through waterproof covers that completely surround the side car to keep the rain off of us.

Koh Lanta in the Rainy Season

The little tuk tuk slowly made its way through the town, sounding like it was struggling to actually get anywhere. I noticed that the town seemed very quiet, but I thought that is probably because of the weather. When we finally pulled up to our accommodation, I thanked and paid the driver, and we walked through what seemed to be an abandoned bungalow resort. Unsure if we were in the right place we finally saw one of the staff wave to us, pointing where to go. The main grounds of the place were flooded from the rain, so we had to walk through ankle deep water to the reception area.

It turned out that the place wasn’t abandoned, there just wasn’t anyone else staying there. In fact the two staff members that were looking after the place for the low season were quite surprised to see us at all. We checked into a simple but comfortable wooden, thatched roofed bungalow that had a nice view of the sea.

Our bungalow

The rain seemed to have set in for the day so with nothing else to do, we just sat and relaxed. Eventually there was a break in the rain, so we set off to explore the beach while we could. The water was far from inviting as it was choppy from the storm, and it was full of mud and debris from a nearby stream that was flooding. Instead, we went for a walk along the main road to see what restaurants were available in the area. What we found were a whole lot of places that were closed for the low season. We ended up finding a nice café where we could get a decent cup of coffee and good wifi, with a 7-11 located just a few shops down the street from it. After buying a few things from the 7-11, the rain returned in a huge bucket of water. Raincoats and umbrellas helped a little but there was no avoiding getting wet. The rain was not going away.

That night the staff at our bungalows (who were kind of like our personal chefs since we were the only people staying there), cooked us some of the best Thai food that we had tried so far in Thailand. We ate our dinner in the covered outdoor area, the rain still pouring down outside.

The flooded grounds outside our bungalow

The storm kept us up for most of the night, feeling like our bungalow was going to be swept away in the wind. I was hoping that somehow I would wake up in the morning to find perfect blue skies outside. It wasn’t to be. The rain was staying and we weren’t going anywhere.

A beach to ourselves

We finally got another break in the rain later in the day and we went for a longer walk on the beach, crossing the flooded stream and walking along the long, sandy beach that we had to ourselves. The water was no good for swimming, but we at least got to enjoy some time on a beach on Koh Lanta. The rain soon set back in and there wasn’t much else to do but continue sampling our personal chef’s fantastic cooking.

Looking towards the beach

As the afternoon came to an end and the sun began to set, the weather cleared just enough to let us sit on the beach and watch the sunset over the sea.

Watching the sunset

We decided to leave Koh Lanta the next day and continue on our search for our Thai island paradise by heading over to the Gulf of Thailand, hoping for better weather (we ended up on Koh Phangan). Although our time on Koh Lanta was dominated by the rain, we couldn’t really be disappointed. We knew that it was the rainy season and in truth, what we got was a whole beach and resort to ourselves with our own personal chefs. I can’t really complain about that!

Have you been to Koh Lanta in Thailand? What was your experience like?