A Day Out On Koh Lanta, A 24 Hour Itinerary. What Can You Do When You’re Short On Time?
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Koh Lanta is a popular destination for backpackers and tourists island hopping on Thailand’s west coast. This large island boasts many beaches, masses of bars, restaurants and accommodation as well as all of the home comforts a traveller could ask for.
One of Thailand’s larger islands, Koh Lanta has everything from late night beach raves to a beautiful National Park, but what if you’re short on time? What if its just a one night stopover on this island? Read on for our 24 hour guide to Koh Lanta.
This itinerary will require you to hire a scooter or if you’re especially fancy, hire a driver for the day. It is easy to do either on the island, with scooter rentals everywhere and costing around 250 baht per day (£5.84 or $7.32). Tuk tuks and taxis are plentiful on the island and will be more than happy to negotiate for multiple trips, although it might not be that cheap!
One Day in Koh Lanta
What To Do In The Morning On Koh Lanta
Wake up, grab yourself some fruit or a smoothie from one of the cafes or street vendors before heading to the beach. Take a leisurely morning beach walk or a dip in the sea but make sure you’re back in time to book a tour with the Lanta Animal Welfare Centre (Location). Slots can be booked online.
Tours run everyday, with two slots available at either 10.30am or 1.30pm. The Centre asks for a small donation of 250 baht per adult or 150 baht per child. The tours are well worth a visit and support a great cause, taking you through the Centre, its work and introducing you to some of its cats and dogs. One word of a warning though, after an hour spent with the animals you might want to end up adopting one of these furry friends.
To find out more about the Lanta Wildlife Centre (or how to go about adopting a pet) click here.
Whose a good girl? Pink the dog was very happy to have head strokes!
After your animal adventure, hop back on the scooter and drive 2 minutes round the corner for a quick caffeine fix at Mems Coffee Corner (Location). The lovely lady and her adorable daughter serve up a great cup of coffee. Caffeine fixed, it's time for lunch.
What To Do In The Afternoon On Koh Lanta
Jump on your scooter/taxi and head across the island enjoying the scenic views on your way to Lanta’s Old Town (Location). Koh Lanta’s Old Town was possibly our favourite part of the island. The Old Town is spread along the waterfront on a pretty lantern lined street. Filled with bars, restaurants and cafes as well as quirky shops, tourist tat and art galleries. There’s plenty for you to see whilst you wander around working up an appetite. Head to one of the shore front restaurants and enjoy a lovely lunch with a view. We had an excellent meal at Rareview Coffee and Restaurant (Location).
After you’ve eaten, head back out of town to the car park making sure you check out the extremely long pier, bright blue lobster statue and sunken ship (just to the right of the pier facing the sea). After pottering around, it’s time to move on.
Koh Lanta boasts several viewpoints, and one of which is a short detour on your way back to the beaches. Stop off at the Khao Yai Restaurant (Location) for some phenomenal views over the bay in a very cool restaurant/cafe. It’s a little pricey but serves coffee, cakes and a full menu all with panoramic views and seating to take advantage of this. Parking is available at the bottom of the hill and is a short 2 minute walk to the restaurant.
Drop your scooter back, get your swimwear on and head to the beach for the rest of the afternoon. Our favourite beach was Klong Dao Beach (Location) but you can’t go wrong with any of the beaches on Lanta really. Enjoy the rest of the afternoon swimming, splashing, sunbathing and generally lounging about.
What To Do In The Evening On Koh Lanta
With its western facing beaches, Lanta is perfectly situated for sundowner drinks. Bars line the beachfront so take your pick. Just choose a chair with a good view of the sea and the setting sun. We can highly recommend the Majestic Bar (Location) which had comfy seats, friendly service and chilled out vibes.
After the sun has gone down, head to the main strip close to your accommodation to enjoy an evening meal. We had a great Pad Krapow from the Risky Restaurant (Location) and enjoyed some good Indian curries from the Heama Indian Restaurant (Location). We also enjoyed some great barbecued chicken and som tam from a little street side vendor, just follow your nose to any open flames and roasting chickens.
There are so many restaurants on Koh Lanta serving every kind of food imaginable. From Thai favourites to Greek, to pizza and everything in between. If Koh Lanta is a part of a long backpacking trip, it's a good place to seek out some home comforts.
Once you’re fed, make your way back to one of the many, many bars for drinks and a fire show. If you’re up for it, Lanta also has a healthy clubbing and party scene, so go wild!
Getting To and From Koh Lanta
Koh Lanta is very easily accessible from pretty much anywhere in southern Thailand. Being one of the largest western islands, you can arrange transport here from pretty much anywhere. Your guesthouse, hostel or travel agent will be able to help you with this or you can use 12Go to book your transport in advance.
If you’re on an island on the west coast already, then you’ll almost certainly be catching a speedboat here but the above will still apply.
Tips and Tricks
When renting a scooter on Koh Lanta, take photos of the scooter before you ride it away. This will prevent any disagreements as to the state you borrowed it in.
Koh Lanta’s scooter rentals are understandably cautious when renting vehicles to Farangs. You will need to leave your passport (not a copy) with the operator.
All the usual warnings also apply - just don’t be an idiot!
Riding a scooter in Koh Lanta did not look fun at night - there are large unlit sections of road as well as potholes and other road users with varying degrees of skill and sobriety. Again use your best judgement.
With the Lanta Animal Welfare Centre you may see some distressing images of animals, this is optional and you don’t need to look, but do know that the ones they show you do have happy endings. It is remarkable to see the states that some of the animals arrive in versus the states that they get adopted in.
The Old Town is also great at night with charming bars and the street lit by Chinese lanterns. It makes a great choice for dinner if you don’t mind a longer ride back. For the reasons above we recommend a taxi.
The northwestern beaches have very little shade outside of the resorts, so whack on the sunscreen and bring lots of water.
Koh Lanta is a big island and 24 hours is definitely not enough to see everything or remotely do it justice. This itinerary mainly focuses on the islands north, and completely misses the southern National Park and other beaches. Koh Lanta is a very developed and popular tourist island. Where we stayed, in the Klong Dao area, was great for access to its beautiful beach, but if you’re looking for a quiet island getaway, it would not be our first choice. For a look at some quieter Thai island escapes check out our guides to Koh Mook, Koh Jum and Koh Yao Noi all of which are accessible from Koh Lanta. We used Koh Lanta as a stopping off point for other islands, and only skimmed the surface. Let us know in the comments what else we should do next time!
Thanks for reading,
John & Ellie x
#adventuresofjellie
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