Ko Lanta Yai Beaches

Ko Lanta Yai offers holiday couples a choice of several beaches lying along its west coast, most of which boast a good range of accommodation as well as numerous beachside restaurants and bars.

Heading south the beaches become more secluded – perfect for holiday couples – and are usually framed by jungle-covered hillsides and rocky promontories.

Hat Khlong Dao – Unwind on this long golden-sand beach, the most northern of the west coast beaches, located about half an hour's walk from Ban Sala Dan. Framed by rocky headlands and overlooked by a dramatic hilltop, the flat, wide beach offers safe swimming and magnificent sunsets – probably why it is so popular with the locals at weekends. Grab a tasty snack and cool drink at a beachside restaurant or from one of the beachfront resorts.

Ao Phra-Ae (Long Beach) – Did your toes into the soft white sand of this long casuarina-fringed beach that shelves gently into calm, crystal clear waters that offer good swimming. Relax during the day at one of the beachside bars and restaurants or party-on after dark at the famous Reggae House, which boasts live music and hosts annual music festivals. Choose from a range of resorts to suit all budgets.

Hat Khlong Khong – This gorgeous long beach is dotted with rocks and offers the best swimming and snorkellng at high tide. After dark, choose from a number of funky little beach-bars.

Hat Khlong Nin – This picturesque, tree-fringed, long white-sand beach shelves gently into calm, turquoise waters. Framed by forested headlands and offering a collection of beach bars, restaurants and hotels clustered around the centre of the beach, Klong Nin offers a village-style atmosphere.

Sunbathe on the beach, go swimming or head inland to the Tham Mai Kaew caves, about an hour’s walk away (or much faster by rented motorcycle or bicycle). Hat Khlong Nam Jud Choose from two tiny little bays that boast pretty white-sand beaches where you can swim, snorkel and kayak, and stay at quiet beachside bungalow resorts.

Hat Kan Tiang – This 900m-long crescent of soft white sand is fringed by shady trees and sits beneath a jungle-clad hillside. Sunbathe on the gorgeous beach, go swimming in the turquoise waters, snorkel the rocky headlands and choose from three beachside resorts, including Ko Lanta’s most luxurious accommodation, the Pimalai Resort and Spa, which spreads over 40ha of manicured tropical gardens and offers the finest of creature comforts.

Ao Mai Phai – Relax on this very quiet white-sand beach, with the best swimming and snorkeling at high tide and great kayaking any time. Stroll the hillside track to the lighthouse at Ko Lanta’s southern tip for great sea views from the plunging cliff tops.

Ko Lanta’s offshore islands
Discover some of Ko Lanta’s southern islands, which also host a range of beautiful uncrowded and unspoilt beaches. These islands can be reached by boat from Ko Lanta or from the mainland.

Ko Ngai – Discover a tiny 6km² mountainous island covered by tropical forest and indented with rocky headlands. Relax and swim from a series of beautiful palm-fringed white-sand beaches along the east coast, snorkel the west and southern coastlines and look out for migrating birds, crab-eating monkeys and monitor lizards in the forests of the interior.

Ko Ngai offers a range of accommodation and is easily reached on a 20-minute speedboat boat ride from the mainland town of Pak Meng Pier in Trang Province.

Ko Kradan – At just 4km², tiny Ko Kradan (also known as Ko Ha) offers secluded sugar-white sand beaches and great snorkelling above coral reefs that lie just off the beach on the east coast. The island hosts an annual underwater wedding ceremony on Valentines Day.

Koh Mook – This mountainous island offers a couple of secluded beaches framed by jungle-clad headlands on the east coast and a Muslim fishing village on the west coast. Check out Mook Island's main attraction – the Morakot Cave (Emerald Cave).

Here you can take a boat ride and swim or snorkel through a narrow entrance into an 80m-long cave that sits in darkness at the bottom of a steep cliff face. The cave emerges into a hidden emerald lagoon and white-sand beach that lies encircled beneath steep jungle-clad cliffs in a ‘shangri la’ type setting.