Getting to Koh Lanta

Koh Lanta Yai is a beautiful island in the Andaman Sea on the west coast of Thailand. The long, thin island stretches for 22km from North to South, and the entire west coast is laden with strips of white, sandy beaches set against the backdrop of lush green mountains and cliffs.

To get to Koh Lanta you can fly to Trang (the choice for most locals), or Krabi. We chose to fly to Krabi with Air Asia from Bangkok Airport. I found Air Asia to be the cheapest of the airlines that I looked into. They have regular flights, and you can book on-line.

From Krabi you can either get a passenger ferry from Krabi town to the North of Koh Lanta, or you can opt for a taxi which will take you across two car ferries, direct to your destination on Koh Lanta.

A taxi direct to the south of the island from Krabi airport costs about 3,000 baht, so this is by no means the cheapest way to do it....People on a budget could try to find other people at the airport who are going to Koh Lanta, and share a minibus. It works out cheaper to get a taxi to Krabi port, then a passenger ferry to Koh Lanta, and then a taxi at the other end to your destination on the island. This is also by far the most scenic route... There are 2 draw backs to this way though... a) If you have a lot of luggage it’s more of a pain to change taxis and ferries, and b) the ferry leaves Krabi port early afternoon so you need to make sure you get there on time, otherwise you’ll need to spend a night in Krabi town..

Alternatively, you may strike lucky as our friend did who came to visit a couple of days ago. He managed to negotiate a lift with some monks from the airport. It cost him just 250 baht to get to Koh Lanta, PLUS he had the pleasure of a random and enlightening experience at the same time...