Ko Lipe

This little Island was recommended from Sheila who we met on Don Det which was another small Island in Southern Laos. Hardly anyone had heard of any of theses Islands & Don Det was beautiful so I had high hopes for Ko Lipe.

We had even asked the Travel Agents on Phi Phi where Ko Lipe was & how to get there & none of them had heard of it & none of the travelers we had met had heard of it either. We eventually found one place that knew how to get there & it was in the middle of no-where. We had to get a Ferry from the Harbour to Ko Lanta, Ko Ngap, Ko Kraden, Ko Mook then change & get a Speed Boat from Hat Yao which was on Trang then head to Ko Laoliag then a tailboat from the Speedboat to the Island & we arrived at Ko Lipe 9 Hours later.

Believe me it was worth it, the Journey on the Ferry's & Speed Boat were vertually empty so the first one we had the whole bottom floor to ourselves with really comfy leather seats so we slept most of that Journey. Then when we got on the Speed Boat at Hat Yao Pier we passed so many deserted Islands & the Ocean was so clear & flat. The Islands had no names had no-one living on them but just had deserted Beaches (see photo's) it was amazing scenery as we were on the Open Top Deck, iPod on & Chilled. We dropped a couple off at one of the Islands Ko Laoliang for there Honeymoon & they were the only people on the Island in one massive Mansion. No shops or anything but they did have food & a huge Box full of Champagne/Wine.

When we came close to the Ko Lipe Island the Sea was the Clearest I have ever seen & the Sand on Sunrise Beach was even better than Phi Phi. There was only about 5 people on the beach & we knew that this was going to be the best place yet beating everywhere we had been. It was a Tropical Island in the middle of no-where with hardly anyone on it. AMAZING!!!!

We were lucky & found a place called Thai Hut for 500 Baht (5 pounds a night) & this was brand new with Balcony in a nice little quiet part of the Island but 10 mins walk to Pattaya Beach which was where all the Pubs & Restaurants were at. Even the food @ Thai Hut was amazing & cheap!!

The First night we headed down to the Beach & we knew we wanted to go Snorkelling the next day as the Sea was so clear it would be amazing so we headed to Florra Diving Centre to ask how much it would be to hire the equipment out & the Manager Mark was from England & basically after chatting for a while he told us we could have it for free & invited me & Anthony in to his Diving Centre for a drink as he had just got someone to import some bottles of Jack Daniels in from Malasia for his Birthday.

This was an amazing start & welcome to this beautiful Island & we met his Diving Instructors up on the Balcony; Itore from Barcelona & Jergen from Paris. We all finished his bottle of JD that was supposed to be for his Birthday & we smoked alot & he didn't even want any money from us so it was a free night - haha. They were all cool guys, lots of stories to tell about where they have worked & dived over the last 10 Years & even told us about all the Women they had taught/instructed & slept with which I didn't agree with of course but was funny!! We stopped up on there balcony on the Beach all night for about 5 hours talking about best places to dive, where to snorkel on the Island, best bars/beaches/what to do, etc etc & we had such a laugh. They knew everyone on the Island so we met all the people that were passing by & coming up to the Balcony for a drink. We didn't even know how we got home that night but when we walked past the Pancake Shop the next morning the girls just laughed at us saying we got a pancake off them & we were dancing / falling all over & basically ramming a Banana with Chocolate pancake down our mouth & probably dribbling & then stumbling home hammered. It must of been funny to watch us two trying to walk home after drinking & smoking with the Divers - haha.

The same happened the Second & third night, we just sat with them guys at Florra Diving drinking & smoking & having a laugh as it was the cheapest option. I think we got a Flavoured Pancake every night on the way home because every time we walked past the staff they all started pointing & giggling & said we had boughtb one the night before pissed. Even looking at our shirts we wore the night before definately had the evidence of pancake sauce. One night Anthony tried to make one pissed up but failed badly - haha.

On the Beach we had bumped into Olie & Laura from London who we shared a boat with from Krabi Town to Reiley so we organised to meet them every night after that, as we had decided that we had to stay away from going up to the Diving Centre every night getting wasted - haha.

They were a good laugh & stupid just like us & they had been there a while so knew where the best places were to eat & drink. Most nights we went to Pooh Bar for a few Beers first early on as they had Movies on & was a good start to the nights. Then we basically ended up at all the Bars on the Beach having a few beers but not getting hammered like we were doing the first few nights.

We all organised to do a Full Day Snorkelling Trip around all the Islands around Ko Lipe as the Divers told us where the best places were to see all different fish / corals etc so we booked a trip ion a Tailboat. On the way to the first Island Ko Adang we had to cross the Andaman Ocean & it was so rocky that we had got totally soaked!!! Even writing this is making me laugh cos it was like of an old comedy sketch where they was people throwing buckets of water straight into your face. I even got my Towel out of my bag & it just drenched straight threw, we just looked at each other & we could not stop laughing as they was nothing we could do just get drenched for 20 mins!! We might as well swam across but it was so funny.

When we got off at Ko Adang it was Boiling so everything was dry quick & as you will see from my Ko Lipe photographs on here how amazing this beach & crystall clear water was. The next stop was Ko Rawi Beach where we had a Picnic / Lunch on a Long Secluded White Sandy Beach & this was where I did the Crane Tequnique so you can see it on the photo's how nice it was. We also went to this mysterious Island called Ko Hin which was built out of smoothly polished black rocks which was mad. Then the last stop was Ko Jabang & I know I keep saying this but it was the best ever snorkelling & it definately beats Reiley & Phi Phi as they was Live / Soft Coral & loads of Fish.

The visibility for snorkelling around these islands was about 30 meters.........you could see everything. I was going around in circles most of the time following sholes of fish sticking together & the best places were around the rocks where the massive ones were hiding. Some of the Soft / Live Corals were beautiful & we seen a few poisonous Jelly Fish. They were about 50 different types of fish that I dont even know the names of with some amazing colours & some as big as 2 - 3 meters long. I crapped my pants sometimes but you just had to stay calm & enjoy!! They was no-one on the Beaches when we arrived just some really nice massive Yaughts ankored up nearby.

This was the best snorkelling experience I have had yet & I dont think it can be beaten but who knows, I think Fiji & The Great Barrier Reef will be close.

During the days we would go to Sunrise Beach which was the best on the Island & as you can see from my Pictures on here it is undescribably awsome!! Remember this was January & it was 34'c temperatures so we would just chill & burn a bit whilst thinking about everyone back home cold & wet!! We did just chill, listen to iPod, sunbathe, swim, burn a bit more, volleyball, bat & ball etc etc. I wanted to try Kite Surfing or hand gliding as it was a bit windy on this beach but I could just see myself flying away & getting stranded on an Island & be like Tom Hanks off that Film & talk to a ball with a face on - haha!!

The last night was Ko Lipe Festival with live bands & everything & it was advertised everywhere so we thought it would be class a bit like V Festival - haha. Me, Olie, Anthony & Laura all had a few bevvies & smoke before we went. It was ok considering the size of the Island but because they wasn't many people on the Island they was only about 100 People there maximum & that was just about everyone - haha. I got talking with this girl called Dominik from Denmark who was also a Diver on Ko Lipe & knew Mark, Itore & Jergen & she bought my drinks which was nice but nothing happened Mam - ok. The usual happened again..... a dance off getting hammered & the usual stuff as this was our last night.

We wanted to stay longer than a week but my Visa ran out the following day so we had to leave or I would have got fined again for overstaying my welcome. This was by FAR the best place I have been & I would strongly recommend this place to anyone if they want a nice quiet Tropical Island to chill out (although we partied at night as well)!!

Thanks to Sheila for the recommendation as we would have never known about this secluded Island as no-one else did either.

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