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Island hopping the Andaman coast on a shoestring

Koh Phi Phi

Phi Phi, Lanta and Lipe by slow boat, for less than a week in Bangkok would cost you.

Thailand’s west coast is easy to do badly: expensive speedboats, packed day trips, dorms above bars that shut at dawn. It is just as easy to do well, as long as you slow down and take the public ferries.

We started in Krabi, took the morning ferry to Koh Phi Phi for two nights (one for the viewpoint, one for the parties), then carried on to Koh Lanta, which is everything Phi Phi isn’t: long empty beaches and a sleepy old town on stilts. The Lanta dive shops run trips to Hin Daeng, one of the best dive sites in the country.

Getting around

Ferries between the islands cost 400 to 900 baht and run from November to April. Outside those months many stop altogether, and the sea on this coast gets rough. Book the Lipe leg a day ahead in high season.

Island hopping the Andaman coast on a shoestring | Lost Backpackers