Andaman Sea · Satun · 3 km²

Koh
Lipe

A three-kilometre island with clear water, one walking street and no cars.

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Tarutao marine park
No cars
Walking Street
Snorkelling
Sunrise Beach
Boats from Pak Bara
Introduction

Small island, impossible water

Koh Lipe sits at the bottom of Thailand inside the Tarutao national marine park, closer to Langkawi than to Phuket. It is small — you can walk across it in twenty minutes — and it has three beaches: Sunrise on the east, Sunset on the west, and Pattaya Beach in the south where the boats arrive.

Sandbank and clear water off Koh Lipe

The water is the reason people come. Reefs start a few metres offshore, day boats reach half a dozen uninhabited islands within the hour, and there are no cars anywhere on the island. The trade-off is the journey and the prices: everything arrives by boat, and it shows on the bill.

Transport

Tickets & connections

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Tours

Tours & activities

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Quick facts

Koh Lipe

  • About 3 km², inside Tarutao national marine park
  • Season November to April; most places close in the monsoon
  • Three beaches: Sunrise, Sunset and Pattaya
  • No cars — you walk, or take a motorbike sidecar taxi
  • Ferries from Pak Bara pier in Satun, about 1.5 hours
Beach bar and loungers on Koh Lipe
Getting there

Getting to Koh Lipe

The mainland gateway is Pak Bara pier in Satun province, and the crossing takes an hour and a half by speedboat. Getting to Pak Bara is the long part: minivans run from Hat Yai in two hours, and Hat Yai has both an airport and the southern railway.

In high season there are also direct speedboats from Koh Lanta and Phi Phi, which makes a proper island chain possible from Krabi southwards. Those routes disappear from May to October.

From Langkawi in Malaysia, there is an international ferry — passport control happens on the beach, which is as informal as it sounds.

Good to know

On the island

  • There is a national park fee on arrival — keep the ticket, it lasts several days.
  • Bring cash. There are ATMs, but they run empty in high season.
  • Sunrise Beach for swimming and quiet, Pattaya Beach for boats and bars.
  • Snorkelling gear is cheap to rent and the reef starts at the shoreline.
Longtail boats on a Thai beach
Highlights

What to do on Koh Lipe

  • Sunrise Beach — the long east-facing sand, best in the early morning.
  • Walking Street — the island's single lane of restaurants, bars and dive shops.
  • Tarutao marine park — day boats to Koh Adang, Koh Rawi and the snorkelling spots.
  • Koh Adang viewpoint — a steep hour up for the classic view back over Lipe.
Where to stay

Which beach on Lipe

Sunrise Beach is the swimming beach and the quietest of the three. Pattaya Beach is where the boats land and the bars are. Sunset Beach is small, rocky and the most private. Everything is within a fifteen-minute walk anyway.

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Where next

Nearby islands

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