Rob I have been diving quite a lot this month which had been a nice surprise. I have normally left at the end of April so it has been nice to see what the diving is like around Koh Lanta.

Manta Ray at Hin Muang

Obviously Hin Daeng and Hin Muang have been the most amazing surprise with great visibility and the abundance of Manta Rays and Whale Sharks. I still get goose bumps thinking about how great it has been. You can read more on my adventures from my other blog The Best Dive Of My Life

Koh Bida has also experienced good visibility than normal but at the same time it has been having a few thermoclines. On one particular day the visibilty dropped from around 20 meters plus down to zero in a matter of minutes. ( Before you know it you are sitting on a Leopard Shark) The good thing tho is we have many great dive sites only few minutes away from each other so we headed to Koh Phi Phi Ley and a dive site named Loh Soma Bay. Here I had a great surprise as I found a Ghostpipefish lurking in a red fan. Normally I get to see them from October till March then they seem to disapear. Obviously they must just move which is great!

Ghostpipe Fish closely related to a Sea Horse.

Koh Ha which is one of my favourite dive sites has been wonderful. The visibility is usually exceptional normally reaching up to 40 meters in the high season. How ever a few days ago was amazing, in 6 seasons of diving Koh Lanta I have never seen the water so crystal clear, it really went as far as you could see. Also due to less tourists there are no other divers here. Have you ever thought about diving some where alone? well here it seems you can as a few days ago there was only 6 of us in the water a big difference from high season when you can expect at least 10-15 boats a day. Diving around Koh Ha 1 was great as I was shown a pair of Harlequin Shrimps at 12 meters deep. Thank you to Geng and Julie for showing me these as I think they are the funkiest things in the sea.

Harlequin Shrimp taken at Koh Ha

I am sure when you arrive with the right dive guide you will also be experiencing all the above wonders of the Andaman Sea.

Safety comes first! A few trips tho where cancelled in May due to the winds changing directions and the seas becoming a little rougher but still mostly the seas have remained quite flat. The weather has also been great in May with only a few bursts of rain happening through the night or very early morning.

Bring on June is all I can say!

Rob: With out the many ferry services operating until October, traveling to Koh Lanta has been made even easier with an extensive range of private luxury minivan tranfers.

These range from Krabi Airport, Krabi Town, Ao Nang, Trang, and Phuket and operate all year round.

The air-conditioned, spacious luxury minivan will transfer up to 6 guests and will pick up direct from any hotel or airport and safely transfer you to your resort on Koh Lanta – or the other way round if you wish to leave Koh Lanta.

This really is the perfect way to travel in the low season with your family or friends.

Koh Lanta Private Luxury Miivan

Koh Lanta Private Minivan Interior

For full transfer details and an easy booking system click on your link below:

Koh Lanta – Krabi Airport 3000 Thai Baht
Koh Lanta – Ao Nang 3500 Thai Baht
Koh Lanta – Krabi Town 3200 Thai Baht
Koh Lanta – Trang 3500 Thai Baht
Koh Lanta – Trang Airport 3500 Thai Baht
Koh Lanta – Phuket Airport 5000 Thai Baht
Koh Lanta – Phuket Town 5500 Thai Baht
Koh Lanta – Patong, Kata, Karon 5500 Thai Baht
Koh Lanta – Khao Lak 6000 Thai Baht

Travelling to Koh Lanta is normally quite easy. With it being an island many ferries depart Phuket, Koh Phi Phi, Krabi, Koh Lipe and Langkawi several times a day but now due to it being the low season everything changes and most ferry operations stop.

This is mainly due to a slow down of tourists which would make it to costly to run these services and sometimes big waves. Even the fast boat transfers which are very popular have been suspended untill October.

So how are you going to transfer here with out these ferry services?

You can transfer by minivan or car as Koh Lanta is still connected to the mainland by 2 car ferries. Normally all destinations will have a public minivan service which can be quite an adventure and sometimes you have to wait a while until the next one is available.

So if you are coming to Koh Lanta in the next few months why not consider a Luxury Private Minivan which can hold up to 6 guests or Private Car which is a little cheaper and can hold up to 4 guests.

Both services pick up direct from the your hotel or Airport so there is no waiting around and you will be safely transfered to your Koh Lanta resort – or the other way round if you are leaving Lanta. Enjoy Safe Travels!

Koh Lanta Private Luxury Miivan

Koh Lanta Private Minivan Interior

Rob:Many of Koh Lanta’s massage shops have all ready closed and only a few can be found open on the beaches. But don’t worry as Serenity massage and spa shop in Khlong Dao is an exception and will remain open in the low season untill August 2009.

It is easily located in the Southern Lanta plaza near the Krueng Thai Bank and I highly recommend it for an affordable and professional massage on Koh Lanta.

Ning the owner has decided to reduce some of her body scrub, facial treatment and massage prices ( except Thai massage ) by 20% untill August 2009. In August Serenity Massage and Spa shop will be re-locating to there new premises in Saladan and will then close untill October 2009.

The new discounted prices are shown below:

You can see Serenity Massage’s location on our interactive map of Koh Lanta. It’s marked with the green arrow and star. The shop is located in Southern Lanta plaza, which is near to Klong Dao beach and only 1.5 kilometres from Saladan.

If your still not sure you can Call Ning 0815 699 852 she will be happy to help you out.

Rob: I have been very very lucky and gone diving to Hin Daeng and Hin Muang twice this week.

My first outing was impressive with great visibility, only a hand full of boats and some amazing underwater activity. Yes! the Manta Rays are back in force.

This year has been like it used to be with the Manta Rays usually seen around November, December and part of January. February and March you had to be very lucky to spot one then they normally arrive back the last few weeks of March, April and obviously May. 2008 / 2009 season how ever was an exception with them there all year round.

When we dropped in to Hin Muang I followed Gak the videographer straight to the Manta Rays cleaning station on top of the pinnacle at 8 meters. What an impressive show watching them drop off swim around and come back for more cleaning. We got to view 2 Manta’s together which was great! Back on the boat some other divers had witnessed a Whale Shark and we where all sharing our stories of wonder.

However things can only get better. I went Hin Daeng / Hin Muang a few days after and was totally blown away by the whole experience. When we where on the surface at Hin Muang I looked down and straight below us where 3 Manta Rays circling around. Mask on we descended and followed the reef along. Manta’s where coming in from everywhere. But the best surprise of all was a 5 meter long Whale Shark cruising in.

Now I am not the luckiest diver, but as we followed the Whale Shark we where very lucky to see a Manta cruise in behind flapping his wings and trying to push the Shark away from the reef. Wow! to see these 2 huge creatures together was an Amazing feeling. The reef which is huge was suddenly dwarfed and all the reef fish looked like tiny dots in comparison.

But it did not end there. As we continued along the reef I ascended up to the usual cleaning station and was even more impressed as I was joined by 6 Manta Rays circling around. I sat on top of the reef with them and was so close to the action it was a complete adrenalin buzz.

On the boat we decided to dive Hin Muang again. This time we followed the reef and all though we had the occasional Manta passing over head all eyes where out in the distance. After maybe 20 minutes all you could hear was Bang! Bang! Bang! As I turned there was a Whale Shark around 10 meters in length. Wow! is all I can say. As all the divers left the reef and went into the blue to follow the Shark. It then went deeper and came back shallowing up next to the group for another few minutes of pleasure.

It really was the best day of my life! and also well done for Mathilde and Regis who after completing their Open Water Course where lucky enough to enjoy the show.

Rob: Koh Lanta over the past few years has steadily increased there range of luxury resorts. Just by coming in the low season you can find some unbelievable discounted prices, especially if you compare to the high season.

This is great as it means you can pamper your self in luxury! for even longer.

Cha Da Beach Resort & Spa

Emerald Suite Special rate 3,150 Thai baht per night till October 31st.
compared to 7,750 baht in high season and 10,350 baht in the peak season.

Layana Resort & Spa

Garden Pavilion 5,200 Thai Baht per night till October 31st.
compared to 9,000 baht in high season and 12,200 baht in the peak season.

Lanta Sand Resort & Spa

Deluxe Villas 2,350 Thai Baht per night till October 31st.
compared to 6,100 baht in high season and 7,850 baht in the peak season.

Lanta Sand Resort & Spa also offer many low season packages where you can stay 3, 5 or 7 nights with even more great discounted value.

Lanta Casaurina Beach Resort

Beach Front Villa 1,900 Thai baht per night till October 31st.
compared to 4,150 baht in high season and 4,700 baht in the peak season.

Koh Lanta now has many Luxury Resorts but still for the best value in Luxury Accommodation and Service The Pimalai Resort & Spa will not be beaten!

I hope you enjoy you stay in Koh Lanta!

Rob: Well that’s it finally we are in May and the Low Season is here. At the moment the rainy season hasn’t really started so you can still expect blistering blue skies most days (believe me it is very very hot!). Now is a perfect time when you can come to Koh Lanta missing the masses and get some great discounted accommodation until October.

Although Koh Lanta is moving away from the backpack style bamboo bungalows and following the trend of Luxury Air Conditioned apartments I have found 4 great resorts for the traveler on a budget to consider.

If you click on any of the resort photos or links you will be able to see photo’s, guest reviews, pricing and information on how to book.

Clean Beach Resort:

Superior Garden View 1,200 Thai Baht per night low season
compared to 2,250 baht in high season and 3,300 Baht in the peak season.

Mook Lanta Boutique Resort & Spa:

Garden View Villa A/C 950 Thai Baht in the low season
compared to 1,900 baht in the high season and 2,350 baht in peak season.

Lanta Bee Garden:

Deluxe Beach Front 1,200 Thai Baht per night compared to 2,300 baht in high season. For really good offers tho they have rooms for as little as 450 baht and 700 baht.

Kaw Kwang Beach Resort

Superior A/C with Garden View 1,000 Thai Baht per night compaerd to 1,650 in peak season. They also have a host of places to stay for 300, 500 and 600 baht a night.

I hope this has helped you a little. If you look further at the bottom of each page we have put an easy quick guide to all hotels we recomend. Where ever you stay on Koh Lanta have a great time!