The dive sites at Koh Lipe are varied and spread out over a wide area, but this means there is not near anywhere as many dive boats and divers at a dive site at any given time compared to most of Thailand. Although known for currents which can be exciting at times, with drift diving the norm here, most dive sites are fairly shallow and suitable for Open Water Divers. 

Koh Lipe waters, Credit

The following dive site descriptions give a feel for what can be seen when diving Koh Lipe;

Koh Taru; A tiny island in the Andaman coast that prides its hard coral garden in the shallows. Lots of outcrop  bommies and barrel sponges. Arduous rock ridges and diminutively shaped mass of rocks covered in hard coral.

Stonehenge; A fantasy land settled under the waters of Andaman coast cryptically shaped granite pinnacles covered by varieties of soft corals in different colors. Not to mention the countless anemones, orange gorgonian sea fans and barrel sponges that definitely will capture your attention.

Koh Yang West; Sure enough you’ll love the rocky reef tugging down the island’s west coast, with a combination of  hard and soft coral that cover. Flat sandy bottom found about 18 meters, gently sloping to 24 meters. Home of many sea  creatures as such   Gorgonian sea fans, barrel sponges, green tube coral and whip coral are lots  in here.

Boats in Koh Lipe, Credit

Mile Rock; The place where you’ll find a pinnacle the settles under the waters of Andaman coast that commences from top at 16 meters and perpetuates to 50 meters. Components of the rock face are covered in pulchritudinous yellow sun corals. Other areas are carpeted by jewel colored anemones.  Its exposed location designates it is subject to vigorous currents.

Koh Adang Long Beach; Get fascinated with the giant clams & christmas  tree worms  and other eccentric creatures  underneath the blue coast of Ko Adang’s west. And the salubrious hard coral reef you can never overlook.

Koh Adang Immensely Colossal Rocks; Immensely colossal mass of rocks covered in delicate white, pink and purple soft corals keep up  Ko Adang’s west coast. See for yourself the coral bommies, whip coral and green tube coral. Quite an underwater adventure you might have.

Koh Yang East; A  combination of hard and soft coral reef keep up the east coast of the island. Arduously fashioned coral formations in the shallows. Where it's rock are carefully coated with pink and purple delicate corals. Hard and soft corals alike  covered by mass of rocks which slope down to a sandy bottom that perpetuates beyond 30 meters where you will find more astronomically immense boulders and forests of whip corals.

Koh Pung; Beautiful effulgent pink and purple soft corals on more mass of rocks, remotely deeper the boulders get more astronomically immense and the color palette changes to predominantly white and purple in the shallows of Andaman coast. Can be subject to vigorous currents so better be prepared.

Koh Sarang; Lots of  granite pinnacles and illimitable fields of brilliantly colored soft corals. The dramatic scenery changes at every turn; one minute you are gliding over astronomically immense boulders, the next you are drifting along a wall, the next you are finning past barrel sponges and sea fans, and after that you can find yourself circumvented by color as you swim through an submerged garden of white, pink, yellow, orange and purple soft corals. Adventure just as you like.

Koh Lipe is reachable from several islands in the Andaman Sea by boat beginning November until April where it is a Dry season. It can however only be reached from Pak Barra during low/rainy season.   

From Koh Phi Phi and Koh Lanta: During high season, if you are in Phiphi & planning to go to Koh Lipe, a ferry boat that also stops in Koh Lanta & several other small islands is available. Or if you prefer, a daily speedboats that goes for 3 hours are also available. 

A Street in Koh Lipe , Credit

From Phuket: If you are heading to Koh Lipe from Phuket, expect that a day by boat is not enough.  You might want to spend a night to Krabi over land travel before heading to  Koh Lipe.

From Krabi: From Krabi to Pak Barra via land is about 3.5 hours travel.  There are minibuses that  leave around 7:30 A.M to Pak Barra & then you can connect to a boat that goes to Koh Lipe from there.

From the Trang Islands: Still during high season or dry season, Koh Lipe can be reached by ferry  from Koh Ngai, Koh Muk, Koh Kradang, Koh Laoliang and Koh Bulon.

From the Gulf Of Thailand (Koh Samui, Koh Tao, Koh Phangan): This is travelling by bus or by boat to Koh Phi Phi or Koh Lanta and from there a ferry is available to take you to Koh Lipe. You might need to a night or two of travel as this is a quite a long trip.

Going out

The island offers regular Thai foods also found in the mainland, but of course like any busy tourist location most European and American style dining can be sought out, for this head to the main walking streets or seaside restaurants.

A restaurant in Koh Lipe, Credit

Thai cuisine: Romsai, Banana Tree, Nee Papaya, Bila Beach, Sunrise Restaurant

Italian pizza: Paolo’s Pizza

Italian: Blue Tribes, Pattaya 2, La Luna

Burger: OMG

Seafood bbq on the beach: Zanom Sunrise Restaurant

Café: Elephant Books & Coffee

Bakery: Phi Phi Bakery

Bars

There are a few nice bars – some on the beach and some on ‘Walking Street’;

On the beach: Bila Beach, Time to Chill, Reggae Bar, Mia Luna

On Walking Street: OMG, Pooh, Tattoo Bar, The Box

There are no nightclubs on the island!

Other Activities

Koh Lipe is a great holliday destination, along side diving and snorkeling ther is good opportunity for swimming, kayaking, daytrips to explore the other islands (hiking to waterfalls and viewpoints, wildlife viewing), famous Thai massages, batik painting and sailing.

Other activities include snorkeling from the beach, organized snorkelling tours, option to charter a local longtail boat for private yet affordable trips to the surrounding islands for snorkelling, swimming, island exploration.

Childen Swimming, Credit

Family Friendly

Koh Lipe is also popular for family and children friendly activities. Many dive centers offer the PADI Bubblemaker course for children.

Many families engage in snorkelling and island exploration and the beaches are generally good for swimming with the young ones.

Elephant Trekking & Abuse

Please do not support Elephant torture and abuse by riding Elephants (or supporting Elephant performance) in Asia;

• In Thai culture, the Phajaan or ‘the crush', is the torture method elephants undergo to become a part of the tourism industry. Essentially this involves cruel physical and mental abuse over long periods of time to make the Elephants submissive - starting as a calf
• Asian Elephant's spines cannot support the weight of people. Carrying people on their backs all day often leads to permanent spinal injuries.
• There is responsible Elephant tourism in Thailand - a good rule to remember is that if a tourist outfit offers anything other than getting to spend time with elephants, it is not friendly to them.
• Remember; any outfit that offers riding, circuses or paintings means they have undergone horrific abuse in order to train the Elephants

You can help these magnificent animals by making your travel companions aware of what lies behind this industry. The main problem is a lack of awareness - most people have no idea! 

Dive Report is committed to raising awareness to the abuse suffered by Elephants used in the tourist industry. If you want to know more you can find out more here, here, here and here. Also see a PETA documentary video here.

Tips

There are no ATMs on the island so bring enough cash with you!

Many businesses including most dive centers accept credit cards with a 3-5% fee. Several of the larger resorts allow you to use your credit card to purchase cash, also with a fee. Often referred to as a cash advance but in practice is different than an actual cash advance on your credit card, as to the credit card company, this simply comes up as a regular purchase. Several moneychangers are available but to be expected, the rates are less favourable than you would get at a bank on the mainland. There are ATMs at Pak Bara, which is the main pier on the Thai mainland used for travel to Koh Lipe.

Koh Lipe Sunset, Credit

If you are prone to seasickness, anti-motion sickness pills are highly advisable for the journey to the island and also for dive trips. The bigger dive boats tend to be stable but the smaller boats, speedboats and longtail boats can rock quite a bit.

Sunscreen is readily available but at a premium, as well as standard pharmacy items.

Many dive centers have a wide range of dive equipment available for purchase and with many more items available for ordering with delivery in a few days.