Koh Lipe: Last Beach Trip

Our last SE Asia beach trip was a good one! Koh Lipe was everything we heard it might be--gorgeous, relaxing, and still with a bit of authentic Thailand mixed in. A perfect long weekend away before our last month in Singapore.

Because it's a bit harder to get to (no airport), we were told Koh Lipe still retained some of the charm of Thailand before it became overrun with tourists. No doubt, Koh Lipe has become much more touristy in the last 10 years, but it is definitely quieter than Krabi and Phuket. We flew to Langkawi  Friday night and spent the night there before boarding the ferry the next morning to Koh Lipe. We laugh now, but it was such a typically Malaysian experience--no order and just anything goes. Our hotel was not what we booked, didn't have working water, and when we found out Ironman was the next morning causing road closures, they were no help in offering ways for us to get to the ferry terminal. On our way, we decided to wake up early to get to the Ironman shuttle bus area where a shuttle would take us to a hotel nearby the ferry terminal. After waiting 30+ minutes for a shuttle that was supposed to show up every 15 minutes, we quickly lost hope that a shuttle was coming. Luckily, a Malaysian also looking for the shuttle showed up in a grab and offered to share the grab to the location. Turns out the roads they said were closed weren't actually closed (because Malaysia), and we made it just fine to the ferry with plenty of time!

 


The majority of our time was just spent enjoying the beautiful beach, water, and pool at our resort. The water was so crystal clear. The girls had a great time playing and building sand castles. At low tide, the water went out quite far past all the coral, and Emmeline really enjoyed playing in the tide pools and building dams to release water.

 

 


Although we were on the edge of rainy season, and it did rain most afternoons, it was usually brief and didn't really spoil any of our fun! We had plenty of sun the rest of the time to make up for it. The next door resort had a cool beach swing and awesome restaurant with a view, so we enjoyed those things on several occasions.

 

 

Our resort offered free kayaks to use, so we paddled out to a nearby island to snorkel. Emmeline learned to snorkel and loved it! Our adult size mouth piece didn't fit in her mouth, so she only used the facemask, but I think she'll love snorkeling in the future. The water was so clear, and the fish were everywhere in so many different colors! Definitely some of the coolest fish I've seen snorkeling (and I didn't even have to snorkel!) Emmeline loved kayaking, but Cora decided that she was going to be a grump and need extra sleep on this trip, so she usually ended up screaming in the kayak until one of us took her back for a nap. Emmeline continued to kayak with Dad one day, though, and tried her hand at rock jumping!

 

One perk of Thailand is the cheap massages...like $10-12 for a 1 hour massage. This time Emmeline joined me, and she loved it so much that she fell asleep! Of course, walking street was also full of delicious fruit shake places, and thai restaurants. Our favorite meal was at a place where we picked our own raw fish, watched them cut it, and the bbq it just for us. Unlike Railay in Krabi where we saw no locals, there's quite a large local population living on the island, and we saw their daily lives every day when we went to walking street. It's pretty interesting the disparity between the resorts and the poorness of local housing, and yet, they all seem so happy and content where they are!

 

 

 


We spent one more night in Langkawi before flying back to Singapore early the next morning. Poor Emmeline, ate something that didn't agree with her at dinner the night before (once again...Malaysia), and woke up not feeling well. She held it together pretty well until we stepped onto the airplane. Luckily, I was able to grab a puke bag from a seat pocket and catch everything to avoid a mess in the aisle as everyone was boarding. It was also a very empty flight, so she was able to lay out and nap the entire flight. Always an adventure traveling with kids!