10%

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Limestone cliffs and clear water.

By Javi Lorbada

November 19^th, 2018

After a few terrific days around Khao Sok and a long journey we arrived at Ko Lanta.

I was tired and simply I wanted to enjoy the moment, so the I decided to skip all the capturing memories and pictures with my camera and instead have many baths at the Andaman Sea, talk with friends, enjoy the sunset and lightning storm, rest and prepared for the coming days.

There we go! Onto the second day.

Day 1 - Day 2

We went on a sunrise mission and failed, drove the scooters for about 30 min to the east coast of Ko Lanta but didn't find much, whether a resort or a rocky beach the seaside was inaccessible.

We went for breakfast instead and straight after to the west coast where most of the beaches are located. Here we found a few good ones, kinda hidden always a few hundred meters from the road, showing us the pristine waters of the Andaman Sea. That's basically how our morning went, the beach here and there.

After lunchtime I left the guys at a cooking class restaurant, they went for the cooking course with a food market tour. I went out again for a sunset mission, once again I chose the wrong spot, at the north-west of this island there seem to be only resorts and private beaches, a bit frustrated went back to the area of our hotel and enjoy the calm sea at sunset.

Watching the sunset and having a bath afterwards was the moment of the day.

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Day 2

7:25 the scuba agency pick me up from a close by hotel and dropped me at their shop 20 min after, straight away my dive master took me to the boat and showed me around. This boat is huge, kitchen, several bunk beds, rooftop deck and so on.

2h on the boat through the Andaman Sea to arrive at Koh Bida, and first dive. I haven’t dive since November, so it's a test to me, buoyancy control, mask and fins feel ok, safety checks... the first dive already was incredible, saw sooooo many fish, all kinds, coral was great too, and visibility is fantastic, about 30m.

Done with the first dive, in almost no time, I need to get ready for the second. This dive it was insane, my dive buddy, the dive master and I feel more comfortable and we can really enjoy this one. On top of that we had a Black Tip Reef shark encounter, majestic creature, a bit far but great vibes, and at the end of the dive we saw a turtle, so calm next to other divers without hesitation she swim around us, we were frozen by the moment trying to capture it.

Back at the boat for lunch, this is well prepared, I had three types of curries with rice, delicious. The third dive is optional but I take it, I feel good and I wanna dive more. And Bam! As soon as we descend, there's a Leopard shark waiting for us, once again I'm just impressed by the beauty of these creatures. The rest of the dive goes very smooth with a lot of fish around.

I really like diving, it's a completely new world down there, marine life is amazing and if you have never tried, I encourage you to try, it will not disappoint you, I promise.

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Picture by Fabrice Dieudonne (https://www.instagram.com/fabricedieudonnephotography/)

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Day 3 - Day 4

First day we were scouting around Ko Ph i Phi Don and how touristy it is.

Second was different, we woke up for sunrise and headed to the viewpoint, I was literally dead, maybe a bit hangover too, but I didn’t sleep much and climbing to the viewpoint was harder than running a half marathon.

Nevertheless, we reached the first viewpoint and seemed we were the first ones, we continued to the second viewpoint and we realised we were not the first ones, but there were not many people, and I like that. The view is amazing, this Island looks amazing from the top and you can see that. We continue to the third viewpoint, which it turns out to be close, as it is a cafebar place, but I got in the terrace anyway, view gets better in my opinion. After that, I was exhausted and I just went to bed, while the guys stayed for breakfast.

At 11 am we had the checkout and then we headed to the beach, for a short dip in the warm waters of the Andaman sea, not much later at 3 pm our tour Maya Sleep Aboard was awaiting us at the pier, and 20 min past 3 pm we depart towards Phi Phi Leh and the famous Maya Bay.

The crew, Jaqueline, a crazy girl from the Philippines, very funny she explained about the tour for the next almost 24h, and how it was going to be the evening. Soon we arrive at the other side at Maya Bay and I took my chances for the drone, I knew I didn’t have much time so I did a short 25 mi flight, and after, I went for some snorkel, the guys were already kayaking and snorkelling.

About an hour later we arrived at Maya Bay, another of those sites where no more tourist you can fit, as Uwe said.

Sunset was in front of Maya Bay, we were at the boat already having dinner, stunning red colour in the sky.

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Day 5

Sleeping at the boat wasn’t that comfortable, people going here and there, music until late and the boat for some reason was leaning towards one side. Anyway, we woke up around 6 am, ready to get the first ones at the Maya Bay beach, that was impossible as some of the long tail boats arrived before that time.

We spent about an hour at the beach, taking some pictures and seeing more and more boat approaching this bay, funny to see this place getting crowded by the minute. Done with that, back to the main boat for breakfast and starting our sail back to Phi Phi Don, stopped by the monkey beach were we had another snorkel bath, beautiful again seeing all those fishes around you.

Our ferry to Phuket was at 11 am, we arrived with time enough to take a coffee before that, at the ferry, we were for 1h and 30 min, and then we arrived at Phuket where we had our last lunch with Uwe. Our journeys diverged there, he wasz going to Chiang Mai to finish his month in Thailand we were going to Phuket to finish our time in Thailand and fly into Singapore.

Around 6 pm we headed out for dinner and it came to my surprise how beautiful is Phuket old town, and finally walking through more local areas, as we were tired we just had dinner and back to the hotel.

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Lanta & Phi Phi Islands

Thank you for your support in form of likes, comments or messages! I really appreciate it and keeps me sharing more stories!

This is the end of Thailand series and next, I will bring you to Australia!

I'm so excited to show you what happened there!

Share your thoughts in the comments, or drop me an email for any question.

Instagram @javilorbada & Polarsteps @javilorbada

Footnotes

Fujifilm X-T2 + 16mm F1.4 + 18-55mm F2.8-4 + 55-200mm F3,5-4,8 + DJI Mavic Pro + GoPro 6

FootNotes

Fujifilm X-T2 + 16mm F1.4 + 18-55mm F2.8-4 + 55-200mm F3,5-4,8 + DJI Mavic Pro + GoPro 6

© 2026 Javi Lorbada

A year recap around

A failed attempt to summit on skis.

One island, boundless experiences.

GEMINIDS METEOR SHOWER

A spectacle above us - Issue II

Winter Whiteout

Sierra de Guadarrama National Park

GEMINIDS METEOR SHOWER

A spectacle above us.

Story Told With

Start publishing stories like this

Loading, please hold on.