Every week somebody with ten days and one Andaman island to pick asks the same question: Koh Lanta or Koh Lipe? Then, a sentence later, “or should I just do Phi Phi?” Three genuinely different islands sharing a sea, and the internet answers by calling all three the Maldives of Thailand. Lanta is long, flat and calm. Lipe is tiny, dazzling and expensive. Phi Phi is the most beautiful place on the coast with the least restful village on it.
The short version: Koh Lanta for families, couples who want to do nothing, stays over four nights, and any trip between May and October. Koh Lipe for the best beaches and snorkelling of the three, November to April, at island prices. Koh Phi Phi for two nights and a dawn boat to Phi Phi Leh, never as a Phuket day trip. Forced to pick one, pick Lanta and see Phi Phi in a day — our Koh Lanta stay guide covers the beaches, and our Phi Phi verdict explains the dawn-boat logic.
Koh Lanta, honestly
The beaches. A 25-kilometre west coast of long, wide, tawny sand with one road behind it: Klong Dao and Long Beach in the north, Klong Khong, Klong Nin and Kantiang Bay to the south. Good rather than great — coarser sand and browner water than Lipe — but you can walk twenty minutes on any of them without meeting a jet ski. The crowd. Scandinavian families, couples in their forties, long-stay nomads; nobody under 25 unless they are on the way to Lipe. The vibe. Slow: villages, mosques, rubber plantations and a century-old Old Town on stilts; a place people live. The nightlife. Fire shows and Bob Marley on Klong Khong, silence south of Klong Nin after ten. The food. The best of the three, because the island has a real population: southern Muslim curries, roti stalls, night-market seafood.
The ฿ level. A big Chang in a beach bar ฿70–90; pad thai ฿60–90; a mid-range double ฿1,500–2,500; a Four Islands or Koh Rok snorkelling trip ฿1,200–2,200. Getting there. By road, all year: two hours from Krabi by minivan, ฿350–450; two and a half from Trang; four to five from Hat Yai; from Phuket four hours by ferry (November to April) or five to six by road — timetables in the slow road to Koh Lanta. When it is open. The road never shuts, but from May to October many southern and adults-only resorts close and the Phuket and Phi Phi boats stop; Long Beach and Klong Dao stay open at 30–50% off. The honest bit. Lanta is plain. If you came for the postcard — white sand, limestone, swimming-pool water — it will disappoint you, and in green season it will do so in the rain; things to do in Koh Lanta is the counter-argument.
Koh Lipe, honestly
The beaches. Three, on an island you cross on foot in fifteen minutes, and two are the best in this article. Sunrise Beach is a long curve of fine white sand facing Koh Adang, with a reef you snorkel from the shore; Sunset Beach is a small, scruffy, lovely cove. Pattaya Beach is the third: the same sand, the floating pier, and every speedboat on the island arriving across it between ten and two. Lipe sits inside Tarutao National Marine Park in Satun province, and the water is a different colour from Lanta’s. The crowd. Younger: couples, and backpackers who saved for it. The vibe. One lane of restaurants, dive shops and bars called Walking Street, no cars, nearly full every day of high season. The nightlife. Fire shows and buckets on Pattaya and Sunrise, done by midnight. The food. Seafood barbecues where you pick the fish, a handful of good Thai kitchens, a lot of mediocre pasta at ฿300.
The ฿ level. A big Chang on Walking Street ฿100–150; pad thai ฿100–150; a mid-range double ฿2,500–4,000; a shared longtail snorkelling trip ฿650–750 inner islands, ฿1,000–1,200 outer, plus the ฿200 park fee. Getting there. Every route ends on a 90-minute, ฿650–750 speedboat from Pak Bara pier in Satun: two hours by minivan from Hat Yai airport, ninety minutes from Trang. From Koh Lanta a speedboat runs straight down the coast — three hours, ฿1,700–2,300, November to around mid-May only. From Krabi or Phuket it is Lanta first, then that boat. When it is open. November to April, properly. From about mid-May to mid-October a third to a half of the island shuts, the Lanta and Phi Phi boats stop and the swell makes the crossing a misery. The honest bit. Walking Street is Khao San with sand: the highest prices here for the plainest food, from kitchens that will never see you again. Pattaya Beach at midday is a speedboat scrum — engines, fumes, ฿50 a head for the longtail to shore. Sleep on Sunrise or Sunset and walk through it.
Koh Phi Phi, honestly
The beaches. Two islands, one name. Phi Phi Leh, uninhabited, has Maya Bay and Pileh Lagoon — the most dramatic limestone-and-turquoise scenery in Thai waters, and since 2022 rationed: boats stay out, you walk in from a floating pier at the back, wade to the knee, get about an hour and pay ฿400 in cash. It closes every green season — 1 August to 30 September in 2026. Phi Phi Don, where you sleep, has Tonsai and Loh Dalum either side of the village, Long Beach ten minutes south by longtail — the one worth swimming, reef sharks at dawn — and the boat-only resort beaches of Laem Tong and Loh Ba Gao. The crowd. Everyone at once: backpackers in the village, honeymooners at the resorts, a couple of thousand Phuket day-trippers between ten and four. The vibe. Tonsai is a car-free village packed so tight the bar noise reaches every guesthouse; the outer beaches are a different island. The nightlife. The loudest on the coast after Haad Rin: fire shows, buckets, Loh Dalum until two. The food. Adequate and marked up, 20–40% above the mainland.
The ฿ level. A big Chang in Tonsai ฿90–120; pad thai ฿100–150; a mid-range double ฿2,500–4,000 in the village, ฿6,000–9,000 at the north-east resorts — 30–50% over Lanta for the same standard; a private half-day longtail to Phi Phi Leh ฿2,500–3,500 for the boat, ฿1,200–1,800 a head shared, plus the ฿400 fee. Getting there. Ferry to Tonsai from Phuket in about two hours, ฿500–800; from Krabi 90 minutes to two hours, ฿450–600; from Koh Lanta about an hour, ฿450–700, November to April. From Hat Yai (four hours) or Trang (two) it is a minivan to Krabi then the ferry. When it is open. All year: the Phuket and Krabi ferries run through the green season with fewer sailings and rooms 30–50% off, but Maya Bay is shut in August and September. The honest bit. Tonsai at night is the noisiest square kilometre on the Andaman and the cheapest rooms are in the middle of it. Maya Bay is a timed, no-swimming walk to a beach — magnificent at seven, a queue at eleven. Fine with both? Two nights. Otherwise, a day trip.
Koh Lanta vs Koh Lipe vs Koh Phi Phi at a glance
Cool-season figures, September 2026, cross-checked against our Thailand Price Index; nothing was comped.
| Island | Beer / pad thai | Mid-range double | Snorkel trip | From Krabi | Open | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Koh Lanta | ฿70–90 / ฿60–90 | ฿1,500–2,500 | ฿1,200–2,200 (Koh Rok, Four Islands) | 2 hr minivan, ฿350–450, all year | All year by road; half shut May–Oct | Pimalai Resort & Spa |
| Koh Lipe | ฿100–150 / ฿100–150 | ฿2,500–4,000 | ฿650–1,200 shared longtail + ฿200 park fee | Via Lanta, 5–6 hr, Nov–mid May | Nov–Apr; a third to half shut May–Oct | Idyllic Concept Resort |
| Koh Phi Phi | ฿90–120 / ฿100–150 | ฿2,500–4,000 | ฿1,200–1,800 shared, ฿2,500–3,500 private + ฿400 fee | 90 min–2 hr ferry, ฿450–600, all year | All year; Maya Bay shut Aug–Sep | Zeavola Resort |
Koh Lipe vs Koh Lanta, Lipe vs Phi Phi, Lanta vs Phi Phi: the head-to-heads
Lanta vs Lipe for beaches. Lipe, and it is not close on sand or water: Sunrise Beach is fine white powder into clear turquoise. What Lanta has is length and emptiness — Long Beach alone is longer than Lipe is wide — where Lipe puts every visitor on the same three beaches. Lipe for the swim and the colour; Lanta if a beach means a long walk, a sunset and nobody near you.
Lipe vs Phi Phi for snorkelling and Maya Bay. Phi Phi has the single most spectacular morning on the coast — Maya Bay and Pileh Lagoon at seven, before the Phuket fleet — then queues, a no-swimming rule and a ฿400 fee. Lipe has better day-to-day snorkelling: a house reef off Sunrise Beach and ฿650–1,200 longtail trips around Koh Adang, Koh Rawi and Hin Ngam, spread over an archipelago instead of queuing for one bay. Divers, Phi Phi; snorkellers, Lipe.
Lanta vs Phi Phi for families. Lanta, without a second thought. Klong Dao is shallow and calm a long way out, the resorts have pools and kids’ menus, there is a road for the pram and a hospital in Saladan. Phi Phi has one swimmable beach reached by longtail, a village where every guesthouse hears the bar, and boat-only resorts from ฿6,000. Take the children to Phi Phi Leh for the day and sleep on Lanta.
Lanta vs Phi Phi for couples. For a honeymoon with a budget, Phi Phi’s north-east resorts — Zeavola’s teak villas, the big bay at Phi Phi Island Village — are the most romantic addresses here. For everyone else, Lanta: Kantiang Bay and Klong Nin have hillside hotels facing the sunset and silence after ten, at half the price; our luxury hotel price guide has the top end by season.
Budget. Lanta is cheapest by a clear margin; Phi Phi charges island-premium rates for village-basic rooms; Lipe costs most, because everything arrives by speedboat. A mid-range couple, room included: Lanta ฿3,000–4,000 a day, Phi Phi ฿4,500–6,000, Lipe ฿5,000–7,000.
Which island in Krabi (or Satun) should you choose? The decision table
Lanta and Phi Phi are Krabi province; Lipe is Satun’s. Find your row.
| You want… | Go to | Avoid | Book |
|---|---|---|---|
| The best beach and the clearest water | Koh Lipe (Sunrise Beach) | Lanta, if the postcard is the point | Castaway Resort |
| A week that costs less than the flight | Koh Lanta (Klong Khong, Long Beach) | Lipe | Koh Lanta hotels |
| Small children | Koh Lanta (Klong Dao) | Phi Phi’s village | Klong Dao resorts |
| Maya Bay, the limestone, the photograph | Koh Phi Phi, two nights, dawn boat | The Phuket day trip | SAii Phi Phi Island Village |
| Snorkelling from the beach, no fee, no queue | Koh Lipe | Phi Phi in July, Lipe in July | Idyllic Concept Resort |
| A honeymoon with the budget to match | Phi Phi’s north-east coast, or Kantiang Bay | Tonsai, Walking Street | Layana Resort & Spa |
| To travel between May and October | Koh Lanta (Long Beach), or Phi Phi with low expectations | Lipe | — |
The combination that works
You do not have to choose; in high season the geography does the work. Lanta plus Lipe is the classic: fly to Krabi, minivan to Lanta for four or five nights of very little, the three-hour speedboat down the coast to Lipe for three or four nights of the best water, then out through Pak Bara to Hat Yai. The Lanta to Lipe speedboat runs November to around mid-May and sells out over Christmas; book it before the hotels. Run the other way it finishes with Railay, as our seven-day Andaman itinerary lays out.
Phi Phi as a day trip is how the third island fits. From Lanta the Phi Phi Leh speedboats leave Saladan around eight and reach Maya Bay before the Phuket fleet — the best argument for basing on Lanta at all — for ฿1,800–2,500 with lunch, plus the ฿400 fee; the Lanta to Phi Phi ferry and Krabi to Phi Phi ferry turn it into a two-night stopover. Lipe plus Phi Phi pairs two islands with the same flaws across a long speedboat day each way; spend the money on a third night at either.
Green season changes the answer. Between May and October the island boats stop, Lipe half-closes, Maya Bay shuts for two months, and the sensible plan is Lanta by road from Krabi at 40% off — our best time to visit Thailand guide has the month call, and where to stay in Krabi makes the case for the mainland as the base.
Lanta, Lipe or Phi Phi: your questions, answered
Is Koh Lipe better than Koh Lanta?
For beaches and snorkelling, yes: Lipe’s white sand and clear water beat anything on Lanta. For cost, food, space, families, longer stays or any trip between May and October, Lanta wins. Many people do both, with the three-hour speedboat between them.
Is Koh Phi Phi or Koh Lanta better for families?
Koh Lanta. Klong Dao’s water is shallow and calm, the resorts have pools and kids’ menus, and there is a road, a hospital and a pharmacy. Phi Phi’s only calm beach is reached by longtail and the village is loud until two.
How do you get from Koh Lanta to Koh Lipe?
By speedboat from Saladan pier, about three hours down the coast, ฿1,700–2,300 one way as of September 2026, November to around mid-May only. In green season you go by minivan to Pak Bara pier in Satun, four to five hours, and take the mainland speedboat.
Which is cheaper, Koh Lipe or Koh Phi Phi?
Phi Phi, slightly, for rooms and getting there; Lipe for the boat trips, ฿650–1,200 against Phi Phi’s ฿1,200–3,500 plus the ฿400 park fee.
Which island is open in the low season?
Koh Lanta, by road all year, though many southern resorts close from May to October. Phi Phi’s ferries run all year, with Maya Bay shut in August and September. Koh Lipe is the one to avoid: from mid-May to mid-October a third to a half of the island closes and the island boats stop.
Related guides
- Where to Stay in Koh Lanta: Every Beach, Honestly
- Is Koh Phi Phi Worth It? The Honest Verdict
- Seven Days on the Andaman Coast: An Island-Hopper’s Itinerary
Book the trip
Some links in this guide are affiliate links. If you book through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you — it helps keep Destination Thailand independent.
Hotels: on Lanta, Pimalai, Layana, or compare Koh Lanta hotels on Agoda by beach; on Lipe, Idyllic Concept Resort and Castaway Resort; on Phi Phi, Zeavola and SAii Phi Phi Island Village. Boats: the minivan from Krabi to Koh Lanta runs all year; the Lanta to Lipe speedboat and Lanta to Phi Phi ferry are high season only; the Krabi to Phi Phi ferry runs year-round. Trips: browse Andaman island tours on GetYourGuide. Not sure it is the Andaman at all? Our Where to Go in Thailand matcher scores all 77 provinces against your month, your crowd tolerance and what you actually want from the trip.
