After the Temples and wildness of Bangkok and the Tigers, waterfalls and jungles in Kanchanaburi, we were ready for some beautiful Thai beaches. We caught an early morning flight out of Bangkok to Hat Yai, which is in the predominantly Muslim south. AirAsia now has a great offer called Island Transfer. The price of our ticket (about $60) included the flight, a bus to the coast and then a ferry to the island of Ko Lipe.

Ko Lipe is a beautiful island, but I think it has grown a little too popular for it’s small size. Restaurants, dive shops and guesthouses are crammed throughout and are pretty expensive by SE Asian standards.

Here’s a pic of the taxi stand on the main beach, Pattaya

After asking around on prices, we settled on a small guesthouse tucked off one of the main roads. Derrick and I went to find the hotel, and the woman asked if we wanted all 3 beds pushed together. I said ‘no, we’re just friends’. When we came back with Shannon to drop our bags off, all the beds were together.

We walked over to Sunset Beach, which is really pretty and relaxed.

Sunset beach had some good snorkeling and a couple beach bars with happy hour specials