Andaman Island Hopping

Even with a speedboat and a calm sea, it’s a long way to go from Krabi to the islands lying near the Malaysian border.

The western coastline of the Thai Andaman Sea offers a vast choice of islands to visit. Actually, dozens of islands, isles or

even karst rocks dot the sea landscape of this part of the world. But please, do not ask the irrevocable question: which one is the nicest? They are all different, and each one has its own charm and identity.

This text describes how you can choose to hop from one to the other and choose which you think is suitable to your taste and liking.

Leaving the Krabi southern Khlong Pilard Pier complex at about 9:30AM, I was able to get to Koh Bulon - my final destination on this trip - at 2:30PM. The route has many stops on the way down the peninsula.

• After boarding the speedboat, the 1st stop was at Koh JUM, an island I had never heard of before! This sector of the trip took about one hour.

Leaving Koh Jum

• The 2nd stop was at Koh LANTA, not far from Koh Jum. Then, the speedboat sails along the whole western coast of the island.
• The 3rd stop was at Koh NGAI, which seems to have a dense tropical forest beside a long, sandy beach. 

  

  At Koh Ngai

• The 4th island was Koh KRADAN, which is uninhabited except for its resorts.

  

  At Koh Kradan

• The 5th stop was at nearby Koh MUK. 

  

  Leaving Koh Muk

• Then the speedboat sailed further south to the mainland and stopped at the HAT YAO Pier, our 6th stop, close to Koh LIBONG. 

  

  At Hat Yao Pier

  

  Hat Yao Beach

Passing by Koh Libong

• We pursued our journey southwards passing by the western coast of Koh Libong - a dugong natural habitat. 
• From then on, we sailed across a vast open sea mostly dotted with a few jutting karst rocks like Koh Lao Liang and Koh Phetra. 

  

  Sailing between Koh Lao Liang & Koh Phetra

• Finally, the speedboat reached a sandy beach on Koh BULON, where I was the only passenger to get off. The rest of the boat continued the journey to its final destination: Koh LIPPE.  

  

  Approaching Koh Bulon

                                                                                                                                                 Christian Sorand