This tiny island you’ve never heard of is better than the Maldives
If you have been dreaming of travelling to a paradisiac place but places like Bora Bora or the Maldives are way out of your budget, you have found the perfect blog post for you.
I’m a budget traveler who loves paradisiac destinations and that’s not always an easy combination. Many of my dream travel destinations would burn through my savings like a wildfire and unfortunately that’s not a valid option for me just yet.
That’s why I’m over the moon when I find places that feel like a piece of paradise, without an outrageous pricetag attached to it. I recently found a place like that and it quickly became my favorite place in the whole entire World – I’m not exaggerating.
Koh Lipe
If you’ve never heard of this tiny island in Thailand, it’s time to add it to you travel bucket list. Koh Lipe is located in the Andaman Sea and it’s the southernmost island in Thailand, which means that it’s actually closer to Malaysia than to most Thai touristic hotspots.
I came to Koh Lipe from Malaysia, because it’s actually the easiest way to get there, and I have no words to describe how much I fell in love with that place instantly.
I’ve been lucky enough to visit many beautiful places around the World but not that many felt like home as soon as I laid eyes on them. Koh Lipe was one of them.
This idyllic island in south Thailand can be crossed on foot in only 30 minutes and it has become famous for having no cars. I did see some small vehicles when I was there but I can confirm: no regular cars or buses will bother you during your vacation in Koh Lipe, since the traffic on the island is basically composed of small motorbike taxis carrying tourists‘ luggage from the beach to their hotels and back.
It was a truly blissful experience to be able to arrive on this island and completely forget about any transportation planning to get around for a week: literally everything can be done on foot there.
If you’re wondering if Koh Lipe really is worth all the hype, let me tell you why it most definitely is and explain why I even started this blog post with a title claiming it’s better than the Maldives.
Koh Lipe has the most turquoise water I’ve seen after visiting 41 countries
As I’ve mentioned before, I love paradisiac places. On top of that, I’m Portuguese, so let’s just say I’ve been spoiled with amazing beaches all my life and that has left me with pretty impossible standards to meet.
I’ve visited several hyped beach destinations that left me disappointed but let me tell you: Koh Lipe was not one of them.
This tiny island was like a hidden pearl I found in the Andaman Sea and it‘s by far the most paradisiac place I‘ve ever visited – even after travelling around the Caribbean and going to the Maldives.
The color of the water in Koh Lipe was something beyond belief. I had simply never seen turquoise water like that before in my whole life: it looked like an Instagram filter.
It’s cheap
“The Street” – my hostel in Koh Lipe which costed me 10€ per night
The night vibe and the sunsets are amazing
Magical evenings in Koh Lipe
Thai people and their culture will make your trip to Koh Lipe unforgettable
If you have ever visited Thailand, you know how welcoming Thai people are. I don‘t think I‘ve visited many other countries where I felt as safe and welcome as in Thailand and that‘s 100% thanks to all the friendly locals I met wherever I went in that amazing country.
Koh Lipe was no exception. If anything, the people living there are even nicer than in other places I visited in Thailand – maybe because they live in paradise or because they are isolated from most of the World‘s problems. I don‘t know exactly what it is, but the island vibe is so strong on those people.
When you‘re walking along the main street, you will meet the famous Madame Yoo hoo (a super cute lady who owns a restaurant and sits at the front saying “yoo hoo” to anyone who passes by) and a man singing “coconut cake, 10 bath” to attract people to his stall. Further down, you‘ll see two cats who are always sleeping on top of a tourism stall selling snorkeling tours – they might be the cutest of all the habitants on that island.
That‘s just daily life on the island and it‘s amazing every single day but sometimes Koh Lipe comes to life even more and the Thai culture will leave you with memories for a lifetime. That‘s what happened to me when I luckily refused to leave the island on the day I had planned to leave and decided to stay some extra days instead. I really hit jackpot on that one: that was the exact night when the Full Moon Party was happening.
Seeing the people of Koh Lipe gather to release flower arrangements in the sea was the first time I truly experienced the Thai culture and it made me fall in love with that country forever.
If you‘ve made it this far, I hope I convinced you to add Koh Lipe to your travel bucket list! It‘s not the easiest place to get to but I‘m convinced that‘s exactly what allows it to remain somewhat of a hidden gem, even though it‘s a paradisiac place like I‘ve never seen before in my life.