Koh Lanta Long Beach & Sunset Walk
Walk Koh Lanta's Long Beach — Pra Ae (Long Beach) on Koh Lanta Yai's western coast is the island's most developed resort beach, with a 3km arc of sand facing the Andaman sunset, lined with beach bungalows, dive operations, and the casual beach bar scene that defines the island's laid-back character.
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Long Beach Northern End
The northern end of Long Beach (Pra Ae) on Koh Lanta Yai is the quietest section of the most popular beach on the island — the broad expanse of tan sand with its shallow gradient entry into the warm Andaman water, the casuarina trees providing natural shade at the beach edge, and the view of the offshore islands visible on the horizon create the foundational beach resort environment that attracted the first travellers to Koh Lanta in the 1990s. The northern section has fewer beach vendors and a more open, less commercial character than the central beach strip, with the coconut palms of the original village visible behind the first row of beach bungalow operations.
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Long Beach Central Resort Strip
Long Beach's central section houses the island's most concentrated resort and restaurant infrastructure — the beach bungalow operations (ranging from the simple fan-cooled bamboo huts that serve the budget backpacker market to the small boutique resort operations with air-conditioned rooms and swimming pools), the dive shops organising trips to the surrounding marine national park, and the beach restaurant strip with its evening seafood and Thai food operations provide the most complete beach resort economy on Koh Lanta. The central beach's afternoon activity (the water sports rentals, the massage pavilions, the hammock-strung beach bars) creates the social atmosphere that defines the Long Beach experience.
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Sunset Point Bar
The southern end of Long Beach provides the most dramatic sunset viewpoint on the island — the west-facing orientation of the beach means the sun sets directly over the Andaman Sea, and the promontory at the southern end of the beach (where several beach bars have established themselves specifically to capture the sunset viewing trade) provides an elevated angle on the sea horizon that makes the sunset even more expansive than the flat beach viewpoint. The sunset culture at Long Beach (the gathering of resort guests at the beach bars from 5pm, the cocktail glasses raised as the sun touches the horizon, the spontaneous applause that sometimes erupts at the actual moment of sunset) is the most celebrated social ritual on Koh Lanta.
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Long Beach Dive Shops
The dive operations on Long Beach provide access to the marine national park waters of the Mu Ko Lanta Marine National Park and the premier dive sites accessible from a Lanta base — the Hin Daeng and Hin Muang underwater pinnacles (considered the best dive sites in the Thai Andaman outside of the Similan Islands), the cave dives accessible within the marine park, and the more accessible bay dives for beginners. The dive shop concentration on Long Beach (with competitive pricing and well-developed instruction programmes for the large backpacker and budget resort market) makes it one of the most accessible and affordable dive bases in Thailand.
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Kantiang Bay View
Kantiang Bay at the southern end of Koh Lanta's western coast is the most scenically dramatic beach on the island — the small enclosed bay with its crescent beach, the steep forested headland on both sides, and the offshore view of the uninhabited limestone islands to the south provide a more enclosed and dramatic bay setting than the open Long Beach. The few resort operations in Kantiang Bay (a luxury hillside hotel, a handful of beach bungalow operations, and the beach restaurants) maintain the relative quietness of the bay despite Koh Lanta's growing overall visitor numbers.
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Klong Dao Beach Family
Klong Dao Beach at the northern end of Koh Lanta's resort coastline is the most family-oriented beach on the island — the longest beach (4km) with its calm, shallow water (the gradual bottom gradient and the protection from significant swell by the surrounding islands makes the water safe for small children), the larger resort hotel operations (with swimming pools and children's facilities), and the food and convenience shopping available on the beach road create an environment specifically suited to family resort holidays. The Klong Dao beach resort area has a more organised and less bohemian character than the Long Beach backpacker zone, and the social atmosphere is correspondingly different.