2 Day Koh Lanta, Thailand Itinerary - What to do in Koh Lanta Thailand

This post is a comprehensive guide on what to do in Koh Lanta, Thailand, we'll cover the best things to do in Koh Lanta, Thailand in 2 Days, including:

- Khlong Nin Beach

- Beach hopping

- Cliff Huts

- Night life in Koh Lanta

- Renting a Scooter in Koh Lanta

- Where to stay in Koh Lanta

- Where to eat in Koh Lanta

- And a link to more Thailand Tips & Tricks as well as the rest of our Thailand Destinations

Koh Lanta, Krabi, Thailand

An absolute Hidden Gem of Thailand

Koh Lanta, Koh Lanta, Koh Lanta. We loved Koh Lanta. And what I wish all Thailand beach towns were made of. Koh Lanta is an island South of Ao Nang, but still apart of the Krabi Province. It's made up of several islands, but we stayed in Koh Lanta Yai, which is the largest island and the tourist side. To get to Koh Lanta, we booked a van on 12Go, a transportation website for Asia. We reserved a hotel to hotel transfer service that took about 4 hours, including a short ferry ride to get to the island. When researching Koh Lanta, I really didn't find a lot of information, but every blog I read stated that Koh Lanta was their favorite beach town in Thailand. So I went with it, really having no expectations since all the top 10 lists including going to an animal rescue, don't get me wrong, I love animals, but it's really not on my top 10 things I want to do on vacation. Jake actually laughed when I told him about the lists and questioned why we were even stopping there...Until we got there and immediately knew 2 days wasn't enough time.

Suggested Stay: 3-4 Days Where to Stay

We are very adamant that you stay on Klong Nin Beach, where the beach stretches farther than the eye can see, lined with small resorts and beach front restaurants, true serenity. If you are looking for a private upscale resort, then stay on the Southern end of the island.

We stayed at Andalay Boutique Resort, we couldn't believe how hospitable they were, right when we walked through the door all we could hear were warm welcomes. The Land of Smiles is no joke, Thai people are the friendliest people we have ever encountered on our travels.

The best thing about Klong Nin Beach is that there are no resorts or hotels that are higher than 1 level, maybe 2, but they are all very quaint with such character. The peace and serenity that you experience, the uncrowdedness and sense of seclusion is the reason I wanted to visit Thailand 19 years ago and we found it! Note: there are plenty of tourists that visit Koh Lanta, but it's not overwhelming. We never encountered a beach that was even close to being crowded or a restaurant that we couldn't sit down immediately, I hesitate to post this so it can be kept a secret, but I know Google can't pick my small little blog up (until I finally give in on the upgrade :) ).

What to do in Koh Lanta, Thailand in 2 Days

Day 1 - Beach Bum it, Relax, Eat & Drink

I wish we could have been a beach bum for longer, even though we spent half our time in Beach Towns, this was the only destination that I wanted to just hang out and quite frankly do nothing, but relax (and I usually can't sit still).

After settling into our hotel and checking out the amenities, we took a stroll on the beach. We stopped at Blue Moon Beach Bar and had lunch on the beach with our toes in the sand. Get a table under the white umbrellas or lounge out on a Thai mat.

We really thought we would be able to eat Thai food for the entire trip, but I was just craving a fresh crunchy salad so I opted for the salmon salad and Jake got a burger. This was the same point I started to cringe at Changs beers, I just wanted a flavorful IPA and it wasn't going to happen. I could totally see myself living in Thailand, but the beer situation is something I don't think I could handle.

After lunch, we took to the clear blue water for a swim and enjoyed the sunset on the beach.

After sunset we strolled the opposite side of the beach and discovered a Thai Craft Beer Bar! Hallelujah!!! We said "F" it on the price and went completely opposite of the beers we'd been drinking for a week and got a Stout from Stone Head. We watched a fire show and made our way back towards our hotel for a snack, live music and fire show all at once at the place next door, Majestic Bar before calling it a night.

Day 2 - Beach Hopping & Treetop Restaurants

Koh Lanta is the perfect way to unwind from a busy and eventful vacation. We had done so much in the days that lead up to Koh Lanta that relaxation was key to keeping us alive.

We started out our morning with coffee and breakfast on the beach at our resort. We then scheduled a Scooter rental with the front office. They don't have them available on the property since they work with an outside company so we relaxed on our loungers outside our door.

We got a very long tutorial about driving in Koh Lanta. She repeated that the roads were really bad, lots of windy roads and pot holes so be careful. Said anything that happens is on us to pay for. Oh and you probably need to get gas before you go...Gas!? We didn't have to fill up in Ao Nang (but maybe we did, we just didn't realize it...) So we took off looking for a gas station in the opposite direction of our beach hopping adventure. We saw nothing except for bottles of gasoline for sale on the side of the road, so after driving a while we just figured we'd stop. We didn't know how it all worked, but luckily someone walk outside of their house to greet us. But then we couldn't figure out how to pop the seat to access the gas tank, legit the entire household came outside to help....face palm. Finally it popped, they filled it up and we were all set to go. Did I tell you that Thai people are really nice?!

We headed South and stopped at Kantiang Bay for a short dip in the water. This is where the Why Not Bar is, it's a popular stop, but it was still pretty early for us to grab a drink. The beach is quite small, but next to a quaint town

We decided to keep going South towards Bamboo Beach. Before you arrive to Bamboo Beach, there are huts or treehouses along the cliffs looking out to the Sea. We'd never seen anything like this so we had to stop. All operated by different people, we just opted for the place we parked next to. We ordered a smoothie and took in the beautiful views of the water. When we left, we knew we'd be back after we left Bamboo Beach.

Just around the bend is Bamboo Beach. Beach access is by gravel trail so cars wouldn't even be able to access the beach parking lot. As we drove down the trail of pot holes, we ran into a couple walking in the middle of the path so we veered trying not to hit them and I almost flew off the back, but we made it safely with no scratches.

We shared a beer at the beach restaurant and then headed for the water. After relaxing in the water and on the sand, we decided to stop for a drink at one of the treehouses and head back to our hotel to hang out on Khlong Nin Beach since it was, in our minds, nicer.

As we started up the hill, I felt something really strange going on, felt like the back was wobbly. I got off the scooter to find out we had a FLAT TIRE! OMG, just what we were warned against! What do we do?! As Jake tried to pull it off to the side, he almost lost control of it down a cliff... Gah! Luckily the mirrors were still intact and there were millions of scratches already on the thing.

(warning: long story ahead)

We didn't know what to do so I called our hotel to explain what was going on and she said she'd call the rental company to figure out what to do. We sat on the side of the road as trucks and scooters past us for what seemed like forever just waiting to hear back. And then a truck pulled to the side of the road and asked, what's the problem? We told him we got a flat, thinking there's not much he can do, but get it picked up. He told us that there was a bike shop just a kilometer away and it'd be a lot cheaper than going through the rental company. He told Jake to follow him on the scooter with a flat tire and told me to get in the back of the truck. (In Thailand they put seat benches on each side of the truck bed for transportation.) Luckily there were 3 women tourists in the back and gave me relief that I was in good hands because all I could think of was, OMG I'm going to get kidnapped.

He started driving slow so Jake could keep up, but then as traffic started to pile up, we sped up. I'm thinking, Ohh no what if Jake slips. He eventually slowed down and kept repeating it as vehicles got congested behind him. We then stopped on the side of the road to drop off the 3 ladies and then the truck took off down the road and I feared, this could be it...straight out of a movie!! It literally felt like the longest kilometer, but eventually the driver pulled over in front of the bike repair shop and Jake scooted up. Thank God, we made it! Did I tell you that Thai's are the friendliest people in the world?!

He explained in Thai what was wrong with the scooter to the shop owner before he left. 5 mins later, he showed up with 2 ice cold bottles of water. Seriously, an angel!

The shop owner took to working on the scooter in minutes and it was all fixed up in about 15. Talk about service! And the total cost........we were so nervous because we didn't bring that much cash with us....it ended up being 260 Baht, which is only eight, yes EIGHT U.S. dollars. What?! We gave him a 50 Baht tip not knowing if that was good enough and he looked shocked almost didn't accept it. Did I tell you that Thai people are the best?!

We contemplated just going back to the hotel to drop off the nightmare of a scooter, but thought. Hey, it all worked out, we were saved and now we should celebrate! So we headed back to the treehouses that we were so obsessed with. We got some drinks, egg rolls and fried rice in a pineapple, legit a party!

As we enjoyed the gorgeous views the local cat greeted us. Jake hates when I touch stray cats on vacation, but they are just so cute. And then we met the local monkey!!! I saw something out of the corner of my eye and there was this gigantic monkey on the bar, who then opened up the cooler and downed a box of orange juice...we yelled at the server about the situation and he told us that the same monkey comes every day at the same time. And that the cat and monkey are friends...I died! He was definitely a nuisance to them as they chased him out with a broom, but nothing too aggressive for the monkey to come back day after day.

We decided it was time to leave before the sunset. Our hotel greeted us with such a big hug, so happy we were ok and didn't even make a fuss about the scooter.

We then decided to treat ourselves with a massage on the beach. It was a lot more expensive than the other places we'd been to, but 100% more relaxing and 100% more enjoyable.

We stopped by Majestic Bar for their live music and fire show again, but I was completely exhausted and called it an early last night.

The next day we got up early to enjoy the sunrise before we were picked up to leave for our last destination, Phuket. We didn't want to leave, we contemplated cancelling our Phuket reservations to stay longer (which we should have), but there was no direct way to Bangkok so we dragged our feet out to the taxi to leave.