An unspoiled tropical forest covers the mountains that cross the islands, and to the south lies the Mu Koh Lanta National Marine Park. This exceptional natural area is a veritable wildlife treasure trove, with rain forest, mangroves and coral reefs. There is also a rich historical and cultural heritage. The sea gypsies – the Chao Leh as they are known in Thai – who settled here hundreds of years ago, still maintain their own unique language, beliefs and rituals, and a life in harmony with the natural rhythms of the moon and the sea. Lanta Old Town, an ancient trading port with its stilt houses built over the water, is a cultural melting pot of peoples whose roots include Chinese, Buddhist, Muslim and western.
Leaving Koh Lanta and sailing south gives us a chance to see some of the other nearby islands. The three-hour ferry trip includes several stops that allow a closer look at these pearls of the Andaman Sea, and ends with the arrival at the Tarutao archipelago, a marvellous universe of 51 islands near the sea border with Malaysia. Here the experience is even more idyllic as there is no dock or harbour and you disembark directly onto the island of Koh Lipe itself through the gentle waves that maintain a year-round temperature of around 25º C.