If staying in a lush villa, perched on a hillside covered with the dense Thai rain forest, overlooking the Andaman sea isn’t enough of an adventure for you then the Pimalai Resort and Spa has you covered. The Pimalai has a range of Koh Lanta day trips a cut above the rest, with full day excisions, great spots for snorkeling and sunset, canape and wine cruises.
The resort offers enough activities and experiences to keep even the most active guest happy. With an extensive sports centre including two tennis courts, a half sized basketball court, ping pong tables, a running track, the popular Thai game petanque and even a space for a good old game of croquet!
Of course you could also swim or work on your suntan, but just in case you want to get active then there are the complimentary beach activities; Kayaking, windsurfing, paddle boards, a sailboat, body boarding. Beach football or volleyball. But for most people, they don’t travel all the way to the stunning Thai islands of the south just to sit on the beach! The best part about being by the beach is the easy access to the water. Now, anyone who knows me knows I am not a water baby, but I still enjoy the occasional boat trip out to the Andaman sea, as the sapphire blue waters and phenomenal karst islands standing tall in the water are breathtaking.
The Pimalai offers 3 different day trips out to the sea. The ‘Two Great Islands Tour’ visits Koh Ngai and Koh Kradan. I visited these islands a few years ago on trip to Trang, and they are stunning. There are also some great snorkelling spots around these islands. The ‘Koh Rok tour’ is around an 80 minute boat trip away from the Pimalai, and offers white sandy beaches and turquoise waters, but without the crowds of the Phi Phi islands. Both trips offer a delicious lunch on the boat, local guides who are eager to point out the local sights and a few chances to explore the waters and local underwater wildlife by snorkelling. While these two day trips start around 9/10 am until 5pm the third day trip is the ‘Stunning Koh Haa Sunset Cruise’ starting at a more leisurely 2pm, allowing guests to sleep in, have a long leisurely breakfast or get some morning sun (or even a morning run in….) before heading out to sea.
Koh Haa means five islands in Thai, but this is a bit of a lie as there is actually six! The last one isn’t officially counted for Thai’s since there is no vegetation on the island, technically making it just a large karst rock in the sea…. The private Pimalai boat heads away from Koh Lanta toward the silhouette of the five islands while showing off the resort in its full hillside glory, and after about an hour the boat pulls up into a bay protected from the wild sea waves by the islands. There, guests can swim around the islands, and the snorkeling here offers some of the best underwater surface views I’ve seen in Thailand. Barracuda, eel, trumpet fish and more starfish than I could count, finishing up by swimming onto a deserted beach. This was the first boat trip where the guides join guests in the water and are active pointing out sea life out, and they know where the best spots are.
Being an afternoon trip, the Koh Haa islands provide much needed sun cover, so guests can swim without the intense sunrays on their back, and are also granted a picture perfect view of sunset from the boat on the way back to the resort. On board the Pimalai boat canapes, wine and cold beer are served to go with the glowing sunset views.
