What's in this guide
- Getting there from Koh Yao Noi: the direct speedboat booked on WhatsApp
- Rawi Warin: the village hotel where even the monitor lizards belong
- The Monkey Lanta Tour: a 250 ฿ scooter and ten services in one shop
- Elephants, done respectfully (and the trick that saves 1,000 ฿)
- Lanta Old Town: stilts, fish tanks and lanterns
- The small finds: the Survivor totem, Shiva's eyes, the butterfly farm
- The real budget
- Quick answers
Getting there from Koh Yao Noi: the direct speedboat booked on WhatsApp
We had met a woman at the Phuket pier a week earlier and swapped WhatsApp numbers, just in case. The evening before we left, one message settled everything: direct speedboat Koh Yao Noi → Koh Lanta, around 2,200 ฿ for the three of us, taxi from the hotel to the port included, ticket sent as a photo. At the port everybody already knew everything — no paperwork, no stress. The crossing takes about two hours, with two stops that are destinations in themselves: Railay and Ao Nang. You change archipelago the way you'd change bus.
A warning for parents: from age six, your child often counts as a full fare on boats and activities. But politely asking always works — we usually got around 200 ฿ off. Worth doing every time.
Rawi Warin: the village hotel where even the monitor lizards belong
Our base, the same as last year: Rawi Warin Resort & Spa, a five-star set between Klong Toab beach and a jungle hillside. Around €100 a night for a villa in the green season — not the entry level, not the top end either. Our philosophy is the standalone villa: space and quiet, with the whole resort around it. And what a resort:
- For children: two indoor playrooms with hundreds of toys, designed for three months to six years — genuinely rare for babies — plus a pool table and table football, free to use
- The pools: a 60 cm paddling pool with its own slide, a large pool next to it, an enormous infinity pool above, and a jacuzzi
- For parents: a full gym and even a Muay Thai ring with a punching bag
- The restaurants: beachfront, Japanese, Thai, and a breakfast buffet that keeps the whole family happy
All of it included in the stay. And a bonus for coming back: they gave us 10% off the whole stay plus a credit for restaurants, bars and massages. Loyalty here is expressed in gestures, not points.
Our morning ritual: pick up fish food and head for the big garden pond — koi carp, enormous catfish, and the monitor lizards, some of them over a metre long. The show: a lizard ducks its head under, misses, tries again, and suddenly catches a fish and swallows it whole. Impressive, and oddly relaxing. Our daughter asked for it every single morning.
And at the resort entrance, take a minute for the great banyan tree, a cathedral of aerial roots. Day or night, it sets the tone: nature still has the upper hand here.
The Monkey Lanta Tour: a 250 ฿ scooter and ten services in one shop
Directly across from the hotel, under a fluorescent yellow sign with a gorilla on it: The Monkey Lanta Tour (269 M.8, Koh Lanta Yai). The owner recognised us from one year to the next, so there was nothing left to haggle over: 250 ฿ a day for the scooter. And the shop does absolutely everything — taxis, boat and minibus tickets, tours, transfers to Krabi airport, car rental, and even laundry at 40 ฿ a kilo. The kind of address that makes an entire island simple.
Elephants, done respectfully (and the trick that saves 1,000 ฿)
Less than two kilometres from the hotel, a small family-run place — husband, wife, children — offers the kind of elephant encounter we can live with: you feed them, you apply mud to their skin, you watch them. No riding, no show. For our daughter it was an unforgettable contact, and a respectful one.
This is the expensive activity of the trip — several thousand baht for a family. The price automatically includes a van transfer… for a place that was five minutes away by scooter from our hotel. We asked to make our own way there: 800 to 1,000 ฿ saved on two kilometres of road. Make it a reflex — always ask for the price without transfer.
Lanta Old Town: stilts, fish tanks and lanterns
On the east coast, Lanta Old Town is our lasting favourite: one living street, lined on the sea side with wooden houses on stilts that have stood above the water for generations. We go back every stay, often more than once, to wander between the shops and eat in one of those stilt restaurants with their woven lanterns, where langoustines and lobsters wait in tanks and fish grills facing the sea. Every table has a horizon. A different atmosphere entirely, outside of time.
A useful bonus: Koh Lanta is noticeably cheaper than touristy Thailand elsewhere — fewer crowds, real local shops. This is where we do our gift shopping to take home, at the prices locals pay. And for eating local, head to the markets, including the big Friday market.
The small finds: the Survivor totem, Shiva's eyes and the butterfly farm
The Survivor totem 📺
If you have ever watched the French version of Survivor — it is called Koh-Lanta, and it made this island famous across the francophone world — the show was filmed here. A giant "KOH LANTA THAILANDE" totem now stands at the edge of a beach on the island, next to a beach restaurant. It is the compulsory photo stop for fans, and an excellent excuse to stage a family tribal council at sunset.
Hunting for Shiva's eyes 🐚
On the island's beaches — especially the ones covered in small red pebbles — you can hunt for "Shiva's eyes", also known as cat's eye shells: small spiral shell opercula, pearly white, orange or deep red, polished by the sea. You end up collecting them obsessively — little ones, big ones, perfectly smooth ones — and our daughter's collection became the treasure of the trip. Entirely free, entirely magic.
The butterfly and mushroom farm 🦋🍄
Our favourite "different" outing, tested two years running: the Butterfly Complex Center. It is tiny, it costs very little, and it is a break from the beach. An enthusiastic woman explains how the small white mushrooms are grown in their bags, you see the turtle breeding, the butterflies, and along the way the life of the rubber plantations — what rubber earns, how it is tapped. An hour inside the agricultural Lanta that visitors never see. With a curious child, it is perfect.
And in the evening: sunsets on the west coast
Every day ended the same way, and we never got tired of it: an empty beach on the west coast, the sky turning to gold, green-season waves rolling in — and sometimes an enormous monitor lizard or a band of monkeys crossing the road on the way back. Koh Lanta doesn't need to try harder than that.
A piece of local culture we learned the hard way, at the cost of an hour by the pool: here, bookings are made over WhatsApp and on trust — and it works remarkably well. In return, two rules. Never book elsewhere "just in case" once someone has committed to you. And ask all your questions upfront — if the pick-up is coming an hour early for a port ten minutes away, ask why. We didn't ask.
The real budget (2 adults + one 6-year-old)
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Direct speedboat Koh Yao Noi → Koh Lanta (3 people, taxi included) | ~2,200 ฿ |
| Rawi Warin Resort & Spa, villa (green season) | ~€100 / night |
| Returning-guest discount | −10% + credit |
| Scooter at The Monkey Lanta Tour | 250 ฿ / day |
| Elephant encounter (family-run, 3 people) | several 1,000s ฿ |
| Saved by turning down the van (going by scooter) | ~800–1,000 ฿ |
| Laundry at Monkey Lanta | 40 ฿ / kg |
| Shiva's eyes hunting & sunsets | Free, unlimited |
Quick answers
How do you get to Koh Lanta from Koh Yao Noi, Phuket or Krabi?
From Koh Yao Noi: a direct speedboat in about 2 hours (stops at Railay and Ao Nang), around 2,200 ฿ for three with the taxi included, booked over WhatsApp. From Krabi: road plus car ferry, about 2 hours. The universal trick is to ask your hotel or a trusted agency — everything gets settled by message.
Is Rawi Warin worth ~€100 a night for a family?
For us, yes, two years running: two playrooms (3 months to 6 years), a paddling pool with a slide, large pools, jacuzzi, pool table, gym, boxing ring, several restaurants — all included. And the welcome: a handwritten "Welcome back" on the bed is not something you forget.
Where can you rent a scooter?
The Monkey Lanta Tour (269 M.8, Koh Lanta Yai): 250 ฿ a day without haggling, plus tickets, taxis, transfers and laundry at 40 ฿ a kilo. One address, ten services.
Is Koh Lanta good with children?
It is our favourite family island: quiet roads, huge beaches, elephants treated decently, treasure hunts on the sand, a butterfly farm, and consistently kind people. We keep coming back — literally.
What came next
After three days of reunions we headed east, crossing to the Gulf of Thailand and its monsoon-sheltered waters, towards Koh Tao. Another sea, another world — that guide is coming. In the meantime, the cliff peninsula further north is already up in English: Railay Beach with kids.
Plan your own Koh Lanta
The totem, Old Town, waterfalls, the west coast beaches: put everything you feel like doing into our itinerary generator and walk away with your own interactive map — one that keeps working offline, at the far end of an empty beach. Free, no account.
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