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November 30th, 2022, 13:45
#1
Pattaya Koh Larn island trip report November 2022
This is my trip report to Koh Larn from Pattaya. It is written for those who might want to venture over to this beautiful island for a day trip or to stay a couple of nights like we did. I travelled with 2 of my Thai friends, as it was one of their birthday’s, hence these chosen dates.
Why Koh Larn? Because you may want to get away from the hustle & bustle of busy Pattaya to stay at some truly beautiful beaches that have transparent blue turquoise clean water with nice white sand. As we know, most of Pattaya, and lesser so, Jomtien beaches have brownish water, consequently making it sometimes difficult to enjoy a true pleasant beach experience that Thailand is known for. Note, that Koh Larn is NOT at the level of beauty of Koh Samui or Phuket – but for only being 20 to 30 minutes away from Pattaya – it is a nice quick and easy substitute for them.
Day ONE – Monday 21 November 2022
We took a Grab taxi from Jomtien over to the Bali Hali Pier in Pattaya. At the pier, there are many offerings for private tours via speed boat (costing thousands of Thai baht) and also transport via speed boat for ฿150 baht per person one way. We opted for the speedboat transportation modality, which takes 20 minutes. Note that if you continue towards the pier you can buy a ฿30 baht one way fare on the ferry boat, which takes 40 to 45 minutes. Note ferry schedule below – there are 2 destinations available – Naban Port which faces Pattaya, and Tawaen Beach which faces west into the Gulf of Thailand.
The speedboat ride was quite enjoyable, as the sea was calm – consequently there were not many bumps. If you find that the sea is rough, then I would suggest that you instead take the ferry. Each of us wore a life vest – including all of the other passengers. After exiting the speedboat onto the floating pier, you will be almost immediately solicited for room rentals, taxis, and motorbike rentals. My 2 Thai friends had already reserved us a place in a 2 unit bungalow that they really liked (from previous trips) because it is isolated and private and still within the Naban village. We walked about 5 to 6 minutes south from the pier (as indicated in the below map) to where my 2 friends were greeted by a friendly Thai lady who acted as the broker for our 2 sleeping accommodations, which included 2 motorbikes (1 per unit). The price was ฿1,500 baht per unit and we always took 2 units – as I like to sleep alone.
This is our first night accommodation. Simple – but nice and very private with a rocky beach front – when the tide is up the balcony is on top of the water and when the tide is out the balcony overlooks the rocks. Nice places to sit on each single balcony with 2 chairs each with a small table, nearby tree with tons of shade and an outdoor table if needed. From the below photo, you can see that the rooms are modest but practical. There was good air-conditioning and normal bathroom with hot water for a shower. The best part was the view of the Pattaya city and Jomtien skylines. For some months now, I can see Koh Larn from where I live in Jomtien and now I can look back to where I live. I have to say that it is very impressive – more so from Koh Larn looking towards Pattaya/Jomtien – especially at night when the entire city is illuminated. Note, there was NO breakfast included in the above mentioned price.
View of Pattaya City and Jomtien from our Koh Larn room balcony – quite impressive.
We unpacked our bags and then headed out to lunch at one of the many roadside cafes on our way to our first beach destination at Hat Nuan beach – which is on the southern tip of Koh Larn. Beach was pleasant and nice, but was not my favorite because when you walk into the water, it quickly gets deep – as there is a drop-off in the sea floor. I prefer a gradual drop off where you can walk out far into the water before it gets deep. At the far end of this beach – towards the rocks – are a group of monkeys. Many tourists were feeding them. I did not attempt to get too close as I saw many Youtube videos where the monkeys will steal something from you (like your mobile phone) and run away. No thanks.
After a couple of hours at Hat Nuan beach, we then drove over to Samae Beach, which is on the western side of the island. The center of the island is dense green with large hills – so the ride from west to east and east to west are breathtaking – as the views from high up are stunning.
Note the following - The roads on Koh Larn are narrow and there are NO cars – only the occasional baht busses that shuttle passengers back and forth between the different beaches. Each way on the baht bus is ฿30 baht for each single ride. Consequently, since there are NO cars – it makes driving on Koh Larn very pleasant, as it is just motorbikes going about – and they tended to drive slowly without any chaos. This is truly a nice experience after the crazy chaos of motorbikes in Pattaya city.
Also, even though I have my official Thai motorbike driving license – I have not yet started to drive a motorbike in Thailand. I believe that driving one on Koh Larn will help me get over my fear to get started. Consequently, during this trip, I was the 2nd passenger on one of our 2 motorbikes. Going up some of the bigger hills puts a strain on the motorbike – so, if you plan to go 2 persons on a single bike – make sure that you get a motorbike strong enough. For sure, 2 falangs on a single motorbike might not make it up some of the steeper hills. In my case, we were always 1 falang and 1 Thai – and as we know, the Thais don’t weigh much.
Next stop, was Samae Beach. This beach I really liked. During this trip, we visited 5 beaches in total and Samae was tied for my favorite with another beach that we visited on day 2. Samae, has the type of white beach sand that I really like with the gradual decline in the seabed, that allows you to walk out quite far before having to start swimming. The water is a beautiful transparent turquoise color.
After almost arriving to sunset, we drove back to our room to freshen up for our Main Event – the birthday celebration of my Thai friend at the infamous Klom Klom restaurant / bar.
The Klom Klom restaurant / bar is truly an eclectic cool hippy type of place and was an excellent choice to celebrate my friend’s birthday. This was one of my most favorite places in Thailand – something that I would expect to find up in PAI, in northern Thailand. A jazz band was playing during our visit. The food and drinks were very good. The only negative is that the food came from another affiliated place that is across the street – which made the wait for our meal somewhat longer than normal. When I thought that the bill would come, instead the waiters and band played and sang happy birthday for my Thai friend – which was a nice surprise. Even the customers joined into sing. A weird jello birthday dish was served with a lit candle in it (?? Thai tradition ??).
To find this place – see below map – as it is about half way between Naban village and Tawaen Beach. Anybody who lives on Koh Larn knows about this place as it is super famous.
Back home for some more drinks on our balcony to enjoy the illuminated Pattaya skyline.
Day TWO – Tuesday 22 November 2022
We had to switch accommodation locations because one of our 2 bungalow rooms was rented out to another party (surprise snafu). So, we moved north of the main Naban village pier to ธนัชชา รีสอร์ท (Thanatcha Resort). Note from the map below, that this place is VERY close to the main ferry pier and if you remember from the above ferry schedule, the first ferry is at 6:30am bound for Pattaya. It starts blasting its horns for departure at 6:20am. So, I would avoid this place if you do not like to wake up early. Also, it is kind of run down and you can see that it has seen better days. It has a large wooden deck that is tastefully illuminated in the evening with an excellent view of the Pattaya city skyline. Breakfast is included. Price was the same as the previous accommodation, ฿1,500 baht per unit and we took 2 units. This place includes breakfast out on the terrace, which included a Thai kind of rice / chicken soup, toast and marmalades, and eggs sunny side up + coffee.
Our next destination was to go see the BIG giant Buddha up on Buddha hill. What is impressive about this place is that you have an incredible view of almost all of Koh Larn – especially looking down onto the tourist packed Tawaen beach. Furthermore, this is where the paragliders take off and land – it was truly breathtaking to watch all of them as there was at least a dozen of them up in the air above us.
Have any of you tried this paragliding thing? https://www.flykohlarn.com
Driving down into Tawaen Beach, the scene was overwhelming, as the beach was teeming with tourists mainly from India – it was loud and super crowded. I told the guys to continue onwards, and we found a great place to have lunch just before the next beach over, where Tong Lang Beach starts. It was much more quiet and tranquil. I believe that Tawaen Beach is extremely crowded because the main ferry from Pattaya also stops here.
Here is a photo of the tranquil and beautiful Tong Lang Beach, where we relaxed for a couple of hours. It was nice and pleasant – but was still not yet my most favorite beach spot.
Our next stop was Tiennara (Tien Beach). As I mentioned from day one this was also my most favorite beach.
But now after writing this report and reliving the fond memories, this beach is my number one favorite from this Koh Larn trip. Why?
It is a very BIG (long) beach with many variations within the beach, such as lush green canopy overgrowth where there were many places to stay shaded, eat, relax, etc. There are even secluded places to lodge and stay overnight here --> I definitely need to return to sleep in one of them. Have any of you slept in any rooms that are directly at Tien Beach? If so, please share with us the relevant contact information.
To arrive at this paradise, you first park your motorbikes and then walk on this elevated concrete pathway until you arrive onto Tiennara (Tien Beach). It feels different than the other beaches as you feel more isolated and more immersed into the nature with the white powdery beach sand.
Note that walking north (opposite way from which you entered) you will eventually find some red chair lounges. This is where we stayed, and the older owner/manager is most likely gay and one of his sexy younger workers appears to also be gay. He was quite flirty – another reason to return to this beach. On our way into this beach over the elevated concrete walkway, my 2 Thai friends acknowledged a group of fellow gay Thai individuals who were heading back – as they only came for the day. So, perhaps this is the beach more frequented by us gays ?
The sun was starting to set and it was time to drive back to our accommodation to freshen up and to head out to our last dinner on Koh Larn.
The chosen Thai restaurant is, ยกยอ-เกาะล้าน (Lifted Yo - Koh Larn)
https://yokyor-kohlarn.business.site/
which is located on the main road going south from the Naban village that follows the sea shoreline (see below map). It is a somtum type of Thai restaurant and the food was great. It received a 4.3 rating out of 5 maximum in Google.
After dinner, we made a quick stop at 7-Eleven (even on Koh Larn they seem to be almost everywhere) to grab some beers to enjoy our last view of our hotel sea deck illuminated Pattaya / Jomtien city skyline.
We had breakfast in the following morning at our 2nd day hotel and then off to return our motorbikes and join the crowd looking for speedboats back to Pattaya. Again, ฿150 baht per person one way. In about 22 minutes we were already back at the Bali Hali pier in Pattaya. We called a BOLT taxi to take us back to Jomtien.
Would I go back to Koh Larn? MOST definitely – I was truly enchanted with this place and I see that it will take several trips to discover all of the nooks and crannies on this wonderful island – truly an oasis in nature to get away from the craziness of Pattaya city.
What would I change?
1.) To have better control over the accommodations that were chosen – there are tons of them and some are truly amazing.
2.) To get over my anxiety to drive a motorbike in Thailand – as Koh Larn is definitely a tranquil place to overcome this fear.
In closing, I hope that you enjoyed my long trip report. I hope by sharing all of this information with all of you that it will encourage some of you to take advantage of this unique place in Pattaya.
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