Koh Lipe - The Bachelorette Trip

When I booked a trip to Koh Lipe, everyone was like..."ARE-YOU-MAD-YOU-SHOULD-BE-STAYING-AT-HOME-NOT-DOING-CRAZY-STUFF-BEFORE-YOUR-WEDDING!" Of course, knowing me, still went through with it. Hey I came back safe. Ok fine, a little tanned and bruised. Heheh.

I only went with Sufia, we called this my little bachelorette trip. We flew in to Langkawi (partly the reason I wanted to go Lipe was because I wanted to shop for chocolates for my wedding favors in Langkawi) and took a boat to Koh Lipe. This was probably my first time ever travelling light. Seriously light, else how could I come back with 20 kilos worth of chocs??

Koh Lipe is a beautiful island, like many other islands in Thailand (ok fine, the only other island I've been to is Phi Phi) with white sandy beaches and crystal clear sea. It was also pretty busy and filled with mat sallehs and dogs, although since we were there for our diving courses we didn't really bother to bask in the sun and all. Halal food is easily available, but we underestimated the prices of food on the island and ran out of cash quite quickly with all our shopping and all. Luckily, there's an ATM along Walking Street and some places accepted credit card (Tip: remember to activate your ATM card before going overseas! or really bring lots of cash), and there were money changers too. We stayed on Sunrise Beach, in Adang Sea Divers Lodge since we were on a budget plus we spent most of our times outdoor so there wasn't really a need for a fancy place.

On Rescue Diver Course
Rescue Diver was a more serious course unlike OW and AOW, but it was really fun. It definitely helped build up more confidence in diving (although not necessarily confidence in rescuing people!) and also increased my understanding on skills learnt earlier. My instructor was Clare and she was lovely as Keira had told me. The boat exercises, which was rescuing an unconscious diver from the surface and getting him/her onto the boat, were difficult - I thought Clare was telling me to swim to an imaginary boat which was just a few meters away from 'the scene', then I realised she actually meant the boat we came in with. IT WAS TIRING. Having to give two rescue breaths and swim with the extra weight - I was lucky my victim was Toni, a skinny guy. And when it came to getting into the boat to lift the Toni, I was in a hurry (coz you've only got 30 secs!) and banged my shin against the ladder. That's how I got my bruise.

Ok fine, I actually got the bruise from one of the earlier exercises when I fell over the boat trying to throw the buoy to a drowning victim (Toni flapping his hands pretending he can't swim). Whaaat... the buoy was heavy, I didn't let go of it in time and so I followed the buoy off the boat.... knocking my shin at the edge of the boat... *sob*sob* it was embarrassing, but for some reason I found it super hilarious and couldn't stop laughing (I still did bang my shin against the ladder when I was getting into the boat during the later rescue exercise).

On Shopping
The main shopping area here is along Walking Street, starts from Sunset Beach to somewhere before Sunrise Beach. From what I remember items sold here are mainly beachwear and souvenirs, i.e. pareos ranging from 150 THB for the cheap ones and 450 THB for the higher quality ones, boardshorts, bikinis, those bright neon colored tank tops and t-shirts, they also have a few dive shops which sell dive gears (duh!), pharmacies, 7E, one or two bakeries/quaint cafes, and several restaurants (halal/non-halal). Haggling is permitted (well at least for the ones that I went to) and credit cards are accepted in most shops however they do charge a service charge of 2-3%. As mentioned earlier, it's best to bring lotsa cash (in THB or your own currency) or have an ATM card in hand.

On Food
It could be me who's just naive but you would think that an island surrounded by marine life would be the place where you could get cheap seafood. Think again! Prawns and squids which I can get at the local market for half the price were sold at a few hundreds to 1000 baht. Fish were also by the 400s-500s per kilo, not a price I'm willing to pay. As we only ate at Halal restaurants, I can only tell the prices for these places. A plate of stir-fried vege (read kangkung belacan) would cost around 100-150 THB, a plate of Pad Thai 80-100 THB, a bowl of Green Curry Chicken also around 100-150 THB and a big bowl of Tom Yam around 200-300 THB, actually generally everything costs about that price. The bright side is they are generous with their portions so you can share one lauk dish between 2-3 pax. There were several other kedai makans available around the island but we were too lazy to explore 'em.
p/s: When I say restaurants, I don't mean fancy air-conditioned, uniformly-dressed waiters. They are prolly one grade up your typical warong.

On Adang Sea Lodge
If you're looking for a romantic getaway on the island, you should definitely book a room at Mali Resort, Bhundaya, Serendipity or Idyllic Concept or well...  something along the likes. Adang Sea Eco Lodge is a no-frills resort catered for visitors on a budget like us, who don't need fancy decorated, air-conditioned rooms. It is not right in front of the beach but a mere 50m walk maybe? Though not luxurious, it is clean and comfortable and definitely not dodgy looking.

I hope I have shared enough info to help you plan for your trip to Koh Lipe or tempt you into planning for one. Will share photos in my next post. Drop me an email if you need more info!