A fantastic full day trip around the islands of Koh Lipe, including the popular pink corals of Jabang. Each snorkel was a different experience and great fun. Overall the trip was very good value for money.
Pros
Cons
Snorkel Video
Snorkel Snaps
Snorkel Review
Highlights
Coral
3-5 Meters Average Depth
Good Visibility
Medium Difficulty
No Cafe’s on trip
Tours cost $20-30 USD
Sea Urchins Present
Jellyfish unlikely
When:
Who:
Tour Cost:
Star Rating:
Cost:
When visiting Koh Lipe, there are a few snorkel spots around the island and also planned snorkel trips that you can book from the island. You can book the full-day inside and outside island snorkel trip through your hotel/hostel, with sales agents on Walking Street, or on the popular Apps, ‘Getmyguide’, and ‘Klook’.
The Full-Day trip includes 4x snorkels at separate islands/locations. You depart by Longtail boat, on my trip there were 6x people per boat. The tour also included lunch at Monkey Beach, Koh Tong. In my opinion, this is the best snorkel trip and snorkeling opportunity at Koh Lipe, with incredible coral reefs and marine life to explore.
Koh Hin Son Rocks
After 30 minutes from leaving Pattaya beach at Koh Lipe we arrived at the two large rocks at Koh Hin Son famous for one standing on the other.
Koh Bulu
Our first snorkel stop was at Koh Bulu which was a 5 minute boat journey from the Koh Hin Son rocks. The cove has an excellent snorkel spot which isn’t marked out. The waters were sheltered here with a little wave. There were many longtail boats in this area, be careful as they seemed to drift quite a bit.
At this spot I saw many corals, Crown Of Thorns Starfish, Anemone, Giant Clams, and Christmas Tree Worms.
Coral Reef
Koh Lugoi
Koh Lugoi is a small island where you can stop off and walk onto. It has a viewpoint that you can ‘climb’ up to, there is a bit of a walk way but does involve using some tree vines to get yourself up. The viewpoint looks over the beach and the longtail boats as shown below:
Top Tip:
Make your way to the cage wreck near the docked boats and drop off, there you’ll see alot of life and fish sheltering in the and around the wreck. There is another wreck slightly closer to shore that has a large school of fish resting and clownfish within the restoration wreck.
Koh Pung
A short 15 minute journey and we reached Koh Pung, which is off the shores of Koh Tong/Monkey Bay. We stopped for about 40 minutes to snorkel in the water. There was little wave as shown in the image below, however we were told not to go past the rock foramtion shown on the left of the image as there is a current that passes through on the right hand side.
There wasn’t any other boats while we were snorkeling meaning that we were the only ones in the water (6-8 people). The water depth was about 2-3 meters, and then there was a drop off which went down to 5-6 metres. The drop off area was cloudy due to the current and there wasn’t much to see, so I’d stick to the coral reef.
As you get into the water the first thing you’ll see is the many anemone’s spread over the coral reef. Most of them weren’t occupied with Nosestripe Anemonefish or Clownfish, but were swaying in the current. The coral here was in good condition, It was a small area and there were Black Sea Urchins, so be careful.
There are 4x Clark’s Anemonefish that are known to be in this area, they’re large and can be seen on the small anemone or sometimes above in the water. But if you spot one, you know the anemone is going to be near by. I manage to spot these two below, not the typical clownfish you think of, but they had stunning colors.
I also Blackspotted Pufferfish, small Wrasse, and some stunning Brain Coral. The coral formation was mainly boulder coral, with some filled with Christmas Tree Worms as seen below. All in all, this was a pretty good snorkeling spot before lunch.
Marine Life
Monkey Beach, Koh Tong
We stopped at Monkey Beach for lunch which was a 5-minute boat journey from Koh Tong. There was a small sandy patch and trees over head, which then led onto a long sandy beach. We sat down under the trees to have our Lunch, which we very quickly realised was a mistake.
After witnessing a tourists lunch get taken by a monkey when she wasn’t looking. There was a ranger walking along trying to keep them in order, but I’d recommend having you lunch on the beach, away from the trees. You will see many monkeys here as they live in the jungle on the island, and are often seen in the trees above.
Koh Hing Nam
After Monkey Beach we made out way to Koh Hing Nam which was a large rectangular stretch with ropes marking the snorkel area and subsequently coral reef. It is a bit awkward for the longtail boats to dock to the ropes around the coral reef, stay seated as I almost got taken out by another boat when taking a photo.
I then got prepared and jumped into the water off the drop off. This area was pretty busy with about 8-10 longboats docked, but the area is very large, the size of a football pitch so I didn’t bump into anyone the time I was swimming around. There was a very small wave, but very little current on the coral reef, and the visibility was excellent as it’s only 1-1.5metres down to the coral when swimming. This was a coral jungle, with numerous different types of coral on show, including Lettuce, Boulder, Boulder Star, Blue Jagged, and Anemone and Brain coral scattered throughout the reef. It was an incredibly healthy coral reef.
The middle of the reef was probably the best, there was so much going on as shown in the photos below. On some of the beige massive corals you will see Christmas Tree Worms which have vibrant coloured feathers which poke out of the coral in a tree like shape. They use these feathers to catch plankton and can add some reds, blues, yellows to the coral. Some corals can have tens to hundreds of these worms which are burrowed into the coral.
If you get too close to these worms they will retract the feathers into their burrow. I saw a couple of clownfish throughout the reef, but they were hard to find as they’re only 3 inches big and are often within the anemone.A school of black parrot fish swam past me in formation munching on coral. If you have your ears underwater you can actually hear the noise of the fish crunching on the coral with their beak-like mouth.
Marine Life
Safety Tip:
Be aware of your surroundings and passing, docking boats. Snorkel areas can get crowded with longtail boats. Stay seated on the boat until it is safe to get in the water, I had a close call with another boat when standing up on the longtail boat as we were parking.
Jabang
“Candyfloss pink coral like you’ve never seen” – Luke
Our final stop on the full day Koh Lipe snorkel trip was Jabang, and what a Jabang it was! Jabang is probably the most famous snorkel attraction at Koh Lipe because of its very unique pink coral, and often seen on advertisements throughout the island. The pink coral which does look like candyfloss is found literally in the middle of the ocean, which is very unusual for a snorkel spot.
When you arrive all you can see are maybe other boats docked and a roped out section. As you get into the water you work your way along the ropes viewing the coral as the currents were extremely strong! I’m a strong swimmer and did have flippers on and found it challenging. If I held onto the rope and the current would push my legs up behind me and I’d be in a Superman styled position.
However, on the half day snorkel trip I also stopped at Jabang and the conditioned were still and much easier to swim. It is a relatively small snorkel area so the ropes can get a bit crowded. There’s two main mounds of rock under the water covered with the pink, purple, and red soft coral and also many other diverse species.
Marine Life
Tour Guide Options
There are mainly the longtail snorkel trips which run from Pattaya beach (main), offering either a half-day or full-day snorkel trip. You can purchase these either through your hotel, hostel, or online with ‘Getyourguide’ or ‘Klook’. But I’m pretty sure they’re all with the same agency which uses the longtail boats. I booked through my hostel which I thought offered a good rate ฿700 Thai Baht ($20 US Dollars).
Best Snorkel Spot
The two best snorkel spots in my opinion were Jabang for the crazy pink and purple coral, this spot is very unique as it is in the middle of the ocean. The second spot is Koh Hin Ngam, due to its unbelievable coral reef, water visibility, Clownfish, and reef fish.
Best Time Of Year
If you are visiting, the dry season will give you the best weather for snorkeling which is October-May.
Popular Marine Life
Parrotfish
Moorish Idol
Christmas Tree Worm
Sergeant Major Damselfish
Common Comet Star
Golden Gregory
Butterflyfish
Nosestriped Anemonefish
Giant Clam
Rare Marine Life
Oscellaris Clownfish
Clark’s Anemonefish
Crown Of Thorns Starfish
Powder-Blue Surgeonfish
Blackspotted Pufferfish
Feather Duster Worm
Coral Reef
Boulder Coral
Branch Coral
Acroporidae Stoney Coral
Lettuce Coral
Brain Coral
Blue Ridged Coral
Massive Boulder Coral
Table Coral
Boulder Star Coral
What I Saw
(Seen on March, 2023)
| Ocellaris Clownfish | Nosestripe Anemonefish |
| Red Squirrelfish | Black Surgeonfish |
| Checkerboard Wrasse | Crown of Thorns Starfish |
| Christmas Tree Worm | Crescent Wrasse |
| Common Comet Star | Blue Seastar |
| Giant Clam | Neon Damsel |
| Brackish Damsel | Golden Gregory Damselfish |
| Chinese Demoiselle | Blue-Green Chromis |
| Stoney Acroporidae Coral | Boulder Star Coral |
| Massive Boulder Coral | Table Coral |
| Staghorn Branch Coral | Blue Coral |
| Lettuce Coral | Boulder Coral |
| Brain Coral | Honeycomb Coral |
| Clark’s Anemonefish | Nosestripe Anemonefish |
| Blackspotted Pufferfish | Redfin Butterflyfish |
| Christmas Tree Worm | Crescent Wrasse |
| Eastern Triangle Butterflyfish | Blue Sea Star |
| Three Spot Dascyllus | Redmouth Grouper |
| Featherstar Clingfish | Brackish Damsel |
| Neon Damsel | Chinese Demoiselle |
| Sergeant Major Damselfish | Pearl-Spot Damselfish |
| Golden Gregory Damsel | Black Sea Urchin |
| Giant Clam | Ornate Wrasse |
| Saddlecarpet Anemone | Lettuce Coral |
| Stoney Acroporidae Coral | Massive Boulder Coral |
| Boulder Coral | Featherstar Coral |
| Brain Coral | Mushroom Coral |
| Honeycomb Coral | Boulder Star Coral |
| Oscellaris Clownfish | Nosestripe Anemonefish |
| Quoy’s Parrotfish | Feather Duster Worm |
| Powder-Blue Surgeonfish | Greenthroat Parrotfish |
| Christmas Tree Worm | Moorish Idol |
| Needlefish | Bluespot Damsel |
| Black Damsel | Chinese Demoiselle |
| Sergeant Major Damselfish | Blue-Green Chromis |
| Honeyhead Damselfish | Golden Gregory Damsel |
| Double Spined Sea Urchin | Black Sea Urchin |
| Giant Clam | Lobster |
| Featherstar Clingfish | Bluespot Damsel |
| Jellyfish | Crescent Wrasse |
| Stoney Acroporidae Coral | Massive Boulder Coral |
| Boulder Coral | Lettuce Coral |
| Brain Coral | Blue Coral |
| Orange Funnel Coral | Branch Coral |
| Honeycomb Coral | Boulder Star Coral |
| Clark’s Anemonefish | Nosestripe Anemonefish |
| Feather Duster Worm | Marbled Sea Cucumber |
| Eastern Triangle Butterflyfish | Crescent Wrasse |
| Golden Gregory Damselfish | Blue-Green Chromis |
| Sergeant Major Damselfish | Reticulated Dascyllus |
| Flower Coral | Flower Coral |
| Blue Coral | Black Sun Coral |
| Featherstar Coral | Orange Funnel Coral |
| Stoney Acroporidae Coral | Boulder Coral |
| Pink Soft Coral | Lettuce Coral |
Where is Koh Lipe?
Koh Lipe is one of the most southern Thai islands on the South-West of Thailand, only a 3 hour boat ride from Langkawi, Malaysia.
Koh Lipe
Koh Bulu
Koh Pung
Koh Hin Ngam
Jabang
Frequently Asked Questions
The easiest way is to take the 3 hour speedboat from Koh Lanta which is North of Koh Lipe and a popular tourist destination. Alternatively you can get to Koh Lipe via Langkawi, Malaysia which is also a 3 hour boat journey, costing approximately $45.00. Or finally an hour boat ride from Thailand mainland Satun.
I went on a local snorkel tour which ran from Pattaya Beach, Koh Lipe and ran to the local (inside) islands, and further (outside) islands. The cost of the trip was ฿700 Thai Baht, which equates to $20 US Dollars, including 6x stops, and 4x snorkels.
Luke
FOUNDER
Luke is a passionate snorkeler who started Snorkelverse to live his dream of combining his passions for snorkeling, marine life, protecting marine ecosystems, and helping others.
Koh Lipe Snorkel Reviews
