Koh Lanta Activities

Canoe

Koh Lanta Canoeing offers daily paddle trips by canoe through the exciting world of the mangrove forest and caves. This unusual biosphere is limited to the tropics and exists as a nursery or permanent living area for numerous animals and therefore is of important ecological significance.

Learn more about this fragile ecosystem and the animals and trees living there by joining for a trip.

White sandy beaches, clear blue aquamarine waters, mangrove ecosystems all come together in this magical area that has to be seen.

The whole of this area was declared a National Park and wildlife sanctuary in 1982 and lies directly west of the Krabi province.

Caves

Another attraction is the Mai Kaeo Caves located in the hills above the Klong Nin village.

They were discovered only recently when a burn of the rainforest in this area revealed them to us. You should acquire a guide at the cluster of houses where the street ends in the Mai Kaeo village before starting for the 2 hour exploration of these caves.

Beautiful stalactite and stalagmite formations are located in the cave through which you'll walk.

They could very well be named the Diamond cave because its beautiful stalactites and stalagmites sparkle like diamonds (it’s really the mineral deposits such as mica) when light is shined upon them

Elephant Trekking

Elephant Trekking in Thailand is a growing industry as more and more logging elephants are becoming redundant, their use in logging camps.

For the past 5 years mahouts and their elephants have been drifting south to start a new life in Thailand’s southern provinces providing trekking tours through the jungle.

The Elephants living conditions are far better than they ever had in the logging camps that they slaved away in up in the north of Thailand.

If you want to take a ride on one of the majestic beasts, you can do so close to Phra Ae Beach and Klong Yark.

Trekking

You could enjoy a 1 day excursion to the last patch of lowland rain forest in Thailand. The forest is located opposite of Koh Lanta on the mainland. You will walk along an exciting nature trail of 2.7 kilometers in length that leads through the forest and shows the exciting bio-diversity of this region. At the end you can swim in the clear water of the "Emerald Pool".

The Khao Nor Chuchi Lowland rainforest is really the last patch of virgin tropical rainforest left in Southern Thailand. The park is found in the Klong Thom district just opposite Koh Lanta on the mainland. It is the only place in the world where birds of the species 'Pittagurney', know in Thai as Taew Raew Thong Dam, have been found.

Tropical rainforest is the scientific term for a specific type of ecosystem which includes a unique range of plant and animal species. This is in direct contrast to a jungle which has no similar system of organization. Southeast Asian rainforests date back as far as 60 million years. Unfortunately, the forests are much smaller due to the human presence.

No other ecosystem on earth is as rich in variety of flora and fauna. Up to 250 different species of trees can be found in a hectare of virgin rainforest, as opposed to European mixed forest, in which one may find perhaps twelve different species. Worldwide, tropical rainforests are home to more than 3,000 different species of trees, many as yet, unnamed and undocumented.

The same wide variety of species also applies to the animal kingdom. Most of the life exists in the canopy of the trees, as high as 40 meters or more above the forest floor. In the past, tropical rainforests covered much of the globe. Today, however, most have disappeared. Scientists are concerned that this could have an effect on global climate.

As recently as fifty years ago, about 65% of Thailand was covered by virgin tropical rainforest. Today, that figure is around 10% with most of the remaining rainforest existing in the highlands of the north.