Travel Tips

Transportation

Getting to the Koh Ra Ecolodge is quite easy (see Map, below). You can reach us either via Phuket from the south or Ranong from the north. You will need to get to the Kuraburi pier, about 10 km north of Kuraburi town. Contact us to arrange ground transportation from Phuket/Ranong.

From Phuket (south):
Fly into Phuket or bus- connections are available from Bangkok (www.airasia.com), Samui, Chiang Mai, Malaysia and even flights now from Europe and the U.S. (via Taiwan on China Air- www.chinaairlines.com).

From Phuket you can either take a bus (from Phuket town, not airport) or hire a taxi (we can arrange) to the town of Kuraburi (200 baht and 3-4 hours by bus; 2800 baht and 2.5 hours by taxi). From Kuraburi take a motorbike taxi (about baht 100) or go directly with your taxi to the pier- about 15 minutes north of town. In Thai its called "sapan-pla" (fish pier). From there we will pick you up in our boat for the 25 minute ride out to the island (baht 500/1-2 pax + 250 per additional).

From Ranong (north):
Fly on Air Asia (www.airasia.com) or bus to Ranong from Bangkok. If you take a bus from Bangkok heading to Phuket you can get off at the road to the Kuraburi pier which is about 10 minutes north of Kuraburi town (tell the bus driver "sapan-pla" and "Koh Surin"). If you come from Bangkok, make sure the bus is going via Ranong (the west-side road) and not Chumpon (east side).

When you are ready to leave, we can arrange for transport by private or shared taxi or public transport to Phuket, Ranong or other.

Money

Once you are out on Koh Ra, there is no access to cash. There are three ATMs in Kuraburi (the nearest and last town), one at the Krung Thai bank on the main road in town and one at the 7-11 at the PTT gas station also on the main road. Most ATM cards from US and European banks work in these ATMs, but check with your home bank to be sure.

Currency converter © Textor Webmasters Ltd

Electricity, Internet, and Telephone

Part of the experience of the Koh Ra Ecolodge is leaving behind the demands of your everyday work and simplifying your life. Being on a remote island and wanting to minimize our impacts and resource use, we run on generator power which operates from about 6-11pm every night. We have a solar array to provide power for computers and charging batteries during the day.

We have internet access available via Edge/GPRS, however it is not very fast.

We get good cell phone reception at the Ecolodge and your phone should work, Blackberries (at least from US providers) also can send and receive e-mails from the island.

Shopping

There are obviously limited shopping opportunities, however we do have a small gift shop with locally made, natural and fair-trade products that make nice gifts and help local people. Some of these include, locally made natural soaps, hand carved wooden Sea Gypsy model boats, natural-dyed (and the most comfortable in the world) hammocks made by Thai tribes people, painting and prints, and batiks.

What to bring

Besides the obvious, make sure you have a flashlight/torch for the middle of the night and clothing to block the sun (hat, sunglasses, long-sleeve shirt, pants), travel towel, running shoes are enough for the hikes and nature trail can be done in sandles/thongs. Bring cash for your bill, drinks, craftshop. We have a small supply of essentials- sunblock, bug spray, toothpaste, etc.

Weather

The dry season runs from November to May each year with very little rainfall during this time. This is the time of year for diving. Nov.-Feb. is the coolest time of year with daytime temperatures from 25-33 degrees C (80-90 degrees F). The rainy season is from May to November and is characterized by heavy rainfall, usually coming in the afternoon. We sometimes have periods of a week with no rain. This is a dramatic time to visit, but is not good for diving due the high waves.

Current weather at Koh Ra