Koh Lanta Photoshoot Guide: sunset beaches, the Old Town on stilts and the lighthouse

The west coast, one sunset after another

The whole west coast faces open sea, so the sun goes down straight into the Andaman with almost nothing between the beach and the horizon. That is the reason to come, and it shapes the session: start about an hour before the sun touches the water, because the light worth having arrives in the second half of that hour and the first minutes after it. In the dry season the sea is flat enough to wade into for a frame, and the wet sand at the water's edge doubles the sky.

The beaches differ more than a map suggests. Some show rocks at low tide and some keep a clean line of sand all the way down; the photographer picks the beach for the day's tide rather than the other way round. Frame out to sea, not back towards the road and the beach bars, and the picture stays the island rather than the strip behind it.

Klong Dao and Long Beach

Klong Dao, the bay in the north near the main pier at Saladan, shelves most gently of all, which is why families with toddlers end up there. Long Beach, just south of it, runs for a few kilometres: room for a walking frame that needs distance, for children running ahead, and for finding an empty stretch even in high season.

Klong Nin, Kantiang and the coves further south

South of Long Beach the island gets hillier and quieter. Klong Nin is long and open; Kantiang Bay is closed in by green hills, with forest running almost down to the sand; beyond it, smaller coves are quieter still. These are the beaches for a couples session on Koh Lanta or a proposal at sunset, when the sun goes down over open sea with very little between you and the horizon. Some of these bays have rocks in the water, so a family with small children usually stays up the coast.

Lanta Old Town in the morning

The east coast is where the island's history is. Lanta Old Town, once a stop for traders sailing the coast, is a single street of wooden shophouses, century-old stilt houses over the water, a Chinese shrine and wooden piers. It faces the sunrise, so it is at its best in soft morning light, when the wood is warm and the water behind the piers is calm; by midday there is little shade on the piers and the light turns hard.

This is a working village, not a set. People live and work on the piers, so ask before stepping onto one, and accept a no. Fishing boats come in alongside them, which children watch for as long as anyone lets them. Lanta is home to Thai Muslim, Thai-Chinese and Urak Lawoi sea-nomad communities, and off the beach a village asks for covered shoulders and modest clothes: bring a shirt or a sarong for the Old Town even if the rest of the day is swimwear. At the Chinese shrine, photograph the shrine on its own rather than posing in front of it, and keep voices low.

Two coasts in one afternoon

The classic route is both coasts in one go: the Old Town's piers and shophouses on the sheltered east side, then a short drive over the hills to a west-coast beach for sunset. It works, and it suits an engagement session well. It does trade the Old Town's best light for convenience, because in the afternoon the sun is behind the houses rather than on them.

For a family with small children, two short sessions usually beat one long one: the Old Town at breakfast time on one day, the beach at sunset on another. Small children rarely last long in front of a camera before they need the sea, and on Lanta the sea is right there.

The lighthouse at the southern tip

At the island's southern tip, Mu Ko Lanta National Park ends in a rocky headland, Laem Tanod, with a white lighthouse above the sea and a short forest trail. The wide frame is the lighthouse on its rocks with the open Andaman behind it.

It is a national park, with the rules of one. Foreign visitors pay an entrance fee, and photography done as paid work inside a park can need the park's permission and a fee of its own: the photographer clears it in advance, not on the day. The park keeps daytime opening hours, so check them, because they decide whether the lighthouse can be part of an evening session. The park is home to macaques that know exactly what a bag holds: snacks stay zipped away, nothing is handed to them, and small children stay close.

Boat days: Koh Rok, the Trang islands and Phi Phi

In the dry months, day boats run south to the white sand and clear water of Koh Rok and the Trang islands. Koh Rok is part of the same national park, with its own entrance fee, and it closes for part of each monsoon; the dates move from year to year, so check them. In Thailand's marine national parks, sunscreens containing certain coral-damaging chemicals are banned: read the label before you pack.

To the north, the Phi Phi Islands are a boat ride away in the dry season, and the mainland around Krabi, with Railay's limestone cliffs reachable only by boat, is the other half of most Lanta trips. A boat day is not a session day, though: plan no shoot for the evening after one, because sunburn and salt show in every frame.

Getting there, and the low season

Lanta has no airport; the nearest is Krabi. The island is reached by road all year, with a car-ferry crossing on the way, and the drive from Krabi airport takes a couple of hours or more, depending on the queue at the ferry. The speedboats from Krabi, Phi Phi and Phuket are cut back from May to October.

From about November to April the Andaman coast is dry, calm and clear, and Lanta's west coast is at its best. The weeks around Christmas and New Year are the busiest of the year, so book early. The heat builds from about mid-February to mid-May, April the hottest month, and sessions move to the first and last hours of the day.

The southwest monsoon runs from about mid-May to mid-October, usually wettest in September. The sea turns rough, red flags go up on the west-coast beaches — a red flag means no swimming, literally — and boats are cancelled at short notice, so leave a spare day before an onward flight. Some smaller places and the beach bars close. The same months give the greenest hills and near-empty beaches that are lovely between showers, and rescheduling for bad weather is free for both sides.

Leave your own drone at home: it needs registration with both NBTC and CAAT, insurance and approval before each flight, and the park adds its own rules. Ask whether the photographer flies a registered drone.

Planning a Koh Lanta photoshoot

For a family, the evening is the session: start about an hour before sunset, when the sand has cooled and the light is low, keep it to one beach rather than three, and bring a change of clothes for the child who goes into the sea halfway through — that frame is usually the best one. See family sessions on Koh Lanta and what a family photoshoot usually covers.

An hour covers one beach at sunset or the Old Town done properly; ninety minutes gives the Old Town and the drive to a west-coast beach. Keep the session away from the evening after a boat trip and from the day of a flight, and in the monsoon months give it a spare evening.

A photographer who works the island knows which bay is clean at the day's tide, when the flags are up and which pier the owners are happy to have you on. Read the destination page for Koh Lanta, check how it works, and browse photographers online.