Pattaya Koh Larn island trip report November 2022

[bkkmfj2648]

Pattaya Koh Larn island trip report - November 2022

This is my trip report to Koh Larn from Pattaya. It is written for those who might want to venture over to this beautiful island for a day trip or to stay a couple of nights like we did. I travelled with 2 of my Thai friends, as it was one of their birthday’s, hence these chosen dates.

Why Koh Larn? Because you may want to get away from the hustle & bustle of busy Pattaya to stay at some truly beautiful beaches that have transparent blue turquoise clean water with nice white sand. As we know, most of Pattaya, and lesser so, Jomtien beaches have brownish water, consequently making it sometimes difficult to enjoy a true pleasant beach experience that Thailand is known for. Note, that Koh Larn is NOT at the level of beauty of Koh Samui or Phuket – but for only being 20 to 30 minutes away from Pattaya – it is a nice quick and easy substitute for them.

Day ONE - Monday 21 November 2022

We took a Grab taxi from Jomtien over to the Bali Hali Pier in Pattaya. At the pier, there are many offerings for private tours via speed boat (costing thousands of Thai baht) and also transport via speed boat for ฿150 baht per person one way. We opted for the speedboat transportation modality, which takes 20 minutes. Note that if you continue towards the pier you can buy a ฿30 baht one way fare on the ferry boat, which takes 40 to 45 minutes. Note ferry schedule below – there are 2 destinations available – Naban Port which faces Pattaya, and Tawaen Beach which faces west into the Gulf of Thailand.

http://kohlarn.com/getting-to-koh-larn.html

The speedboat ride was quite enjoyable, as the sea was calm – consequently there were not many bumps. If you find that the sea is rough, then I would suggest that you instead take the ferry. Each of us wore a life vest – including all of the other passengers. After exiting the speedboat onto the floating pier, you will be almost immediately solicited for room rentals, taxis, and motorbike rentals. My 2 Thai friends had already reserved us a place in a 2 unit bungalow that they really liked (from previous trips) because it is isolated and private and still within the Naban village. We walked about 5 to 6 minutes south from the pier (as indicated in the below map) to where my 2 friends were greeted by a friendly Thai lady who acted as the broker for our 2 sleeping accommodations, which included 2 motorbikes (1 per unit). The price was ฿1,500 baht per unit and we always took 2 units – as I like to sleep alone.

This is our first night accommodation. Simple – but nice and very private with a rocky beach front – when the tide is up the balcony is on top of the water and when the tide is out the balcony overlooks the rocks. Nice places to sit on each single balcony with 2 chairs each with a small table, nearby tree with tons of shade and an outdoor table if needed. From the below photo, you can see that the rooms are modest but practical. There was good air-conditioning and normal bathroom with hot water for a shower. The best part was the view of the Pattaya city and Jomtien skylines. For some months now, I can see Koh Larn from where I live in Jomtien and now I can look back to where I live. I have to say that it is very impressive – more so from Koh Larn looking towards Pattaya/Jomtien – especially at night when the entire city is illuminated. Note, there was NO breakfast included in the above mentioned price.

View of Pattaya City and Jomtien from our Koh Larn room balcony – quite impressive.

We unpacked our bags and then headed out to lunch at one of the many roadside cafes on our way to our first beach destination at Hat Nuan beach – which is on the southern tip of Koh Larn. Beach was pleasant and nice, but was not my favorite because when you walk into the water, it quickly gets deep – as there is a drop-off in the sea floor. I prefer a gradual drop off where you can walk out far into the water before it gets deep. At the far end of this beach – towards the rocks – are a group of monkeys. Many tourists were feeding them. I did not attempt to get too close as I saw many Youtube videos where the monkeys will steal something from you (like your mobile phone) and run away. No thanks.

After a couple of hours at Hat Nuan beach, we then drove over to Samae Beach, which is on the western side of the island. The center of the island is dense green with large hills – so the ride from west to east and east to west are breathtaking – as the views from high up are stunning.

Note the following - The roads on Koh Larn are narrow and there are NO cars – only the occasional baht busses that shuttle passengers back and forth between the different beaches. Each way on the baht bus is ฿30 baht for each single ride. Consequently, since there are NO cars – it makes driving on Koh Larn very pleasant, as it is just motorbikes going about – and they tended to drive slowly without any chaos. This is truly a nice experience after the crazy chaos of motorbikes in Pattaya city.

Also, even though I have my official Thai motorbike driving license – I have not yet started to drive a motorbike in Thailand. I believe that driving one on Koh Larn will help me get over my fear to get started. Consequently, during this trip, I was the 2nd passenger on one of our 2 motorbikes. Going up some of the bigger hills puts a strain on the motorbike – so, if you plan to go 2 persons on a single bike – make sure that you get a motorbike strong enough. For sure, 2 falangs on a single motorbike might not make it up some of the steeper hills. In my case, we were always 1 falang and 1 Thai – and as we know, the Thais don’t weigh much.

Next stop, was Samae Beach. This beach I really liked. During this trip, we visited 5 beaches in total and Samae was tied for my favorite with another beach that we visited on day 2. Samae, has the type of white beach sand that I really like with the gradual decline in the seabed, that allows you to walk out quite far before having to start swimming. The water is a beautiful transparent turquoise color.

After almost arriving to sunset, we drove back to our room to freshen up for our Main Event – the birthday celebration of my Thai friend at the infamous Klom Klom restaurant / bar.

The Klom Klom restaurant / bar is truly an eclectic cool hippy type of place and was an excellent choice to celebrate my friend’s birthday. This was one of my most favorite places in Thailand – something that I would expect to find up in PAI, in northern Thailand. A jazz band was playing during our visit. The food and drinks were very good. The only negative is that the food came from another affiliated place that is across the street – which made the wait for our meal somewhat longer than normal. When I thought that the bill would come, instead the waiters and band played and sang happy birthday for my Thai friend – which was a nice surprise. Even the customers joined into sing. A weird jello birthday dish was served with a lit candle in it (?? Thai tradition ??).

To find this place – see below map – as it is about half way between Naban village and Tawaen Beach. Anybody who lives on Koh Larn knows about this place as it is super famous.

Back home for some more drinks on our balcony to enjoy the illuminated Pattaya skyline.

Day TWO – Tuesday 22 November 2022

We had to switch accommodation locations because one of our 2 bungalow rooms was rented out to another party (surprise snafu). So, we moved north of the main Naban village pier to ธนัชชา รีสอร์ท (Thanatcha Resort). Note from the map below, that this place is VERY close to the main ferry pier and if you remember from the above ferry schedule, the first ferry is at 6:30am bound for Pattaya. It starts blasting its horns for departure at 6:20am. So, I would avoid this place if you do not like to wake up early. Also, it is kind of run down and you can see that it has seen better days. It has a large wooden deck that is tastefully illuminated in the evening with an excellent view of the Pattaya city skyline. Breakfast is included. Price was the same as the previous accommodation, ฿1,500 baht per unit and we took 2 units. This place includes breakfast out on the terrace, which included a Thai kind of rice / chicken soup, toast and marmalades, and eggs sunny side up + coffee.

Our next destination was to go see the BIG giant Buddha up on Buddha hill. What is impressive about this place is that you have an incredible view of almost all of Koh Larn – especially looking down onto the tourist packed Tawaen beach. Furthermore, this is where the paragliders take off and land – it was truly breathtaking to watch all of them as there was at least a dozen of them up in the air above us.

Have any of you tried this paragliding thing?     https://www.flykohlarn.com

Driving down into Tawaen Beach, the scene was overwhelming, as the beach was teeming with tourists mainly from India – it was loud and super crowded. I told the guys to continue onwards, and we found a great place to have lunch just before the next beach over, where Tong Lang Beach starts. It was much more quiet and tranquil. I believe that Tawaen Beach is extremely crowded because the main ferry from Pattaya also stops here.

Here is a photo of the tranquil and beautiful Tong Lang Beach, where we relaxed for a couple of hours. It was nice and pleasant – but was still not yet my most favorite beach spot.

Our next stop was Tiennara (Tien Beach). As I mentioned from day one this was also my most favorite beach.

But now after writing this report and reliving the fond memories, this beach is my number one favorite from this Koh Larn trip. Why?
It is a very BIG (long) beach with many variations within the beach, such as lush green canopy overgrowth where there were many places to stay shaded, eat, relax, etc. There are even secluded places to lodge and stay overnight here --> I definitely need to return to sleep in one of them. Have any of you slept in any rooms that are directly at Tien Beach? If so, please share with us the relevant contact information.

To arrive at this paradise, you first park your motorbikes and then walk on this elevated concrete pathway until you arrive onto Tiennara (Tien Beach). It feels different than the other beaches as you feel more isolated and more immersed into the nature with the white powdery beach sand.

Note that walking north (opposite way from which you entered) you will eventually find some red chair lounges. This is where we stayed, and the older owner/manager is most likely gay and one of his sexy younger workers appears to also be gay. He was quite flirty – another reason to return to this beach. On our way into this beach over the elevated concrete walkway, my 2 Thai friends acknowledged a group of fellow gay Thai individuals who were heading back – as they only came for the day. So, perhaps this is the beach more frequented by us gays ?

The sun was starting to set and it was time to drive back to our accommodation to freshen up and to head out to our last dinner on Koh Larn.

The chosen Thai restaurant is, ยกยอ-เกาะล้าน (Lifted Yo - Koh Larn)

       https://yokyor-kohlarn.business.site/

which is located on the main road going south from the Naban village that follows the sea shoreline (see below map). It is a somtum type of Thai restaurant and the food was great. It received a 4.3 rating out of 5 maximum in Google.

After dinner, we made a quick stop at 7-Eleven (even on Koh Larn they seem to be almost everywhere) to grab some beers to enjoy our last view of our hotel sea deck illuminated Pattaya / Jomtien city skyline.

We had breakfast in the following morning at our 2nd day hotel and then off to return our motorbikes and join the crowd looking for speedboats back to Pattaya. Again, ฿150 baht per person one way. In about 22 minutes we were already back at the Bali Hali pier in Pattaya. We called a BOLT taxi to take us back to Jomtien.

Would I go back to Koh Larn? MOST definitely – I was truly enchanted with this place and I see that it will take several trips to discover all of the nooks and crannies on this wonderful island – truly an oasis in nature to get away from the craziness of Pattaya city.

What would I change?
1.) To have better control over the accommodations that were chosen – there are tons of them and some are truly amazing.
2.) To get over my anxiety to drive a motorbike in Thailand – as Koh Larn is definitely a tranquil place to overcome this fear.

In closing, I hope that you enjoyed my long trip report. I hope by sharing all of this information with all of you that it will encourage some of you to take advantage of this unique place in Pattaya.

 

[VancBCMan]

Great trip report, with photos and maps.

[vaughn]

Great report, thanks for sharing.

Samae beach was my favourite spot the last time I went over, but I might need to check out Tien Beach next time.

[12is12]

Bkk, u obviously set a new standard for detailed tempting posts here, certainly for issues other than sex. Kudos!

Why is klom klom "infamous"?

[vinapu]

3 hours ago, 12is12 said:

Bkk, u obviously set a new standard for detailed tempting posts here, certainly for issues other than sex. Kudos!

 

no, bkkmfj2648 returned to his old standards, search for his equally fabulous report of trip from Chiang Mai to Kanchanaburi taken by car few years ago

[12is12]

I stand corrected

[macaroni21]

This is a great, very useful trip report. One small question though: how was the cellphone signal while on the island? Thanks.

[bkkmfj2648]

10 hours ago, vinapu said:

no, bkkmfj2648 returned to his old standards, search for his equally fabulous report of trip from Chiang Mai to Kanchanaburi taken by car few years ago

Thanks Vinapu for remembering my early trip reports from 2012, 2013, etc..

Being retired has given me the luxury of having the free time required to write these types of detailed trip reports.

As you know, I very much appreciate maps in trip reports because of the way my brain works.  If I can see a visualization of where a given location is on a map - it greatly helps me understand where a given place is and the best way to get there.

Recently 12is12 showed me how to insert custom geographical pinpoints onto Google maps.  This made me realize that I can use this Google feature to enhance my future trip reports and as I get older (deteriorating memory) help me to remember where I have already been to avoid that in my future that I have groundhog day experiences.  In that way I can see everything once and avoid repeating them - good for the budget  :>))

[bkkmfj2648]

4 hours ago, macaroni21 said:

This is a great, very useful trip report. One small question though: how was the cellphone signal while on the island? Thanks.

Thanks Shameless Mack - I'll cherish this complement coming from you...

In the more populated parts of the island the cellphone signal was good.

In the more remote areas - like Tien Beach (my favorite), the cellphone signal was intermittent.  When you needed to do something on the internet with enough bandwidth you had to wait until you had at least 2 or 3 signal strength bars to do anything serious.

So, sometimes it was Poor or Dead Zone for a while and then suddenly it would jump up to Fair or Good at Tien Beach.

However, in the main port town (NaBaan) which faces Pattaya - the signal strength was always Excellent.  At the other 4 beaches that I visited the signal strength was Good or Fair.

[vinapu]

7 minutes ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

Thanks Vinapu for remembering my early trip reports from 2012, 2013, etc..

.........

..... and as I get older (deteriorating memory) 

as you see , not always a case

[bkkmfj2648]

14 hours ago, 12is12 said:

Bkk, u obviously set a new standard for detailed tempting posts here, certainly for issues other than sex. Kudos!

Why is klom klom "infamous"?

Thanks for the compliment 12is12.  My passion to have new experiences drives me to write these tedious trip reports.  Of course, I also like to have my fair share of sex - and why not while making a traveling adventure  :>))

12is12 - I have to say that I misused the adjective, "infamous" to describe the Klom Klom restaurant in my Koh Larn trip report.

Based on the official explanation for the use of this adjective (see below) I should have instead described it as:  popular, famous, trendy, in-place, etc.

I had an incorrect internal mental definition for this word as being equal to famous where I had thought that by adding in+famous made it more historical in nature.

I stand corrected.

 

[macaroni21]

6 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

However, in the main port town (NaBaan) which faces Pattaya - the signal strength was always Excellent.  At the other 4 beaches that I visited the signal strength was Good or Fair.

Ah, this is important. As idyllic as Tien beach may look, staying overnight without a good signal would almost surely frustrate me. Guess I would have to stay in NaBaan.

Others may have different priorities, of course.

[Vessey]

Really useful thanks,

I have been to Koh Larn a few times now but clearly I missed out on so much that I could have seen or visited,

In terms of any night-life, especially our side of the fence, I guess we need to bring our 'entertainment' with us as you did?

 

[Travellerdave]

First time I went to koh larn was 2002 with a pal and two boys. Walked from the pier to Duen Beach (Monkey Beach) . 2 miles maybe. There was nobody and nothing there - took some booze and food from,7-11. Had lots of fun swimming out to the reef. Got taxi back for return to Pats cos I had cut my foot on the coral.

[bkkmfj2648]

10 hours ago, Vessey said:

In terms of any night-life, especially our side of the fence, I guess we need to bring our 'entertainment' with us as you did?

I would agree - In my case, I was invited along as the falang to celebrate a Thai birthday of one of my few Thai friends.

However, as I note in this trip report - at the red chairs section of the Tien Beach - there were 2 gay workers - an older Thai gentleman, who was probably the manager of the red chairs establishment, and one of his staff, who was young (perhaps 23 or 25) and very sexy and cute and made it obvious that he was interested.

When we checked Grindr - there were only a few (2 or 3) profiles active - and it was not evident if these "on Koh Larn" active profiles were day trippers or guys who were staying overnight like us.  I guess the only way to find out would have been to check Grindr in the night time hours - which I did not.  Since Pattaya and Jomtien are in close proximity - Grindr displays them as "near" - but they are truly back on the mainland requiring a 20 minute speed boat ride.  I guess you could order-in  :>))

So, bring your entertainment with you.  If you are staying many days - you could order-in new entertainment each day and send the previous day's entertainment back to the mainland.

[bkkmfj2648]

Yesterday 03 Feb 2023, I just returned from my second trip to Koh Larn.

I won't repeat any of the above details - as this trip was an 80% repeat of the November 2022 trip.

However, I will document below, additional details (as many of you requested) and an additional beach that we went to visit.

 On the first day, we returned to my still favorite beach, Tien Beach, where I was able to get additional lodging information which I can share with all of you now.

There are 4 places for lodging that exist on Tien Beach - of which 1 is closed and out of business - a 2 floor wooden motel like structure.  The other 3 are open - of which, 2 are owned by the HardTien restaurant, which are the 2 pirate looking ships that are situated on the northern most part of Tien beach, and the 8 rooms, which are above the HardTien restaurant.  And lastly, as reported above at the beginning of this post, there are the 3 lovely bungalows available at:

          https://www.facebook.com/tiennara.kohlarn/      and for booking:  https://reservation.roomscope.com/1694/en

--> Note that these 3 bungalows (listed above) are the MOST expensive - at 4,500 baht per night.

Below is the business card from the owner of the HardTien.  Rooms are 1,800 baht per night - on the steep side - but you are on one of the most beautiful beaches of Koh Larn which is in a secluded and remote part of the island - thus making it extra special and subject to premium pricing.

The owner mentioned to us that you can be picked up by one of their private speed boats from the Bali Hai pier in Pattaya and brought directly to Tien Beach (1,800 baht one way).  The price is too much in my opinion.  Better to take the normal ferry for 30 baht (one way) and then the bahtbus for 30 baht (one way) or via any of the Bali Hai pier normal speedboat s for 150 baht (one way), and then take the bahtbus or rent a motor bike to get to Tien beach.

           

The below HardTien facebook page displays the photos of BOTH the pirate ship rooms (more rugged but more private if you want to have a party and be more intimate) and the rooms that are immediately above the restaurant.  These rooms are more "luxurious" - modern than the pirate ship rooms.

https://ne-np.facebook.com/people/หาดเทียนเกาะล้าน/100083400457762/?sk=photos

I've decided that in the future I will organize an event here with many Thai friends - as I want to spend 2 nights on this fantastic remote beach - to see it in all of its natural glory after the last tourist boats and ferries have all returned back to Pattaya.

This Youtuber posted the below video about this place which truly helps to appreciate why I like it so much.

Another new discovery that we made at the Tien beach was back in the forest that is behind the beach is a place called, "Goose Beach" and in this large area are the wonderful geese that are let loose onto the main beach once the day trippers have started to return to Pattaya.  As we could stay late on the beach, we had the privilege of seeing these geese run around the beach.

        

Our lodging for the 2 nights was in the southern part of Na Baan - the main port village of Koh Larn - at the same place we stayed back in November 2022.

Ban Lung Khao - Green Bungalow on the sea rental contact details:

https://www.facebook.com/people/บ้านลุงขาว-เกาะล้าน-รีสอร์ท-081-410-5906/100057360703785/?mibextid=ZbWKwL

We spent 2 lovely nights here.  Bungalow is on concrete stilts above the rocky coast with a direct view onto the Pattaya / Jomtien skyline across the sea.

The additional beach that we visited this trip, was the Ta-Yai beach, which is at the extreme northern part of Koh Larn, with a direct view onto Ko Sak island.

         

https://www.facebook.com/tayaibeachclub

This beach was very nice but very small and very crowded.  In fact, ALL of the beach chairs were already occupied as we arrived around 12 noon.  So, I guess you need to arrive early to get good seating.  This is mainly a falang beach - as it is serviced by the Ta-Yai Beach club with typical falang/western beach service.

Consequently, we did not stay long.  We walked to the farthest northern point - beyond the beach chairs - which was very picturesque, where many people were making instagram photos.  Unfortunately, one of my 2 Thai friends slipped on the rocks and cut open his foot so we had to wrap it up as best as we could and then head back into the main Na Baan town to go to the main hospital where they treated it - which put a damper onto our 2nd day activities.  After the hospital visit, we drove over to the Samae beach and hung out at that beach for the remainder of the afternoon.

Ok, this concludes this trip report.  Hopefully, it includes the additional information that was asked by many of you that I could only obtain by visiting this wonderful place again.

 

[bkkmfj2648]

oops, I forgot to add a NEW restaurant that we tried on our first night - which was Racha Buffet, which is next to the One More club on the main road heading south out of the Na Baan port village.

https://www.facebook.com/people/บุฟเฟ่ต์ราชาปิ้งย่าง-Racha-Buffet/100066811082230/

This was a NEW concept for me.  It is like the MK restaurants Hotpot concept but instead is a BBQ buffet type of restaurant.  The front of the place is a HUGE selection of fresh caught seafood and vegetables and eggs, which you select for yourself and place in plastic containers and bring back to your table and you cook them on these very hot BBQ coal fired clay type of ovens.  Koh Larn was full of these types of restaurants where the prices were from 280 baht to 299 baht for All-You-Can-Eat!!!  Truly a bargain and a fun experience.

For our second night restaurant, we returned to the Klom Klom restaurant mentioned at the beginning of this trip report thread.  Again, there was a live concert, great food and fancy mixed cocktails.  Fun was definitely had by us.

https://www.facebook.com/people/กลมกล่อมเกาะล้าน-Klom-Klom-Kohlarn/100064826403085/?mibextid=ZbWKwL

 

 

[12is12]

Kudos BKKK for the detailed rprt! Most useful for anyone wishing to follow ur exprncd footsteps. 

Loved the geese foto.    (-:

[bkkmfj2648]

This is an update to this 2022 trip report to Koh Larn from the Pattaya Bali Hai pier - because the Pattaya City (mayor) decided to implement a new speedboat departure system, which I experienced today, 26 Oct 2024.

https://www.pattayamail.com/news/pattaya-mayor-vows-to-end-aggressive-practices-at-bali-hai-pier-472979

Prior to now, you went to individual speedboat vendor booths to buy your ticket to Koh Larn - to the left of the pier (when facing the sea harbor) as shown in the below photo:

Contrary to what was reported by the Pattaya mayor, I NEVER found this system to be aggressive.  I knew which speedboat company I preferred and I walked up to that individual ticket booth and bought my ticket from my favorite ladyboy ticket seller at the AM booth.  Simple and easy.  One of their guides would walk us onto the Bali Hai pier where their designated speedboat was departing from.

Now the Pattaya City had this not so great idea to terminate all of these individual speedboat ticket booths to just 2 ticket booths that are situated at the beginning of the Bali Hai pier - see below photo that I took today:

What the city has done is to divide Koh Larn into 2 sectors - Tawaen beach (side opposite of Pattaya city) and Na Baan (side facing Pattaya city).

In the past, I always bought my ticket from the AM speedboat ticket booth for the Tawaen destination and I paid 150 baht each way or 300 baht if I wanted to return from Tawaen - often I returned from Na Baan - as the return times back to Pattaya city are more flexible.

Well, this morning I got in the queue and I asked for a ticket to Tawaen and I was told that due to the choppy sea that they can only bring me to Nual Beach (aka Monkey Beach) for 500 baht.  I don't like Nual Beach as it is not nice in my opinion.

I asked why is it so expensive and the girl at the ticket booth told me that it is always 500 baht.  I told her that I live in Pattaya now since 2 years and I have NEVER paid 500 baht to go to the non-Pattaya city facing side of the island.  She replied to me, well my father is the boat captain - do you want to speak to him.  I said NO - and I then asked her what are my other options to get onto Koh Larn?  By now I was angry, as the Pattaya City has made a mess by demanding the demolition of the former decentralized ticketing system to this now centralized ticketing system.  The girl told me that i can take the normal slow ferry to Na Baan OR she pointed to another ticket booth where they were selling speedboat tickets to Na Baan - the main village on Koh Larn.

So, I bought a 150 baht speedboat ticket for Na Baan and we were then led by our assigned guide onto the Bali Hai pier floating launch that was super packed as there were other tour groups already on the floating pier - total chaos, confusion, and people being jostled by the up and down of the waves.  When the system was decentralized, the individual boat company took care to obtain their own unique launch pier to avoid the chaos that comes when you put too many groups onto the same floating launch pier - a consequence of this badly implemented centralized system.  In my opinion, it is just a mater of time before a tourist is hurt by this chaos and then to protect the sacred image of pristine Pattaya - they will order the centralized ticketing system to be demolished and we go back to the safer decentralized individual boat companies that saw to take care of you the customer.

When I arrived into the main Na Baan village, I rented a motorbike so that I could cross over the island onto my favorite side.  My first stop was for my favorite banana creme cake with an iced cappuccino at the wonderful Cher Aim Cafe & Resort situated on Tawaen beach.

 

I will admit, the ride over on the speedboat was very choppy and 90% of the passengers were Asians and some of them opened their umbrellas inside the speedboat to try to avoid some of the splashes that were entering into the boat from the waves.  All was good - as I am almost always impressed how the Thai boat drivers magically navigate their boats in any kind of weather.

Then after by banana creme cake (don't tell my gym trainer - I can already hear her yelling - I cannot control what you put into your mouth - if she only knew - hahahha) I then drove the motorbike over the most difficult but exhilarating hill on Koh Larn down into my MOST favorite beach = Tien beach.

Life is good on Tien Beach --> note that back in Pattaya there has been trash found on the local city beaches due to all of the recent storms - but over here on Koh Larn - no trash - just beautiful clean transparent turquoise water with fluffy white powder sand.

The ride back to Pattaya City from Na Baan was uneventful because by now the morning choppiness had disappeared and the 8 km of sea between Koh Larn and Pattaya City was tranquil = all was good.