Het weer in Ko Lanta Yai in maart

March is described on the Thai boards as one of the driest and hottest months of the year, and with April it is the peak of the Andaman season - so the weather that brings everyone here is also what fills the boats. Our row agrees on all three counts: 30.4mm of rain across 6.8 days, 29C reading as 35C at 77 percent humidity, and nights that never drop below 26.6C. The sea is 29.2C, which is warm enough to be no relief at all. The one mercy is a 22.2 kph breeze off the water. Anything strenuous - the viewpoint climb in particular - belongs to the first hours of daylight. The record: 10.8 hours of sun and AQI 48.

Ko Lanta's forum confirms August is genuinely rainy season on the Andaman coast, with rough, stormy seas as much a factor as the rain itself - but experiences vary widely. One regular visitor who'd been six times including in low season said they'd only hit real rain once; another described a typical day as sunny with a quick thunderstorm rolling through in the afternoon or evening rather than a washout. Many smaller resorts close for the season from June through early November, though the mainland ferry keeps running year-round regardless.

Forum posters consistently name January and February as by far the driest, most reliable months on Koh Lanta, with several repeat visitors saying they've barely seen rain across multiple separate January/February trips - one describing a full three weeks without a drop. One visitor specifically reported a February day at 32C with not a cloud in the sky. Posters do note this isn't an absolute guarantee: some travelers have hit a rainy, overcast stretch that dampened snorkeling plans even within this generally dry window, but the clear consensus is that February sits at the reliable peak of the island's dry season.