Moving to Koh Lanta

Jan 29th and we are heading to Koh Lanta. We are on a good size boat along with a hundred or so other travellers. The boat is two levels, of course everyone wants the upper level for the view. We were directed below but that only lasted until the ship was underway as we also wanted to smell the sea air and have a view. We stood on the rear deck with a bunch of other travellers. Marie was into a conversation with a gal from England so I headed up to the front and sat with a small group on a small planked area of the bow. It was very breezy to say the least, but the air was warm, the sun was shining and the views were spectacular. The bow rode the waters gentle waves,moving up and down ever so slightly, every once in a while meeting a wave that would spray over the bow soaking us with salty water. It actually was rather refreshing.
Two hours at sea and we made land. At the pier we were greeted by an anxious flock of drivers each eager to get our attention, offering a ride to our hotel. Most were asking a lot more than we were told a ride should cost, so we turned down one after another, soon nearing the end of the gauntlet where we agreed to a ride for a more appropriate fee.
We arrived at our hotel, "Lanta Just Come" meeting our host, Rob (an Aussie), his wife Mem (local) and their daughter Stella. We got settled into our room and headed to the beach. The hotel is on the main road, rooms are big and bright, very clean and tiled. Ours is on the second floor with a balcony looking over the road at the ocean roughly 200 meters away.
The beach is nice when the tide is in, however at low tide the massive clumps of dead coral are exposed for all to see. To go into the water you must navigate your way carefully. In the morning the low tide reveals small pools amidst the dead coral where a variety of sea creatures lurk and hide. Marie watched some locals scour the pools for fish and making off with their bounty, some of which were up to a foot in length.