If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD560.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Wa Ale is the first hotel to open in Myanmar’s Myeik Archipelago – 800 jungle-draped islands in the Andaman Sea. You’re barely a speck on the map and reality is many nautical miles away, so it’s time to get swept up in Wa Ale’s wild spirit: daring dives, jungle hikes and kayak expeditions. In the evenings, you’ll swap stories over sundowners before gathering for Chef Ray’s Burmese noodle salads, vegetable curries and spicy grilled fish. With sea breezes swishing through your capacious tented villa, you can drift off with the comforting knowledge that this do-no-harm eco-resort has a solid heart of green.
Smith Extra
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A string bag handmade by local artisans in Myanmar
11 tented beach villas and three thatched treetop villas perched up in the canopies.
Check–Out
There are no formal processes here because Wa Ale organises your transfers to and from the island, so your villa will always be ready when you arrive. Arrivals and departures are on Tuesdays and Saturday only, unless you make special arrangements.
Prices
Double rooms from £472.76 ($588), including tax at 5 per cent.
More details
The all-inclusive rate includes breakfast, lunch and dinner; house wine, beer and all non-alcoholic beverages; speedboat transfers; paddle boarding, kayaking, snorkeling, jungle hikes and cultural visits.
Also
Have a cinematic workout in the 700sq ft open-air jungle gym with panoramic island views. There are yoga classes for sea-breezy asanas or HIIT and TRX classes if you’re feeling fierce. Craving cardio? The deserted beaches are long, flat and perfect for running.
Please note
The Honeymoon stretch of Wa Ale will be closed for a while, but things are running as usual on the Turtle side.
Hotel closed
Wa Ale closes for the rainy season from 1 June to 30 September.
At the hotel
9,000 acres of private-island paradise, a PADI-certified dive center, paddle boards, kayaks, snorkelling equipment, spa, outdoor exercise pavilion with yoga, HIIT and TRX classes, bocce court, table tennis and free WiFi. In rooms: mosquito nets, citronella insect repellent, coral-safe sunscreen and biodegradable bath products.
Our favourite rooms
Forget everything you know about tents, because this has nothing to do with camping. Wa Ale’s sprawling villas offer the ultimate in castaway romance: private teak terraces with lots of options for lounging, king-size four-poster beds draped with mosquito nets, indoor-outdoor bathrooms so you can shower under the stars and uninterrupted ocean and jungle views. The thatched treetop villas are perched up in the jungle canopy.
Poolside
There’s no pool at Wa Ale but with that clear, calm ocean, two spectacularly beautiful beaches and a freshwater lagoon, you won’t give it a second thought.
Spa
After a day’s hiking, diving or paddle-boarding, you can have a delicious massage on your villa’s private terrace. Or unwind in the Ayurveda-led spa set in the forest by the beach. You'll first have a consultation with an Ayurvedic doctor to customise your wellness plan then you'll indulge in bespoke treatments such as Abhyangam anti-stress massages and reflexology.
Packing tips
The hotel provides the diving and snorkelling gear, coral-safe sunscreen and citronella insect spray, so just bring your adventurous spirit and your breeziest beachwear. If you're going hiking, we also recommend long trousers and closed-toe shoes.
Also
Wa Ale is spread out and sandy, so it’s unsuitable for wheelchair users.
Children
Adventurous little Smiths aged eight and over are welcome at Wa Ale (prices range from $150 to $185 a child, each night depending on the season). The beach villas are best for families – the sofas convert to twin beds.
Sustainability efforts
Safeguarding the Lampi Marine National Park’s pristine ecosystem and local community is Wa Ale’s raison d’ȇtre and founding mission. Twenty per cent of the resort’s revenues go straight into the Lampi Foundation, which invests in initiatives like sea turtle hatcheries, coral protection and local entrepreneurship. The lodge’s carbon footprint is minimal: it relies almost exclusively on solar power and doesn’t use traditional air-conditioning – high-efficiency fans and sea breezes work remarkably well as alternatives. All water from every tap at Wa Ale is drinkable and double filtered, the bath products are biodegradable and the sunscreen provided is coral safe. Plus, all the food that Chef Ray cooks up is locally sourced, organic, fair trade, seasonal, free range or grown on site at the resort’s organic garden. Take a deep breath: a stay at Wa Ale is good for the soul in more ways than one.
Soak up the ocean views and sea breezes at the alfresco tables in the main pavilion.
Dress Code
Light dresses and linen.
Hotel restaurant
Not a single tree was removed from the island when Wa Ale was built, so every part of the hotel blends in perfectly with its wild jungle surroundings. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served in the open-air main pavilion, made with reclaimed wood from old fishing boats and traditional Burmese buildings, with views over the ocean. Chef Ray dreams up the menu daily to incorporate the best of the organic produce from Wa Ale’s garden and the so-fresh-it’s still-wriggling catch of the day. Breakfasts offer healthy fuel for morning adventures: gluten-free granola, chia bowls, yogurts, made-to-order juices, smoothies and delicious omelettes. Lunch is a rolling, communal affair with zingy salads and earthy grain bowls or hearty pad thais to share. In the evenings, you’ll be seated under the stars for Asian and Mediterranean-inspired dishes like brick oven-roasted pizzas, grilled duck breast, masala-spiced fish, pork belly curries and crab dumplings.
Hotel bar
Pull up a brightly patterned beanbag at the River Café, a jaunty beach shack with friendly bartenders who’ll happily pour out iced coffees, Singha beers, house wines, killer margaritas, caipirinhas and Burbrit craft beer (Myanmar’s first and only micro brew). This is the place for sundowners and, a few nights a week, casual beach barbecues.
Last orders
Breakfast is served from 7am to 10am. Lunch is served from 1pm and dinner from 7pm. The River Café Bar is open from 7am to 9pm.
There’s off the grid and then there’s Wa Ale – the resort is the first to open in the untouched Lampi Marine National Park in southern Myanmar.
Planes
There are shared boat transfers to and from Wa Ale Resort every Saturday and Tuesday. Departures from Kawthaung to Wa Ale Resort are at 2 pm, and departures from Wa Ale Resort are at 8 am on these days. For transfers outside these dates, there's a supplement of $250 per person roundtrip or $170 per person one way, with the same departure and arrival times. The travel time between Wa Ale Resort and Kawthaung Jetty is 1 hour and 40 minutes. Please note that boat transfers are shared with other guests, and private boats are unavailable. Departure times remain consistent regardless of scheduled dates.
Wa Ale Resort recommends flying in via Thailand. Guests can fly from Bangkok to Ranong with AirAsia, which offers daily flights. Upon arrival at Ranong Airport, Wa Ale Resort provides a complimentary pickup service. A dedicated resort representative will assist guests throughout their journey, from pickup at Ranong Airport to immigration procedures in both Ranong and Kawthaung (if guests enter through Thailand).
From Ranong Airport to Ranong Immigration Jetty takes 20 to 30 minutes by car. Then, it's a 20-minute boat ride from Ranong Immigration Jetty to Kawthaung Jetty. Remember to allow enough time for passport control for both Myanmar and Thailand. The luxury speed boat ride from Wa Ale to Kawthaung Jetty takes 1 hour and 40 minutes. Boat transfers from Kawthaung Jetty to Wa Ale leave at 2pm, and from Wa Ale to Kawthaung Jetty at 8am.
Automobiles
If you're travelling from Phuket, it's about a 4-hour drive to Ranong Jetty, where a Wa Ale Resort representative will pick you up for your transfer to Kawthaung Jetty on the Myanmar side. The Wa Ale boat departs from Kawthaung to the island at 2 PM. It is recommended that you stay overnight in Phuket due to the limited transfer time between Phuket airport and Ranong on the same day. You can then take a private taxi to Ranong the next day. Wa Ale Resort can assist in arranging a private taxi from your Phuket hotel to Ranong Jetty for an additional fee. Remember to allow enough time for passport control for both Myanmar and Thailand.
There are shared boat transfers to and from Wa Ale Resort every Saturday and Tuesday. Departures from Kawthaung to Wa Ale Resort are at 2 pm, and departures from Wa Ale Resort are at 8 am on these days. For transfers outside these dates, there's a supplement of $250 per person roundtrip or $170 per person one way, with the same departure and arrival times.
Worth getting out of bed for
It may take a bit of extra travel time to reach the rainforest-draped islands of the Mergui Archipelago, but having one of the world’s last hidden paradises almost entirely to yourself will make it all worth it. This is a region of the world that only the hardiest of adventurers has ever seen before now - the journey used to take a day and a night via rickety fishing boat. Ouch. Though you’re miles away from anywhere, cast adrift in the Andaman Sea, there’s no shortage of adventure to be had or ways to discover the aquatic and jungle wonderland that surrounds you. Explore the archipelago’s coral reefs and sea caves with the resort’s PADI scuba instructors and dive masters: there are eight sites for snorkelling and diving just a short boat ride away. If you prefer to stay above the water, you can kayak or paddleboard around the island’s coastline, rivers and mangroves. Wildlife watchers can hit the jungle trails with the resident naturalist to spot green and leatherback turtles, monkeys, pangolins, hornbills, fish eagles and sunbirds. And there are two paradisiacal stretches of beach to explore (Turtle and Honeymoon) – arrive in season and you might even be lucky enough to see sea turtles hatch in the protected nesting area. Don’t miss the opportunity to see the floating villages of the Moken locals – the hotel can organise boat trips. And there’s no need to put your workout regimen on pause- head to the jungle gym for sun-soaked yoga classes and sweaty HIIT sessions. After a day’s exploring, unwind with a blissful in-room massage, before trading tales with your fellow guests over barbecued seafood skewers and crisp caipirinhas at the River Café.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this island eco-paradise in the Myeik Archipelago and readjusted to modern life, a full account of their castaway adventures will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Wa Ale Island Resort in Myanmar…
As you step off Wa Ale’s slick speedboat and feel the sand beneath your toes, it sinks in: you’ve made it to the Myeik Archipelago, meaning you’re one of a miniscule group of humans who has ever laid eyes on this untouched utopia. With only 13 rooms on the island, the dazzling beaches, gargantuan rock formations and lush jungle canopies are almost all yours to explore. So far, so Avatar. Perfectly camouflaged in these astonishing surroundings is Wa Ale resort, its smart-looking safari tents peeking through the trees. And that’s just what you can see. Underneath the waves, the sea caves and coral reefs are humming with life: dolphins, turtles, manta rays, whale sharks and dugongs (a cuddly-looking relation to the manatee) all call this protected marine park home. It’s enough to make your shoulders drop several inches, but you can relax at Wa Ale for another reason: 20 per cent of the resort’s revenues go towards protecting this luscious landscape, as well as the people and animals within it. The hotel is game changing in its eco-conscious efforts – not a single tree was removed during construction and all the building materials used were reclaimed or sustainably sourced. That doesn’t mean you sacrifice on luxury, though: the tented villas have acres of living space, private teak terraces for lounging, king-size canopy beds and outdoor showers, perfect for counting your lucky stars that there’s such a place as Wa Ale.
