Updated: June 2024
Koh Mook
your ultimate travel guide
Koh Mook is one of my favorite island escapes in Thailand, and I would recommend this island to anyone who is looking for a relaxing and quiet place to explore and unwind.
Every time I visit, I’m surprised that the island is not busier with crowds of tourists, but I guess its secluded location keeps the crowds away, and nature is still rural and beautiful. It feels like many of the more tourist islands felt like 30 years ago.
Koh Mook (or Koh Muk) lies off the coast of Trang, a Thai province stretching south of Krabi, and is easily reached by speedboat from the islands nearby, such as Koh Lanta, Lipe, or Koh Phi Phi. The island has some very comfortable accommodations for luxury lovers, and also basic bamboo huts for backpackers, and enough restaurants to try different meals every day.
Check out my itinerary, Island Hopping: 20 Days In South Of Thailand.
How do you get to Koh MOOK?
Take a speedboat transfer from Phuket, Koh Phi Phi, Lanta, or Koh Lipe during the high season, mid-October to mid-May.
During the low season, the island is only accessible from Trang- mainland. Take a boat transfer from Had Yao Pier or Khuan Tung Ku Pier.
If you are traveling by air, then the nearest airport is located in Trang. You can then easily organize a transfer from the airport to the pier and a boat ticket to the island.
WHEN TO VISIT?
I do recommend planning your visit towards the end of the high season. That would be, in my opinion, the best time to visit, if you have the flexibility. We usually visit at the end of April and the period of March-April seems like the perfect time to enjoy the island. The weather is still good, there is a minimum number of tourists, and accommodation prices go rapidly down.
Anytime from November- April, you can enjoy the best time on this beautiful island.
During the low season, some of the businesses and hotels are closed, and if you are unlucky with the weather, the sea might be rough, and you won’t be able to enjoy many of the water activities. Just keep that in mind if you do visit off-season. The transportation is less frequent and there are no direct speedboat transfers.
HOW LONG TO STAY & HOW TO GET AROUND ?
I would recommend staying a minimum of 4 nights, so you have time to explore and discover the beauty of this island.
The whole island can be covered on foot, and you can walk from one side to the other in around 45 minutes. If your hotel is located away from the main town center, you can also rent a scooter, or a bicycle to get around. You can also use the island tuk-tuk service. The price for one ride anywhere on the island is a set rate of 50THb per person.
10 MUST Things to do in Koh MOOK
1 visit emarald cave
This is a must-do activity when visiting the Trang area. To get to the hidden beach inside the Emerald Cave you have to swim through a dark cave/channel. You will emerge on a small stunning beach, surrounded by steep rocks and beautiful plants. It feels like entering a prehistoric Jurassic World.
You can organize this visit with a local long-tail boat company (we used PK Team Tours for all our trips), or rent a kayak from Farang/ Charlie beach. You will need a waterproof torch, as the cave is in total darkness and around 80m long.
Tips: you must do this activity only during low tide when there is a low enough sea level to swim through. If possible, try to go early in the morning. After 9 am there will be many tourists, as this is one of the main excursion stops in this area.
2 Visit Koh Kradan & Koh Ngai
Enjoy a beach day and snorkeling trip to Koh Kradan, or Koh Ngai…or both. It takes around 30 minutes to reach Koh Kradan from Koh Mook pier, and you can enjoy the beautiful beach and snorkeling around Koh Krandan coast.
It is also possible to stay overnight on both islands. However, there is no town or not a lot of other activities. I prefer Koh Mook as the main base with the little town and more restaurant and hotel options.
We rented a private long tail boat for 5hours with snorkeling by PK Team Tours and it was perfect.
3 Koh Mook Viewpoint
The walk to the viewpoint is not too hard, and most of the route leads through the rubber tree forest, leading up the hilltop in the center of the island. There is a small view opening to the ocean.
If you are a keen hiker, you can then continue the trail down to the secret beach- Sabai Beach. This is a steep hill hike, only for fit individuals. There is also a trail leading up Lo Dung Beach, in the northern part of the island.
You can find the trail to the Koh Mook viewpoint at Foresthouse Koh Mook.
4 Sabai / Secret Beach
If you like hiking, you can get here over the Koh Mook viewpoint. The difficulty is pretty great, so not for the faint-hearted. An easier way to get here is by a long-tail boat (from anywhere on the island) or by kayak from Garnet/ Charlie Beach.
During high tide, there is almost no beach left, so plan your visit for the tide to go down or at low tide. There is a nice place you can snorkel on the right side of the cliffs.
5 Explore the Fishing village
Koh Mook is home to a traditional “sea gypsy“ village. This village is mostly inhabited by the Chao Leh people. The houses in the fishing village are built on stilts, allowing the villagers to live above the water, and constructed using local materials such as bamboo and wood.
6 Sivalai beach
Sivalai Beach was my favorite beach to spend time and relax while staying in Koh Mook. It is the picturesque view of the sandy bank in front of the Sivalai Beach Resort which is the typical image you will find when looking up Koh Mook.
You can visit the beach without staying at the hotel, just don’t enter the hotel area. During low tide, the sandy bank gets a more distinguished shape. You can get here by a 10-minute walk from the pier and there are many little starfish you can spot during low tide.
7 Dugongs Spotting
One of the reasons we visited Koh Mook was to try to spot the magical animal called Dugong, which is on the protected species list around the world. It is a similar mammal to the Manatee, known as the sea cow.
Manatees have paddle-shaped tails, and dugongs have fluked tails, giving it a whale-like appearance.
We did our research and stayed at Inhale @ Hill Koh Mook, where we heard some people spotted dugongs recently. The plan was to rent a boat with a local captain and search for some dugongs in the nearby area. To our surprise, we were greeted by one on the first day of our stay, right next to the breakfast area.
It was a magical experience, and we felt so lucky to have the chance to observe these amazing mammals in their natural habitat.
8 Charlie/ Garnet/ Falang beach
This is a small paradise beach with palm trees. It offers soft sand in a sheltered bay perfect for relaxing. The water is nice and clear for swimming. This is the perfect spot to watch the sunset, and you can have dinner at the Thai restaurant up on the rocks.
Although you can use your own bath towel here, there are also sun beds, and chairs with umbrellas and little local stalls to buy drinks or snacks from.
This is also the beach, where you rent a kayak to explore the Emerald Cave. I have walked here from the pier (around 30 minutes), but you can take a tuk-tuk taxi (50 baht, one way per person).
9 Miss Island restaurant and bakery
A must place to try food at Kooh Mook. We ended up eating there every single day of our stay on the island. They have a huge menu of anything and everything you can think of. They bake their bread and all the food and drinks are delicious. Great presentation, tasty food, and friendly service.
10 Kayaking
You can rent a kayak and enjoy paddling around some of the beaches on the island. Around the pier area, you have a very high chance of seeing sea turtles when they come up to the surface to take a breath. There is not a lot of boat traffic around the pier, so they like to swim around during low tide and feed on the seagrass.
You can also take the kayak to the Emerald Cave, or Sabai Beach as previously mentioned. Kayak rentals are 100THb per 1h.
Where to eat IN KOH MOOk?
Miss Island Restaurant and Bakery Koh Mook – best for brunch, vegetarian and organic food, Thai & European
Perfect Bar & Restaurant- best for a beachfront dinner, seafood
Sugar’s Coffee & Restaurant- best for relaxing lunch, Thai food, vegan options
Hilltop Restaurant- best for Thai food and seafood
Koh Mook Sea Beach Restaurant- best for Thai dinner with a cool sea breeze
Dada restaurant Koh Mook- best for nice view, homely atmosphere, seafood
Where to stay in Koh Mook
There are hotels and resorts for all budgets on both islands.
If you are looking for cheap accommodation, then there are plenty of basic bungalows and bamboo huts.
There are also some good mid-range options and if you are after some luxury or planning a honeymoon, then Sivalai Resort would be the best option.
BEST HOTELS IN KOH MOOK
Luxury $$$:
Mid-range $$:
Budget $:
Koh Mook is not yet polished, but rather even a bit messy and rural. You’re going to see some garbage piles here and there. Especially walking through the local village. Unfortunately, there is a lot of plastic and garbage under the houses and in the mangroves.
As with many other islands in Southeast Asia, Koh Mook has a problem with rubbish disposal. Hopefully, we will see some progress and improvement on this issue in the next few years.
You need to keep that in mind when visiting.
Beside that the island is very beautiful and wild, with so many different species of marine life and birds. We had the chance to observe beautiful Hornbills near our bungalow each day.
You should make Koh Mook one of your island stops on your next visit to South Thailand and I hope you will enjoy your stay as much as I do
