Koh Jum Travel Guide

The two names follow the villages. Ban Koh Jum, the largest, sits in the southeast by the main pier, with a few shops, seafood restaurants, scooter rental and the agencies that sell boat tickets, and its families are mostly Muslim and Chinese-Thai. Ban Ting Rai is in the middle, and Ban Koh Pu is in the north under Khao Ko Pu, the 422 m hill that gives that end its name and its jungle. A road runs the length of the island, sealed all the way now, and the resorts line the west coast off it.

It's a conservative, lived-in place, and that's much of its appeal. Cover up when you walk through the villages, and keep beer and bottles out of sight away from the resorts. You'll also share the island with macaques, which are bold enough to walk into a room for a packet of sugar, so keep doors shut and food put away.

Almost every beach is on the west coast, facing the sunset, in a nearly unbroken line. From the north, Banyan Bay is a small, sheltered beach at the tip of the island with one upscale resort. Coconut Beach is a short cove of palms next to a single resort. North Beach, also called Luboa or Sunset Beach, is long and rocky, with the island's cheapest bungalows and simple restaurants. Then come Ao Ting Rai, rocky and quiet with a few beach bars for the sunset, and tiny Magic Beach, with no rooms at all and a rustic bar.

The southern half is the busier one. Ao Si, also called Loma Beach, has good sand, trees and a few small resorts, and it's many visitors' favorite. Golden Pearl Beach is the big, open one, close to the shops and restaurants of the south, and it runs on into Andaman Beach, long and flat. Together they make up Long Beach, Haad Yao, about 5 km of sand. At the southern tip, Freedom Beach is more a rocky point than a beach, looking across to the tiny private island of Koh Pe Lat.

Be ready for what the beaches are like, because it decides whether you'll love the island. Koh Jum sits close to the mainland, so the water is rarely the clear turquoise of Phi Phi, and at low tide much of the west coast turns to rocks, mud and sea urchins, so plan your swims for high water and wear reef shoes. Rubbish washes up with the tides, especially in low season, and sandflies bite on some beaches. At high tide, with the sun going down, it's lovely, and you'll often have a beach to yourself.

Not much, and that's the point. Most days are a swim at high tide, a book in a hammock and a walk along the sand to a different bar for the sunset. Most resorts rent kayaks, about ฿500 for half a day and sometimes free, and paddling the coast is the best way to see the rocky stretches you can't walk. Scooters cost about ฿200–300 a day and bicycles about ฿100–150, and a loop of the three villages on the quiet, mostly flat road is the island's best afternoon. Most resorts can also call a masseuse, at about ฿400 an hour.

For something harder, hike Khao Ko Pu. The trail is hard to follow, so hire a guide in Ban Koh Pu, about ฿1,000 for a half day, for the view over the Andaman and the islands. Rim Tang, a restaurant and cooking school near Andaman Beach, teaches Thai cooking classes, and resorts can arrange fishing trips. Boats from the island also do the 4 Islands longtail tour off Ao Nang, about ฿700–1,000 a person depending on numbers, and snorkeling trips to Phi Phi or Koh Haa off Lanta, since the reefs around Koh Jum itself aren't much. Divers join the shops on Phi Phi or Lanta.

The cheapest way, and the only one that runs all year, is the public longtail from Laem Kruat pier, about 40 km south of Krabi Town. Boats leave for Mutu pier on Koh Jum's east coast about every 1.5 hours from 09:00 to 18:00, take 30–45 minutes and cost ฿140, paid on board, and they'll take a scooter for a little extra. Coming back, they leave Mutu from 06:30 to 16:00. To reach Laem Kruat from Krabi Town, take the blue Nua Khlong songthaew from Maharaj Road at Soi 6, about ฿120 and an hour, or a Grab or taxi, which is also the easy way from Krabi airport. From Laem Kruat or Mutu, a taxi to your resort is about ฿50–150.

From late October to April the boats make it simpler. The Lanta Super Concord ferry leaves Klong Jilad pier near Krabi Town at 11:00 and reaches Koh Jum in about 1 hour 30 on its way to Lanta, Tigerline's speedboat leaves Ao Nammao pier at 11:30, and Bundhaya's speedboats call from Nopparat Thara pier in Ao Nang and the floating pier on Railay East. Some boats tie up at Koh Jum pier, and at others you step down into a longtail offshore, which gets lively in a swell, so keep your bag small. Book a few days ahead in high season.

From Koh Lanta, the same ferry leaves Saladan pier at 08:15 and takes about an hour, and Tigerline and Bundhaya speedboats cross in 15–20 minutes. Tigerline also runs from Phi Phi, Koh Yao Noi and the Trang islands. In low season, from May to mid-October, most of these stop and the rest run a reduced schedule, so plan on Laem Kruat. If you're flying in, a taxi-and-boat transfer from Krabi airport costs about ฿2,000–3,000 for a small group, booked online or through your resort.

Taxis on Koh Jum are motorbikes with sidecars and a few small pickups, about ฿50–150 a person depending on the distance. Most resorts and shops rent scooters, about ฿200–300 a day, and bicycles, about ฿100–150, and the island is flat enough to cycle away from the hill. You can walk the beaches from Ao Si south to the tip at low tide, and a longtail charter is the scenic way round to the far north.

Nearly every place to stay is on the west coast, and the island's two halves suit different trips. The south, around Golden Pearl Beach, Andaman Beach and Ao Si, has the most choice, from simple bungalows to Koh Jum Beach Villas, the island's pool villas, and it's close to the restaurants and shops of Ban Koh Jum. The middle, around Ting Rai, has Koh Jum Resort and some cheap sea-view bungalows. The north is the quietest, with the cheapest bungalows on North Beach, OonLee's traditional fan bungalows at the end of the road and, on its own beach at the very tip, Banyan Bay Villas.

Expect simple comforts. Many bungalows are fan-cooled, and almost every resort runs its own restaurant, happy to feed you even if you're staying somewhere else, so dinner can be a walk along the beach. Ban Koh Jum has the best seafood. Book the popular places ahead for December to February, and in low season check that your resort is open, because some close.

Koh Lanta is the easy choice, with a long road of resorts, better beaches for swimming, 7-Elevens, ATMs, bars and restaurants, and boats to everywhere. Koh Jum has three villages, one quiet road and a few bungalows on each beach. Choose Lanta for families, good swimming and things to do, and Koh Jum for a few slow nights with a book. They're 15–20 minutes apart by speedboat in high season, so it's easy to do both.

If it's the calm you're after, Koh Yao Noi in Phang Nga Bay is the other island people weigh it against. It has more resorts and the limestone scenery of the bay, which Koh Jum lacks.

Come between December and March, the heart of the dry season, when the sea is calm and the boats from Krabi and Lanta run every day. February is the driest month, with about 24 mm of rain on 2 days at the nearest long-term weather station on Phuket. Late October, November and April are the edges, quieter and often fine.

From May to October the southwest monsoon brings downpours and swell, wettest in September with rain on about 19 days. Most of the ferries and many speedboats stop, the beaches collect more washed-up rubbish, and some resorts close, but the longtail from Laem Kruat still runs, and the resorts that stay open are very quiet and cheap.