Koh Kradan Travel Guide

Almost everything on Kradan happens on the main beach, about 1.5 km of white sand along the east coast. The resorts sit side by side in the trees behind it, the water is shallow, clear and calm in the dry season, and the view across the strait takes in Koh Mook and a line of karst islands. The north end, in front of Mali Resort, is the quietest. The south end, by the national park station, is where the boats land and the day trips stop.

Kradan faces east, so for the sunset you cross the island. Sunset Beach, the best known of the west-coast coves, is about 15 minutes on foot from where the boats land. The path starts about 20 m south of the little estuary at the end of Kradan Beach Resort, climbs over the hill through the forest and ends with steps and a rope or two, so wear shoes. Mali Sunset Beach, a smaller cove, is about 10 minutes from the path behind Mali Resort's restaurant. Bring water and a flashlight for the walk back after dark.

Two more beaches are easy to reach. Ao Pai, past Mali at the north end, is a walk around the headland at low tide or through the scrub at any tide. Ao Niang, south of the park station, is best reached by kayak or on foot at low tide, and it's where the snorkeling is now.

Kradan built its name on a reef you could swim to from the sand, about 200 m out from the main beach. In May 2024 the park suspended snorkeling and all water activities in front of the island after about 70% of the coral near Kradan bleached in a marine heatwave, and guests in 2026 report that the reef off the main beach is still off limits while Ao Niang, at the south end, is open. Ask your resort what's open when you book, and again when you arrive.

When it's open, the better reefs are on the south and east sides, and the drop-off is where the bigger fish are. The resorts lend kayaks, and from a kayak you can reach Ao Niang and the reef off the southern point. For more, the boat trips from the island go to the reefs at Koh Chueak and Koh Ma and through the Emerald Cave on Koh Mook, and the dive center at Seven Seas runs trips further out.

There's no village and no street of restaurants, so you eat at the resorts, and you can eat at any of them. Reef Resort is the one guests walk over to for seafood and fair prices, Kalumè does pizza and pasta, Kradan Beach Resort cooks cheap Thai food, and Seven Seas is the dressy option. Prices run higher than on the mainland, because everything comes over by boat.

Evenings are quiet. There are a few bars at the resorts, a sunset walk to the west coast and an early night. If you want a choice of restaurants and some nightlife, stay on Koh Lanta and come to Kradan on a day trip, or split your nights between Kradan and Koh Mook, which has a village.

From Koh Lanta, the island-hopping speedboats that run south toward Koh Lipe stop at Kradan from mid-October to about 20 May. Bundhaya leaves Saladan pier at 10:30 and 12:30 and takes about 1 hour 10, Satun Pakbara leaves at 10:30, and Tigerline at 10:30 and 13:30. It's the easiest way in, and most boats call at Koh Ngai and Koh Mook on the way.

From the mainland, most boats leave Khuan Tung Ku pier on the Trang coast, about an hour's drive from Trang town. Shared boats take about 1 hour 10 and speedboats about 40 minutes, and the van-and-boat tickets sold on 12Go collect you from Trang's town, station or airport. To get to Trang from Bangkok, fly from Don Mueang (about 1 hour 30 on Nok Air, Thai AirAsia or Thai Lion Air) or take the overnight Express No. 83, which leaves Krung Thep Aphiwat at 18:50 and reaches Trang a little after 08:00, in time for the morning boats.

Your resort can also send a longtail or arrange a private transfer, which is worth asking about if you land late or travel with luggage. Whichever way you come, the big boats anchor off the beach and a longtail brings you to the sand, so pack light and in a bag you can lift.

If you're staying on Koh Lanta, the 4 Islands day trip is the easy way to see Kradan. The boats leave Lanta in the morning, snorkel at Koh Chueak or Koh Ma, swim through the Emerald Cave on Koh Mook, stop for lunch on Koh Ngai and, on the beach option, finish with about 40 minutes on Kradan. It's a long day for 40 minutes on the island, but it's how most people see it, and you can judge whether to come back for a night.

The three Trang islands most people choose between are 15 to 30 minutes apart by longtail, so you can see all of them from any one. Kradan has the best beach and nothing else. Koh Mook is bigger, with a Muslim fishing village, cheap guesthouses, places to eat and the Emerald Cave on its west coast. Koh Ngai, to the north, is one long beach of resorts, the closest of the three to Koh Lanta.

Choose Kradan for the beach, Mook for a little life and a lower budget, and Ngai for an easy add-on to a Lanta trip. With four nights, split them, two on Mook and two on Kradan, and use the boats between them.

December to April is the dry season, with the calmest sea and the clearest water, and February to April are the hottest months. November is the shoulder, when the rain is clearing and the boats have started. Bundhaya's island-hopping speedboats from Lanta and Lipe run from mid-October to about 20 May.

May to October is the southwest monsoon. The island-hopping boats stop, the sea gets rough, and some resorts close or cut back. If you come in the rains, check that your resort is open and how it will get you there before you book. Every February, around Valentine's Day, Trang holds its underwater wedding, a Guinness-recognized ceremony where couples in dive gear register their marriages on the seabed near the Emerald Cave, so book early for that week.

Kradan's reef is recovering, and the closures are how the park protects it. Snorkel only where it's open, don't stand on or touch coral, and wear a reef-safe sunscreen or a rash vest instead. Take your plastic back off the island with you, because there's no village to deal with it, and keep the noise down on the beach after dark, when the resorts' guests are the only people on it.