Koh Mook Travel Guide

Tham Morakot, the Emerald Cave, is a sea cave at the foot of the cliffs on Koh Mook's west coast. You swim about 80 m through a tunnel that goes completely dark, in a life jacket and with a headlamp or a guide's flashlight, and come out into a lagoon of green water with a small beach, closed in by cliffs and open to the sky. The emerald color is sunlight bouncing off the water, at its best from about 10:00 to 14:00. Local stories say pirates once hid in the lagoon.

The tide decides when you can go. Mid-tide is best, because high water closes the entrance and a very low tide drains the lagoon, so boatmen and tours time the visit for you. The crowds decide the rest. Day trips from Koh Lanta and the Trang coast start arriving at about 09:00, and by the early afternoon guides lead groups of 40 through at a time, shouting in the dark. Go early, and if you're staying on Mook, go on your own.

To do it yourself, book a kayak on Charlie Beach the evening before, about ฿200 an hour or ฿500 a day, and paddle north along the cliffs for about 30 minutes. The first stretch is calm, the middle can be choppy, and kayaks aren't allowed inside, so tie up and swim in. Take a waterproof headlamp, a dry bag and reef shoes, and if you're not a confident swimmer, go with a guide or hire a longtail, about ฿800 for a day shared between a group, and add Koh Kradan to the trip.

Charlie Beach, also called Hat Farang, is the island's swimming beach, a curve of white sand on the west coast with clear, sandy-bottomed water, snorkeling off both ends and a few bars on the rocks. It faces west, so this is where the island watches the sunset, usually with a drink at Mong Bar. Sunbeds come free with an order. The high-tide line collects plastic, so the beach looks its best in the morning.

Sivalai Beach, sometimes called Pearl Beach, is the white-sand spit at the island's northeast tip, near the pier, with sand on both sides and shallow water at low tide that suits children. It's open to everyone, the south side is quieter than the north by the pier, and it's the place for the sunrise. On calm days a sandbar runs out from the end.

Sabai Beach, in the northwest, is the empty one. You reach it by boat, by kayak or on foot past the viewpoint, which makes it the reward at the end of the island's one real hike.

Stay near the pier and the village for restaurants and easy boats, and choose by beach. Sivalai's villas are on the island's best spit of sand, Mook Ing Lay is the practical, air-conditioned choice a minute from the jetty, and The Tropical is a quiet garden on the east coast that guests rate above everything else on the island. Koh Mook Hostel, about 10 minutes' walk from Sivalai Beach, is the budget option.

The west coast is quieter, close to Charlie Beach, the kayaks and the sunset, but a ฿50 sidecar ride from the village restaurants. Rooms are cheaper than on Koh Kradan or Koh Ngai, many places have fans rather than air conditioning, and many will collect you from the pier if you ask.

Baan Koh Mook, the village, is one paved walkway of restaurants, tour agencies, massage shops and small family stores along the east coast, with stilt houses over the mangroves on the road south. It's a working fishing village where Muslim and Buddhist families live side by side, so dress modestly when you leave the beach and ask before you photograph people.

Eat in the village. Good Luck is the cheap, generous Thai kitchen, Miss Island bakes the island's bread and does breakfast all day, and there are seafood barbecues in the evening. Beer and cocktails are easiest to find at the resorts and the beach bars, and the night ends early. Sivalai's restaurant is open to non-guests if you want a glass of wine on the sand.

From Koh Lanta, the island-hopping speedboats heading south to Koh Lipe stop at Koh Mook from mid-October to about 20 May. Bundhaya leaves Saladan pier at 10:30 and 12:30 and takes about 50 minutes, Tigerline leaves at 10:30 and 13:30, and Satun Pakbara at 15:00. Some land on Charlie Beach, where staff carry the bags and you wade in, so wear shorts.

From the mainland, shared boats leave the Trang coast about every two hours from 08:30 to 16:30 and take about 30 minutes, and 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. Agencies in the village, and 12Go, sell the boats onward to Koh Kradan, Koh Ngai and Koh Lipe.

Koh Mook is small enough to walk, about 45 minutes from the pier to Charlie Beach, though the road is hot at midday. Motorbike taxis with sidecars charge about ฿50 a person to anywhere on the island, and most guesthouses rent bicycles and scooters, about ฿200–250 a day. After dark, a taxi back from Charlie Beach is still about ฿50.

Koh Kradan, with the best beach in the Trang islands, is about 15 minutes away by longtail, and Koh Ngai about half an hour. Agencies in the village sell snorkeling trips to Kradan and the reefs nearby, or share a longtail for the day, about ฿800, and set your own order. If the Emerald Cave is on the route, ask the boatman to go there first or last to miss the crowds.

If you're staying on Koh Lanta and only want a day, the 4 Islands trip covers the Emerald Cave, snorkeling, a beach lunch on Koh Ngai and, on one option, Koh Kradan. You'll swim the cave in the busiest hours, which is the trade for not moving hotels.

Koh Kradan has the better beach, a handful of resorts and nothing else. Koh Mook has the village, cheaper rooms, more places to eat, a sunset beach and the Emerald Cave on the doorstep. Choose Kradan for the beach, Mook for a bit of life and a lower budget, and with four nights, split them. They're 15 minutes apart by longtail.

Late November to April is the dry season, with calm seas for the boats and the kayak to the cave. December to February is the busiest, so book Sivalai and the best-reviewed bungalows early. May and October can bring good days and lower prices.

May to October is the monsoon, wettest from July to September. The island-hopping speedboats stop, many restaurants close, boats can be canceled, and the Emerald Cave usually closes from about June to September. If you come in the rains, check that your guesthouse is open and how you'll get there.