Trang Islands Guide

The three islands sit in a short line, Ngai to the north, Mook in the middle and Kradan to the south, and that makes hopping easy. From mid-October to about 20 May the Lanta to Lipe speedboats call at all three each morning, and a hop between them costs about ฿300–400 a leg, around ฿350 from Mook to Ngai and ฿400 from Kradan. Book a day ahead at your resort or a village agency on Mook, or on 12Go.

Longtails fill the gaps. Kradan is about 15 minutes from Mook and Ngai about half an hour, and a longtail shared for the day from Mook costs about ฿800, enough to see the Emerald Cave and Kradan in your own order. On Ngai, longtail snorkeling trips start at about ฿600. If the cave is on your route, ask the boatman to go first or last to miss the tour boats.

Libong and Sukorn are off this circuit. Most people reach them from the mainland, Libong from Hat Yao and Sukorn from Tha Se, so I'd put them at the start or end of a trip rather than in the middle.

The 4 Islands trip is how most people see the Trang islands, and it runs from both sides. From Koh Lanta, the boats snorkel at Koh Chueak or Koh Ma, swim through the Emerald Cave on Koh Mook, stop for lunch on Koh Ngai and, on one option, finish with about 40 minutes on Koh Kradan. From Trang, the same circuit leaves Pak Meng pier in the morning, and many tours collect you from Trang town for a fee.

It's a long day with a short time on each island, and you'll swim the cave in its busiest hours. I'd treat it as a scouting trip, then come back and stay on the island you liked. The national park fee, ฿200 for adults, is usually included, so check before you pay it twice.

From mid-October to 20 May, Bundhaya's island-hopping speedboat leaves Saladan pier on Koh Lanta at 10:30 and works south, calling at Koh Ngai at about 11:00, Koh Mook at 11:20 and Koh Kradan at 11:40 before reaching Koh Lipe at 13:30. A second boat leaves at 12:30 from 1 November to 4 May. From Lanta it's ฿650 to Ngai, ฿900 to Mook and ฿950 to Kradan, and ฿1,700 all the way to Lipe. Tigerline and Satun Pakbara run the same route at similar times.

That makes the Trang islands an easy stopover between Lanta and Lipe. Buy Lanta to one island, stay a night or two, then pick up the next day's boat south for about ฿1,400–1,600. Northbound, the boat leaves Lipe at 09:00 and calls at the islands on the way to Lanta. The big boats can't land on Kradan, and a longtail carries you to the sand for about ฿50 if it isn't in your ticket.

Trang is the gateway town, with an airport about 1 hour 30 from Bangkok's Don Mueang and the overnight Express No. 83, which leaves Krung Thep Aphiwat at 18:50 and reaches Trang a little after 08:00. Van-and-boat tickets on 12Go collect you from the town, the station or the airport and take you through to the island, which is the simplest way to do it.

Which pier you use depends on the island. Pak Meng, about an hour's drive from Trang town or the airport, is the pier for Koh Ngai and where most tours from Trang leave. Khuan Tung Ku, also about an hour from town, has most of the boats to Koh Kradan and Koh Mook. Hat Yao, further south, is the pier for Koh Libong, and Tha Se is the pier for Koh Sukorn. Hat Yao and Tha Se have little transport of their own, so book the transfer with your resort.

Coming from Koh Lanta or Koh Lipe in season, skip Trang and take the island-hopping speedboat. Leaving the islands can take longer than arriving, because the boats call at the other islands first, so don't book a tight flight on the same day.

Give the Trang islands four nights at least. Two on Koh Mook and two on Koh Kradan is the split I'd make, the village and the cave first, then the beach, with the boats between them taking 15 minutes. With five or six nights, I'd put Koh Ngai first for its reef and resorts, then Mook, and take a longtail to Kradan for the day.

Libong and Sukorn suit a second trip or a slower one. Add two nights on Libong if you want to see a Trang island that lives on fishing rather than tourism, and come from the mainland rather than through the other islands.

December to April is the dry season, with the calmest sea and the clearest water, and January and February are the busiest months, when the best rooms on Kradan and Ngai sell out early. November is the shoulder, when the rains are clearing and the boats have started. The island-hopping speedboats from Lanta and Lipe run from mid-October to about 20 May.

May to October is the southwest monsoon, wettest from August to October, with about 285 mm a month at the Trang weather station and about 2,250 mm a year. The speedboats stop, the sea gets rough, several resorts close, and the Emerald Cave usually shuts from about June to September. Every February, around Valentine's Day, Trang holds its underwater wedding on the seabed near the Emerald Cave, so book early for that week.

Koh Libong's seagrass meadows are Thailand's main dugong habitat, and the population is in trouble. About 194 dugongs lived around Libong in 2023. Between 2020 and 2024 the island's protected seagrass shrank by up to half, many dugongs starved, and in early 2025 experts estimated that as few as 10 might remain at Libong, with an aerial survey counting 33 in early 2026. Villagers from Libong's eight villages run the Dugong Guardians network to protect them.

So I wouldn't plan a trip around seeing one. If you stay on Libong, choose a local boatman who keeps to the zoned areas, goes slowly and cuts the engine near seagrass, and never chase an animal. Across the islands, snorkel only where the park allows it, don't stand on coral, wear a reef-safe sunscreen or a rash vest, and take your plastic back to the mainland, because everything on these islands arrives and leaves by boat.