Thailand - Koh Kradan - The island with the most beautiful beach

Koh Kradan - the island of the beautiful beach.  I mean just look at it!

One hell of a beach

Koh Kradan is part of the Trang islands, which are located equal distant between Koh Bulone Leh and Koh Lanta, making them a great stop as we headed north. They are often missed out as people shoot down to Koh Lipe, or visit them on a day trip. However, we would highly recommend staying a few days, at the very least!

Koh Kradan is a low lying island opposite Koh Mook and just south of the third island in the chain; Koh Nagai. There are no natives living there and only has a few resorts strung out along the main beach. This means, before and after the day trips have gone, there are only a few people on probably, the best beach we have been to so far.

Just look at that water!

We stayed in the only true backpacker and arguably the most atmospheric place on the island - Paradise Lost. It is the only resort not on the beach, but the bungalows were half the price and had much more character. The food was good and the portion size huge (we shared most dishes). It also had the benefit of being in the jungle equal distant to the beaches, making it easy to walk over to sunset beach, to the south beach (which you can also walk to at low tide from the main beach) with the okay coral and reef fish, and the main beach, a long sweeping arc of sand, with the most stunning blue water.

Through the jungle to the beach

We thoroughly enjoyed chilling out on the main beach in the numerous hammocks and taking a swim in the clear blue waters. The water is not deep and so is perfect for just relaxing and cooling off in the afternoon sun. 

Lazy days

It is also great for beach walks, especially at low tide, as the sand bars go on for ages and allow you to walk down to the far end of the island past the mangroves. So much so there is even room for a football pitch!

On the head son

Sunsets are seen from, you've guessed it, sunset beach. This is a short walk from the main beach or even shorter from Paradise Lost. There is a weird Mighty Boosh Milky Joe coconut people at the back which makes it a bit fun. The sunsets as they are from every beach facing west, spectacular, especially after a bit of a storm, as we had on our last day.

The calm after the storm

Ko Kradan is fantastic for chilling out, swimming and the odd bit of snorkeling.  It is much more (about twice as much) expensive than other islands, but it is still affordable and is well worth a couple of days.