Thailand - Koh Mook - the inspiration behind The Beach

Having had our first taste of the Trang islands on Koh Kradan, were excited to continue moving up the chain, to Koh Mook. 

Koh Mook

Chris had managed to negotiate a long-tail boat over to Koh Mook with one of the boatmen on Kradan for slightly less than the going rate, and we set off after one final morning on the beach, on the 30 minute journey to the island we had spent the last two days looking at!



Koh Mook (also known as Koh Muk) is one of the larger islands in the Trang region, and having come from islands where we could quite easily walk around it felt initially like a bit of a beast! The main area where most of the accommodation is found is Had Farang, known locally as Charlie Beach after the Charlie Beach resort which stretches along this main beach on the island. 

We had taken advice from our British friends Beckie and Nick who had skipped Kradan and had already moved bungalows from Had Farang, over to the opposite side of the island near the main pier, and booked one night at the Coco Lodge Bungalows (800 Bhart) and one night at Nurses House, next door (700 Bhart). 

Coco Lodge Bungalow

Nurses House Bungalow

Coco Lodge had a quaint bar overlooking the sea and great little restaurant too. We were well looked after by the lovely Thai ladies that were managing the day to day running of the place, and thoroughly enjoyed their 'specialty' fried coconut treats, which were given to us complimentary after our lunch there. They also had free bikes that we could take over the other side of the island, but with them being a little rusty and the tyres a little flat, we decided to take a gentle stroll over to see the sunset. 30 minutes walk later, we had quickly decided the best way was to use the 50 Bhart moto-taxi to traverse the island! 

Island transportation

Had Farang, is arguably the best of the two accessible beaches on the island, especially with it facing west, so has the added benefit of sunset too (great from the small cliff side restaurant), but it is much more busy. The other beach on the side of the island where we were staying, again is lined by another resort, but quiet so you could have a good section of the beach to yourself. The downside is the strong currents which run offshore, making it more of a dip spot rather than a swim! 

The other beach!

The real star of the show however of Koh Mook is the kayaking available around the coastline, which allows you to explore the stunning karst scenery of the uninhabited area of the island and its hidden treasures! We picked up a kayak from Had Farang beach for 100 Bhart an hour, and headed off along the coastline towards The Emerald Cave - the original inspiration for Alex Garland's book The Beach. 

Kayaking around

Accessible only at low tide, by swimming or kayaking through a cave for around 80m in the dark, what can be found at the other end (if you don't accidentally take a wrong turn or two!) is a little bit of Garland's dream. 

Don't get lost!

Into the light

The tides were low in the morning and evening for us, so we headed in after the last of the crowds were heading back out the cave (around 4.30pm) and we ended up with this magical beach hidden at the other side of the cave all to ourselves! With sheer cliff walls surrounding the small but beautiful beach, and backed with tropical trees, the setting was quite breathtaking and totally worth waiting for later in the day, as its a hot stop for all the local island boat trips for tourists in the middle of the day. 

The Beach?

All to ourselves

There is also a small picturesque beach just past the Emerald Cave entrance on the coastline which made for a great pit-stop and swim, and to rest the arms from all that paddling, and a 'Big' Cave which were weren't sure if we actually found further round the coast. All in all, taking to the water on a kayak was the best way to explore the dramatic surroundings of the island, besides, Charlie Beach Resort offers a great Thai massage to stretch out the muscles again afterwards, which Julia welcomed!

Beach past Emerald Cave

For our last night on Koh Mook we moved to Nurses House, which had 5 relatively new bungalows facing the water. The quiet location, garden setting, comfy bed and view out over the water, made this one of our favourite places we stayed in the islands. We made friends that evening with some Chinese Thai (real characters after a few too many cocktails!) who were camping one night in front of the bungalows and cooking themselves a feast on a BBQ. They beckoned us to join them, offering free beer (a great invitation to join if any one!) and our early night, quickly turned into quite a late one, putting the world to rights over a few drinks. 

Beer time

We awoke the next morning to find our new found friends had already packed up and left (they can't have slept at all!) and after a mixed fruit pancake breakfast we headed off on our moto-taxi to pick up the boat from Charlie Beach to our next stop...Koh Lanta.

Loaded up and off to the boat (Beckie, Nick and Paul)