The beaches of southern Thailand are relatively notorious for the crowds and parties that take place on pristine beaches and for good reason. The beaches south of Bangkok are stunning and attract a lot of people looking to unwind with a cheap Thai beer in each hand and perfect white sand between their toes. Just off of Phuket you can find all of these beaches and islands if this is that party you’re looking for.
But if you’re looking for something in the area with less people, secluded swimming, and shaded relaxation, we suggest you look to the islands off of Trang Province. Koh Mook and Koh Kradan are spectacular choices and, as we’ve already highlighted the former, we’ll give a nod to Koh Kradan as well. The beaches on both were pretty amazing, but Koh Kradan offers the better snorkeling between the two.
Enjoying the beach, our private hut on the water, hammocks between palm trees, and surprisingly good food; we settled into the island life and really set our minds on enjoying the calm that is rarely experienced outside of staring across large waters. The level of relaxation that we experienced was extraordinary. We lounged, ate, swam, and snorkeled to our heart’s content. And the snorkeling, although not the best we’ve ever experienced, was only 50-75 yards off the beach. The place we stayed offered free snorkels and masks and we spent a good two hours just kicking around with our butts in the air. With the seclusion of Koh Kradan, we were essentially alone for the whole time; the ocean and reef to ourselves.
The one downside, as you most likely shuddered at in the video, was the terrifying number of sea urchins we stumbled across. every few minutes we would find a colony that we unconsciously had been swimming toward until that little panic bean inside your brain says “Hey, aren’t those the spiked death balls we agreed to avoid?” Yes, brain. Yes they are. There were some close calls and funny swimming required because I didn’t feel safe putting my arms out to the side for each stroke. Still, worth it.
Koh Kradan was amazing. We enjoyed every second we were lucky enough to have on the island and suggest anyone who finds themselves in that area give it a shot. The beach is easily the longest I’ve ever been on and you can spend a good 45 minutes walking from one end to the other. While we only had about 24 hours on Koh Kradan, we will certainly know to dedicate more time to this remote paradise the next time we are in Southern Thailand.
Wow that beach and the water looks so inviting. Enjoyed the video; beautifully put together 🙂
Thanks, Andrew! Koh Kradan certainly is incredible. We were sad to only have such a short day to spend there, but it was well worth the journey.
Jealous! I’ve been to Thailand many times – so many great islands but one of my favorite spots was Bottle Beach on Koh Phan Gan. It’s on the opposite side of the island from Had Rin (of Full Moon Party fame) and is worlds apart in terms of vibe. Enjoy your trip.
That’s great, we hadn’t heard of Bottle Beach, but if we’re ever in that area we’ll check it out! Thanks for the suggestion and thanks for commenting!
Thanks for sharing your experiences with Koh Kradan. I’m already mentally planning my beach break for next winter vacation and will definitely revisit your blog as I’m making my decision! I usually look for nice, semi-secluded beaches without a party scene–this looks right up my alley! Just curious–where is your favorite place to go snorkeling?
Well the snorkeling off of Koh Kradan was enjoyable, to say the least, but the sea urchins made it slightly stressful. You can see in the video I’m often taking awkward swimming strokes down my torso instead of out to my side to avoid accidentally catching an urchin quill (spine? needle? death barb?) in my flailing hands. The snorkeling on Koh Mook was less than desirable, and we had more fun just lounging on the beach. This is partly the reason we went to both. One for relaxing, the other for the beach and water activities.
To answer you question, though, with only a few experiences thus far. I think Stephanie would agree with me on recommending El Nido, Philippines as our top snorkeling spot. Koh Kradan had more fish, but the reef was colorless compared to island hopping in El Nido. The diving/snorkeling was superb for the fish and quality of reef, and several people we dove with commented on how it was the best place they’d dived thus far after getting their certifications in Thailand. Take that for what it’s worth and let us know what you find! We’re always looking to find better places, too!
Koh Kradan sounds really nice! I was pretty disappointed with Koh Samui when I went to Thailand, I’d hoped it would be more like Koh Kradan. I’m hoping to make it back to Thailand in the fall to get some proper island time in… Koh Kradan will be on the list of potentials!
Also, did you smack a fish with the camera? Hahaha
It was an excellent place to unwind, that’s for sure. We’d heard similar stories of Koh Samui, so I’m sorry, for your sake, that they were true. We really liked both Koh Mook and Koh Kradan. Check out that other post for Koh Mook and consider bouncing between the two like we did. The differences are substantial. One offers many amenities and an awesome “resort experience” with a pool, swim-up bar, kayak rentals, huge restaurant menus, and diving excursions (Koh Mook), while the other (Koh Kradan) just gives you a spectacular beach, a bamboo hut with a hammock ten feet away from said beach, and a laid back island experience with all of the basic essentials.
And yes, we have found hunting fish is best done by spearing them with gopros. Haha, let us know if you need any details. Cheers.
Wow! It looks like a dream. I’m sure that one is for the memory books. Luckily you’ve got this awesome space to leave thoughts of Koh Kradan and others. How’d you find this place?
It was a dream! Longest beach we’ve ever been on and remote enough to feel somewhat empty! We definitely recommend it if you’re headed down to Trang Province. Koh Mook was certainly more developed, but the one-convenience-store vibe of Koh Kradan was superb. We had friends suggest it to us. Would you like links to the resort we stayed at or just curious?
Wow, looks like you guys found a gem!! I wish we had known about this on our trip to Thailand. The sea urchins definitely seem scary though~ Loved the video along with the post, I got a gopro for Christmas and I’m itching to go on underwater adventures with it!!
A gem indeed! Really amazing place with great water. The urchins were scary, but worth it when we got the video onto the computer. We really enjoy our GoPro and I’m sure you will, too. It’s a bit of incentive to go do more when you have a little action camera in your pocket!
Love the video! That was a nice added bonus. Haven’t had a chance to visit Thailand yet, but a secluded is always a good place to go. I will definitely keep this post in mind for our future travels.
Thailand is amazing, so you should absolutely go if you get the chance! We aren’t as fond of the larger cities, but the beaches and private getaways you can find are marvelous. We’re so glad you liked our video! Thanks for commenting.
I LOVE THAILAND, I love beaches, snorkeling, scuba diving etc, so I knew opening that Youtube clip would lead to me wanting to book a one way ticket to Thailand! Your video is great and now I am dying to return to Thailand for some sea adventures.
The water is Thailand was absolutely incredible. Such a great country to run away to and find a beach hut for a few weeks or forever. We will be going back. Glad you liked the video!
This is so beautiful! I especially love your video. What type of camera do you use underwater, if you don’t mind me asking? I’m looking to buy a new underwater camera and naturally am leaning towards a GoPro ;). We’ll see!
I’ll be headed to Thailand after my contract is up in August and this seems like the perfect little get away after a long year! Thanks for sharing guys.
Glad you liked it! We use a GoPro Hero 3+ Black Edition for our underwater filming. We’ve really enjoyed it and feel like it keeps urging us onward and deeper. Check out our other underwater videos from the Philippines and enjoy your time in Thailand this August. I’m sure you’ll love it as much as we did.
Wow… I cannot believe how beautiful this beach is. I plan to head to Thailand once my contract is up and was struggling to decide where to go. I like to party, but I definitely like solo relaxation a lot more. Your video is fantastic! What sort of camera and editing software did you use? I love all the little pop up bubbles. Watching you two swim past the sea urchins gave me chills… The ocean and I have a love/hate relationship. I love to snorkel, but am terrified when I can’t see the bottom. Was snorkelling in Galapagos Islands once and looked under and saw a Galapagos shark (they’re known for being vicious in packs!)… That’s turned me off snorkelling for a bit. 😉
Oh man, we can certainly understand the love/hate relationship with the ocean. I (Ryan) end up will all sorts of scratches and cuts from coral and shells because my long limbs flail about dangerously. BUT, I think it’ll always be worth it in the end!
For videos we use a Canon 6D and a GoPro Hero 3+ Black Edition (obviously what we use for underwater shots). For editing we use PowerDirector 13 for video and Photoshop for photos. Stephanie is the maestro for editing, so if you have any more questions, I’ll make sure she’s the one to answer.
Super jealous of your shark experience, by the way. I really want to swim with sharks at some point, but I’l agree that the vicious ones aren’t ideal. Thanks for commenting, and glad you liked the video.
DEATH TO SEA URCHINS! They are the worst and had my stuck on an island in Malaysia for three weeks after stepping on one and having to wait for the spines to fall out of my foot. Luckily, I was stuck on an island in Malaysia so it wasn’t that bad. Getting stuck on Koh Kradan doesn’t sound like it would be too shabby either!
Absolutely! If I could choose to be stuck somewhere…
Your sea urchin run-in sounds awful. For some reason I always thought they were super poisonous, but I guess they are merely super painful and impossible to remove! We were lucky to come away without any urchin punctures.
[…] that still amazes me to this day. We love putting this little guy into action while scuba diving, snorkeling, or needing a camera is a location that most camera’s just won’t fit! We love GoPro, […]