A relatively undiscovered, tranquil island off the tourist trail. The perfect beach escape.
We come across Koh Mook purely by accident; we knew we couldn’t afford to stay on Koh Lipe for longer than 5 nights and we didn’t want to spend longer than 3 nights in Bangkok as we are beach bums by heart. We simply looked at Google Maps and zoomed in on all the smaller islands then looked on booking,com to see what the accommodation options were look….and along came Koh Mook!
Where to stay?
After Koh Lipe we needed something cheap, simple and close to Charlie beach so Nature Hill seemed to tick all the boxes. We called it a treehouse but it is a simple bungalow built into the trees on a big, green area and it prides itself on being sustainable – you’re given a flask to get water when you need it and there’s no a/c but unfortunately a cold shower too! We had a double bed and single bed, a beautiful balcony with bean bags which looked out onto trees and grass it was a very quiet, tranquil place…aside from the frequent outbursts from the French owner who kept shouting and swearing at his Thai wife for not bringing him his pad thai quick enough…which unfortunately left a bad taste in our mouths. Mountain View Resort next door had similar looking bungalows so check them out as location was perfect.
Charlie Beach
Walking down to the beach you might be put off and think you have gone the wrong way. There is a resort that is half built – chalet’s without some walls, the outline of a swimming pool, buildings without roofs, it is all rather strange, even a bit eerie but we never got to find out what the story behind it was – if you do, let us know!
The beach itself is stunningly beautiful, a perfect banana shaped cove with the dramatic cliffs we know to represent Thailand. There are little vendors along the beach that sell cold drinks, beers (70bht – cheapest we found in Thailand!), sandwiches, pancakes even pad thai and other basic food making it easy to perch up for the day.
At the end of the beach is a reggae bar – Mong Bar – it has a very laid back vibe, does great food and drinks and has live music in the evenings. Tuk tuks line the road behind the beach making it easy to get here and back if you are not staying within walking distance.
Above Mong Bar is a restaurant with a balcony skirting the cliff which makes an incredible viewing point at sunset. We didn’t eat here but we did have a couple of drinks watching the sunset.
Emerald Caves
This is what most people think of when they hear about Koh Mook, it is a famous stop off on a lot of boat trips, we had seen it advertised when in Koh Lanta. We went down to Charlie Beach at 8am on our 2nd day, the hotel owner had told us that we would definitely be able to get a longtail to take us to Emerald Caves for 500bht for all of us – but he didn’t pre-arrange anything. Luckily there was a German couple who had pre-booked a boat and they let us join them. It was only about 20minutes boat ride to get there but we stopped on the way for a bit of snorkelling.
To get into the Emerald Caves you have to get out of the longtail boat into the water and swim for about 100m through the dark cave to come out into the emerald cave. We all wore life jackets and our guide led us and held my arm the whole way as I was carrying Elis who is not a swimmer.
When we got out into the cave it was pretty incredible, a circular, hollow cave with tall green trees all around that when the light shines in turns everything green, thus giving it the name ‘Emerald Cave’. It was a very calming, peaceful place and it made you feel pretty special standing in such a natural wonder.
As we had gone in there so early we were the only people in there and the guide said by 11am all the organised tours start flooding in and it gets busy – we certainly noticed that when we left as many people were trying to swim through the cave to get in.
If you are a comfortable enough swimmer then try and include this trip during your time in Koh Mook.
Hilltop Restaurant
This restaurant has great Tripadvisor views so we were eager to check it out, and the bonus was it was a 5-10minute walk from the hotel. Make sure to take your phone for the torch on the dark roads! It is a real family restaurant, run by a family where the kids pitch in and help out as well. The seats on the lawn are all lit up by fairy lights, the service is great and the food is amazing – watch out for the huge portions though, we definitely over ordered. It was so good that we went back twice and we were only here 3 nights!
Sivalai Beach Resort
This is a big fancy resort on the edge of Koh Mook near the ‘city centre’ or pier. It has many beautiful looking cottages with balconies, 2 swimming pools, restaurant and a beautiful beach with pure white sand. We got a tuk tuk down here for a look around (just pretended we were guests!) and decided to come back for dinner that night.
Dinner was an Italian buffet which was a nice change after 2.5 weeks of Thai food and the boys favourite food is pasta and pizza so we thought we were onto a winner. We saw a nice sunset, had a couple of cocktails and enjoyed the buffet, it is a beautiful resort and if you can afford to stay there definitely check it out.
If you enjoyed reading about our time in Koh Mook then check out our other posts on other Thai islands like Koh Lanta or Koh Lipe or to browse through our Thailand itinerary click here.
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