Koh Kradan is one of the most beautiful islands in Thailand.
The water here is stunning. Snorkeling around the island is fantastic
and the beach is absolute perfection: soft white sand and aquamarine blues.
Let’s go visit this gorgeous island together!
Kho Kradan is a tiny island in the Andaman Sea off the west coast of Thailand.
This gem of an island is part of the Had Chao Mai National Park.
There are no roads here, no village, no ATMs, no stores, no medical clinic,
and no public electricity. There are only a few hotels running on generators.
Even though it’s only 3 km long, this narrow island has a lot of character. There’s a deep
jungle engulfing most of the land. There are soft sandy beaches and a beautiful underwater world.
A variety of colorful fishes inhabit the shallow water corals.
Koh Kradan has one main beach. It’s a long and narrow stretch on the east side of the island.
This is where most hotels on the island are located.
The very north end of the beach is rocky and has mangrove vegetation. As soon as the beach ends,
the jungle begins. The north end of the beach makes for a lovely morning walk.
Kradan’s main beach is a very long stretch of sand.
It will take you a good 30 to 40min to walk end-to-end.
On the south end of the beach is where the National Park ranger station is situated.
The beach here is dotted with beautiful old trees that have fallen down toward the sea.
Did I mention that Koh Kradan does not have any sandflies?
This is maybe the only Thai island without sandflies. The beach here is absolute perfection!
The best spot to snorkel on Koh Kradan is the coral reef in front of Reef Resort.
The one-day excursion boats all stop here and let people snorkel in this spot.
You can either swim until you reach the deeper water or you can borrow a kayak from your resort,
paddle out there and tie your kayak to the boat line.
I would recommend getting out there at lower tide so you’re snorkeling a little closer to the reef.
Just please make sure not to touch anything or break any coral.
You can expect to see lots of colorful tropical fish. There are lots of clownfish or “Nemos”.
Some of the coral is dead, but some is alive and it’s beautiful.
We saw squid. It was changing colors as it moved through different backgrounds.
We saw shrimpfish, those are funny little fishes that swim vertically.
They are very bizarre and cute. We even saw a lionfish. Ok, the
visibility that day was not great, but that blotchy spot in the water is a lionfish.
There’s another great snorkeling spot on the south side of the island in front of
the Ao-Nieng Resort. The best way to get there is to kayak from the main beach,
going past the national park offices, and then tie your kayak to the boat line.
Starting at the north end of the main beach, it took us around 20 min to kayak to Ao-Nieng.
It was a bit tiring, but it was worth it! There is a path through the jungle that gets
to Ao-Nieng Resort. But swimming from the beach to the coral reef might be too far.
This reef has beautiful corals and bigger fish.
You can snorkel in the shallows or follow the deeper reef.
There were lots of sergeant major fishes, moorish idol, butterflyfish, and others.
The sunset happens on this side of the island. There’s a small beach here.
You get there by following a trail through the jungle. It’s a beautiful walk.
Just listen to the sounds of the forest. It’s fascinating!
It will take you a good 20min to surface on the west side of Koh Kradan.
Even though lots of garbage has accumulated here with the tides,
Sunset Beach is very charming. You can jump in the water for a swim or just wait for the sunset.
Going back through the jungle at night can be a bit tricky as it gets pitch dark very fast.
So carry a small light with you or your phone and don’t get off the path. There are snakes around.
At night, the starry skies are beautiful. When you take a night stroll be careful not to step
on one of those giant hermit crabs. They all have different shells and personalities. You will see
them walking about after sunset. They have all sorts of shapes and sizes. Seems like they drag
whatever shell they can find to hide under. We saw some highly inappropriate ones that made us laugh.
Where to stay? There are only 8 hotels on the island. All of them are built on the main beach,
except for Ao-Nieng. The hotels on Kradan are really expensive. This is because they have to
generate their own electricity 24/7. Each hotel relies on a generator run by diesel and diesel
is expensive in Thailand. Also, anything the hotels provide comes from mainland
and is carried by hand on long-tail boats. That’s expensive too.
The nicest hotel on the island is Mali Resort. Their beachfront villas look gorgeous and are
brand new. If you are looking for a cheaper option, there’s the eco-friendly Kalume,
run by an Italian couple. They have great pizza here. We were astounded to find
real mozzarella cheese and salami on this small island. Further down the beach,
there are also the Seven Seas and Kradan Beach Resort.
I stayed at Reef Resort and absolutely recommend it! Reef Resort was the very
first hotel constructed on the island and has the best beachfront. The most beautiful
part of the reef is in front of the resort. All the day tours stop here for snorkeling.
Reef resort is run by Genta, a very kind Italian lady. 80% of customers here are
returning customers. When you meet Genta and her team you will know why.
Does anyone recognize their driftwood sign? It’s still here, waiting for you to come back!
The hotel rooms on the island tend to fill up very quickly during high season, so reserve
well in advance. By the way, the National Park allows camping on the south side of the island.
Because Kradan is a very expensive island, most people come here on a day trip. You can
easily stay on the nearby Koh Mook and enjoy Koh Kradan on a snorkeling trip. But if you have the
budget to stay here, I would highly recommend enjoying this island for a couple of days.
After traveling in Thailand for a year, this is one of the best beaches we have experienced.
Ko Kradan is subject to the same monsoon as the rest of Thailand’s southwest coast.
The rainy season runs from May to October. Only a few hotels stay
open. You can still travel to the island and enjoy it empty. High season is from
November to April, with January and February in particular being very busy and expensive.
How to get here? There are many transfer options to the island.
We traveled during covid and most ferries were closed, so we hired a private longtail boat
to get us there. For detailed travel information, have a look in the description of this video.
To me, Koh Kradan has one of the most beautiful beaches in Thailand.
The aquamarine color of the water is mesmerizing. The soft white sand and colorful underwater world
make for a breathtaking holiday. I highly recommend adding Koh Kradan to your travel list.
if you have been to Koh Kradan and have tips or impressions to share,
please leave them in the comments below this video. Thanks for watching! :)