Ko Libong

Introducing Ko Libong

Trang’s largest island is just 15 minutes by long-tail from Hat Yao. Less visited than neighbouring isles, Ko Libong is known for its flora and fauna as much as for its beaches. The island is home to a small Muslim fishing community and has a few resorts on the lovely isolated beaches of the western coast. The sensitive development here is a real breath of fresh air compared with other islands in the bay.

On the eastern coast of Ko Libong at Laem Ju Hoi is a large area of mangroves protected by the Botanical Department as the Libong Archipelago Wildlife Reserve (0 7525 1932). The sea channels here are one of the last habitats of the rare dugong, and around 40 of them graze on the sea grass that flourishes in the bay. The nature resorts in Hat Yao and Ko Libong offer dugong-spotting tours by sea kayak, led by trained naturalists, for 900B. Sea kayaks can also be rented at most resorts for 100B per hour.

If you want to spend the night, try Libong Nature Beach Bungalow (0 1894 6936; www.trangsea.com; bungalows 600-1000B; ). Set on a lovely grassy garden and surrounded by rubber plantations, this place is owned by the same friendly and environmentally conscious people running the nature resort in Hat Yao. There’s a simple restaurant with tasty food and the owners run excellent sea-kayaking tours of the mangroves. The resort is closed in the low season.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009