Koh Mook
Koh Mook is for me an excellent example of the advantages of travelling without a preset plan. From Koh Lipe I had planned to travel to Koh Lanta, another relatively well known island nearby, however I couldn’t find affordable accommodation at short notice. I looked at the route the boat takes from Koh Lipe to Koh Lanta, and discovered it made a few stops at smaller islands on the way. Picking one relatively randomly I found one hostel bed left at one hostel on Koh Mook, and decided I’d go and see whatever was there on my way. What a brilliant decision that turned out to be.
Having completed my PADI Open Water diving qualification, I’d looked up the only dive centre on the island in advance and booked to go diving on my only full day here. I arrived around 1pm the day before on a speedboat, wanting to see some of the island before I looked under the water. I was about to begrudgingly sign up for a tour of the emerald cave, one of the sights on offer (I don’t mind tours, but natural beauty is rarely improved by big groups) when I received a text from Luke, who I’d been diving with in Koh Lipe. Luke and Nanna, his girlfriend, were also now on Koh Mook and I suggested we explore the cave together. Luke picked me up on his rented scooter and we chilled out on Long Beach (aptly names, next to Charlie beach, whose name is more of a mystery) and in the warm bath-like sea before renting kayaks to head round the rocky coast to the cave.
The kayaking was hard work on the slightly choppy sea, but it felt really good being on the sea in a tiny boat, next to rugged rocky cliffs. We continued around the coast until we found the entrance to the cave, maybe a 25 minute trip, where we had to tie up kayaks and swim in to the cave. On the way in, a local guide warned us against going in without a torch, as in the middle of the cave it gets completely pitch black, and the are a few twists and turns to navigate. Very kindly he offered to lend us his torch, provided we dropped it back to his local bar later on. The water at the entrance was such a vibrant emerald green it was almost glowing, hence the cave’s name. We admired it for a bit, then swam in to the darkness. The water was too deep to see the bottom, even with the snorkelling gear that a Spanish couple we met had brought along. We swam through by torchlight, until we saw a literal light at the end of the tunnel, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.
The cave opens in to a hidden beach within a circular oasis, maybe 30-40 metres in diameter, surrounded by steep rock on all sides. The flooded cave is the only way to access the beach, and we times it perfectly - we were the only ones there. I could honestly barely believe such a place existed - it felt like it must be a film set. But it was there, natural, unspoiled, and amazingly, deserted. We sat and took it in, had a little swim in the pool that led up to the beach, and eventually decided we should get back before sunset. On the way out we had a quick snorkel and saw huge schools of fish around the entrance to the cave enjoying the emerald glow in the sunlight. We kayaked back to the beach we started from, watched a particularly colourful sunset and went for a swim together under the moon and stars. One of the most special afternoons of my life.
After that, the diving the next day had a lot to live up to, but it managed to. I was a little nervous on the boat to Koh Wean or Ring Island, our dive site, as these were my first qualified dives responsible for my own safety, but our guide was excellent and I quickly felt comfortable. I really enjoyed focussing on looking around and exploring rather than doing exercises, although with the focus not on training, my buoyancy would sometimes go awry when distracted by looking at something interesting. I really enjoyed all three dives, the second of which went down to 18m to look at some train carriages filled with marine life. The carriages are purposefully left at the bottom of the ocean to encourage coral growth (the coral grows well on the hard surfaces), and it was quite surreal moving past a window to see hundreds of fish curiously looking out at me. On the way back to the surface I saw a jellyfish with seemingly electric nerves lighting and timing, running up and down its body and tentacles.
The third dive was the best of the three however. We explored a reef set around lots of rocks and caverns just next to Koh Wean, and they were teeming with interesting creatures. Among what must have been thousands of fish, some highlights were the biggest pufferfish our guide had ever seen (around the size of my leg, not an exaggeration), a big cuttlefish sleeping on the sea floor, a moral eel curiously sticking its head out of its cave, three lion fish hanging out together, batfishes, some huge blue ring angelfish and a couple of tiny nurse sharks sleeping under a rock. The world under the sea is calm, peaceful, colourful and simply stunning. I can’t wait to see more.
I hadn’t heard of Koh Mook until a few days ago, and I’m very grateful I stumbled across it. My desire to travel without a plan has been validated. What a beautiful place. Honestly, it might be my favourite travel experience to date.