Mu Ko Lanta National Park
December 3, 2024
Mu Ko Lanta National Park is a great day trip located about 40 minutes south of Khlong Dao Beach we were were staying. It offers stunning coastal views, an historic lighthouse, a decent beach (where you can swim depending on the day - there are flags indicating if it is safe from jellyfish) and a moderately strenuous hike through the lush jungle.
If you don't have your own car the best way to get there is by taxi/truck. Don't take a scooter or tuk tuk as they will not make it up the steep hills. We used "Abud Tuk Tuk" a guy we met who was very reliable and reasonably priced. His number is +66 81 788 7048 if you want to WhatsApp him.
Heading to Mu Ko Lanta National Park in the back of Abud's truck
When you first arrive at the parking lot you have a choice. You can take the steep path up the stairs and start the roughly 1 hour loop trail through the jungle or head along the ocean front to Tanod beach and lighthouse. We choose the latter and after a brief photo stop at the entrance sign, we took to the beach and subsquently hiked up the small hill to the (no longer in use) light house and those amazing views.
Bamboo Bay & Tanod Beach
Tanod (or Ta Noad) Beach
Flags letting you know if you can swim or not. When we were there it was a green flag although it was too cold to swim.
A sign depitcing the type of marine life in the area.
Map of the park
Finley, Ryan and I took an adventurous route off the cliff and across the rocky shoreline back to the beach.
View from on top of Lighthouse Hill.
From there we had a quick picnic lunch under one of the gazebos near the beach, observed some black monkeys in the trees and set out on the loop trail through the jungle.
The jungle path wasn't too crowded when we went although it was an overcast /rainy day in the shoulder season so perhaps that is why. Still, as always, there were many scooters in the parking lot. I know I said scooters are not the best transportation, so despite there being many in this photo, we did see several people walking their scooters up hill on the way to and from the park.
There is an entry fee for the park - 200 Baht for adult tourists and 100 Baht for child tourists - but that is relatively small compared to some of the other day trip options like the elephant sanctuaries or snorkel trips. I've seen this one get mixed reviews on line, but it's definitely worth it if you have good weather, like a good hike through the jungle and impressive views.
