Ko Kraden or Ko Ngai?

Has anyone been to these islands? If so where are the best places to stay and what is the best way to get from and to them?

Ko Kraden or Ko Ngai?

Koh Kradan, you can get a longtail from Pakmeng Pier. The easiest way is to fly into Trang, where reps from small travel agencies meet the planes. They%26#39;ll bring you into Trang City for free and then arrange van and boat transfer and accomodation. Just about the only place to stay is Koh Kradan Paradise, which has nice enough, somewhat overpriced bungalows (800 baht) and a very dicey kitchen. Up on the hill in the jungle is a quite rustic bungalow operation called Paradise Lost (aka Wallie%26#39;s) which is much cheaper and has great food and ambience, but it%26#39;s a fair hike from the beach.

Koh Ngai is more developed and has a number of budget and upscale resorts. You can get there from Pakmeng and Kradan by longtail, and from Koh Lanta by ferry. We stayed at (and loved) a beautiful budget bungalow operation called Koh Ngai Paradise, which has almost no web presence and is not listed in guide books. It%26#39;s run by a lovely guy called Chai. Bungalows (in 2007) were 500 baht a night.

Ko Kraden or Ko Ngai?

Thanks for the advice.

We will probably be coming from Koh Lanta to Koh Ngai as travelling down from Krabi. Then on to Koh Kraden...Is that straightforward to do?

Is there any pictures I can look at on the web for Koh Ngai Paradise? We also looked at Thapwarin which looked lovely, have you been there?

Travelling from Lanta to Koh Ngai is pretty straight forward. There are ferries available daily. You can wait till you get to Lanta to organise the ferry. PetchPailin is one of the companies.

The suggested Koh Ngai Paradise has very basic sort or bungalows similar to Koh Ngai Villa (on the main beach of the island). Of course, the price is much cheaper than Thapwarin Resort. The beach there is nice and quiet.

In Feb%26#39;08, we stayed at Thapwarin in both fan bungalow and beachfront one. I love the beachfront bungalow at Thapwarin although some reviews suggest otherwise.

I would say if you want to go rough and keep the cost low in Koh Ngai, check Koh Ngai Paradise and Koh Ngai Villa. If you want something nice, try any other resort on Koh Ngai. Also, check out Thanya, a new resort on Koh Ngai hasn%26#39;t open officially yet and the rate is still quite low around 2,500 baht a night for beachfront during high season as they haven%26#39;t finished the work yet.

Koh Ngai Paradise is both ';basic'; and nice. It%26#39;s clean, on manicured grounds in a palm grove, has a very good restaurant and friendly staff. It%26#39;s what simple beach bungalows are supposed to be. I took a look at Koh Ngai Villa and it didn%26#39;t appeal to me in comparison.

Here are some of my pix:

http://tinyurl.com/2e7zlp

http://tinyurl.com/yu7zq5

http://tinyurl.com/28rhje

The thing is: don%26#39;t book. Go there, stay a night and if you don%26#39;t like it you can move on somewhere else.

Great thanks,

Is there usually plenty of availability with rooms? What is the best way to get from Ko Ngai or Ko Kraden up to Bangkok?

We were island hopping in February high season and never had any problem finding a place to stay. To get back to Bangkok, fly from Krabi or Trang, train from Trang, or bus from Krabi or Trang.

Note: Koh KradAN (spelling).

Dear Lorie73,sorry that I see your question quite late.If you are still there in the South of Thailand and you like to snorkel and love all beautiful fishes very much,I will suggest you to Koh Kradan.There is crystal clear water with thousands of beautiful fishes of many different kinds include sea murrays just 5-8 meters from powderly white sand beach.The best spot to snorkel there is infront of the National park office where there ar perfect coral reefs with fishes.The resort I recommened is Kradan beach resort which lies on the beach closes to National Park.The Paradise lost Resort lies 300 meters from the beach.I was there 3 times in Jan-March this year and it is the best aquarium I have ever seen.You can have the resort arranges your package.The resort office is in Trang City.

Another late response, but perhaps still of use. We went to Koh Ngai in December 2007. We wanted somewhere where we could snorkel from the beach - there is a nice wall about 50 metres swim out from the beach. But there is nothing else there. The island has been developed just for tourism so there is no local population and everything is brought in for the resorts by boat. Food and drinks are therefore overpriced, and we found the food so bad it was sometimes inedible despite the high cost.

We stayed at Koh Ngai Villa - very cheap (B300 for a fan, squat toilet bungalow) - but the owner and staff have a serious attitude problem which dampened our experience and we would not recommend it at all. Almost all other accommodation is mid to high range. Some seemed quite nice - the newest is Chateau Sea Front resort offering B2000-B4500 rooms all with a sea view, a pool, and B100 beers. Great if you just want a palm-fringed beach and turquoise water to look at.

Koh Ngai Paradise seems pretty basic, but the surroundings are quiet and beautiful. The beach is long, and close by there are some smaller beaches with crystal clear water. Paradise is at the opposite side of the island from all the other hotels. We stayed at koh Ngai Fantasy a year ago and walked the path over to Paradise. Steep and slippery some places. Don`t think you can go there when it is raining.

Instead of ferry, you can also go to Ngai, Kradan etc with speeboats, running daily from Lanta in high season.