Mu Ko National Park - Koh Lanta with Kids

If you want to experience a real tropical jungle, tune into its sounds and scents, and see up close what this amazing ecosystem looks like… and then end up swimming in the turquoise waters of the Andaman Sea at a beautiful, wild, almost paradise-like beach right on the edge of the rainforest, make sure to visit Mu Ko National Park in the south of Koh Lanta.

O tym przeczytasz

We came back enchanted from Mu Ko Lanta

Koh Lanta is one of the few larger Thai islands where you won’t find big beach parties like moon parties or huge resorts with massive buildings. If you are still wondering which Thai island to choose with kids, Lanta will surely steal your hearts! Even in the middle of the high tourist season, there’s a cozy atmosphere here. The island attracts mainly families planning a trip through Thailand with kids and people looking for a touch of nature, wanting to chill and experience the tropical vibe.

Because Koh Lanta is all about beautiful wide beaches, fascinating wild nature (to plan your trip perfectly, be sure to check out our subjective guide to Koh Lanta), and loads of great diving spots (if you want to try diving, there’s no better place in Thailand – trust us, we dive and we work at a dive center on Lanta!).

Recently we told you about the Khlong Chak waterfall in the middle of the jungle. Today, it’s about the Mu Ko National Park, located a few kilometers further south on the island.

★★★

How to get to Mu Ko National Park?

Actually, only part of Mu Ko National Park is on Koh Lanta Yai (the island everyone usually just calls “Lanta”). To the north, Lanta Yai is bordered by the narrow-channel-separated Lanta Noi and to the south there are a few micro-islands that also belong to Koh Lanta. The rest of the Park is located on several smaller islands – altogether, Mu Ko covers over 134 km2 across 16 islands.

The area we walked is at the southern tip of Lanta Yai. The easiest way to get there is by scooter or car. Just type “Mu Ko Lanta National Park” into Google Maps and it will guide you straight to the parking lot. A few hundred meters before the parking lot, there’s a booth where you pay the entry fee (200 THB per adult, 100 THB per child aged 3-14, 20 THB for a scooter, and 30 THB for a car).

Mu Ko National Park is open daily from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM.

Then they close the gates – around 6:30 PM it gets completely dark on the island.

★★★

How long is the walk and what can you see in Mu Ko National Park?

There’s a trail in the Park that forms a nice, easy loop from the parking lot. The whole route is about 2.5 km long. Walking it, along with swimming in the sea, took us about 2.5 hours (without kids it would probably be much less).

The trail first leads along a narrow muddy path, then after a few hundred meters, it turns into a comfortable jungle path winding along the hillside. The path goes down and up a bit. There are a few bridges and steps to cross.

The whole path is fairly well marked, and there are signs by some of the huge tropical trees and spots where different animals are found. If you’re lucky, you can really see a lot of them, including famous flying lemurs, dusky leaf monkeys, crab-eating macaques, slow lorises, and wild boars. We only saw centipedes, ants, and termites, and had to jump over their paths.

★★★

Paradise beach at the end of the trail in Mu Ko Lanta + lighthouse

The trail ends at a wild, beautiful paradise beach. Be sure to bring swimsuits because you’ll definitely want to take a dip after walking through the jungle. The cool water in the bay brought us huge relief after the humid, steamy rainforest. Seriously, at that moment, we couldn’t dream of anything else than such a swim. And best of all, we had the beach all to ourselves. That’s why even the lack of swimsuits wasn’t a barrier to diving into the turquoise water :). It was wonderful!

At the other end of the beach, there’s an impressive lighthouse worth walking up to. There’s also a nice restaurant and a souvenir shop there. Plus, spacious bathrooms.