Hat Chao Mai National Park

Hat Chao Mai National Park’s headquarters sit on the Trang mainland at Mai Fat, in Sikao district, not on an island — the park protects a stretch of coastline and its offshore waters, with the beaches and visitor facilities all accessible by road from Trang town. Entry is 200 THB for foreign adults and 100 THB for children, against 40 THB and 20 THB for Thai nationals, and the gates operate daily from 08:30 to 16:30.

The mainland section centres on Hat Chao Mai itself, a long beach backed by casuarina trees with limestone karsts breaking the coastline to the north and south. Behind the sand, the park protects mangrove forest and a run of low limestone hills threaded with short walking trails; a few short caves sit within reach of the main path, though none are large show caves on the scale of Trang’s better-known cave systems. Offshore, the park’s protected islands — Koh Muk, Koh Kradan, Koh Chueak, and Koh Waen — carry the coral reefs and clearer water most visitors associate with a Trang island trip, reached by longtail boat from piers along this coast rather than from the mainland beach itself.

The ecological headline is dugongs. Trang’s seagrass beds, concentrated further south around Koh Libong, support one of Thailand’s last significant dugong populations, and this park forms part of that protected feeding ground. A sighting from a standard beach visit or day-boat route is possible but not something to plan a trip around — the animals are wary and the seagrass beds they favour are some distance from the main tourist beaches.

Insider Tip: If a dugong sighting matters to you, book with an operator running trips specifically toward Koh Libong rather than the general Koh Muk/Koh Kradan snorkel route — the standard island-hopping boats rarely go near the seagrass beds.

Watch out: Koh Ngai, a popular resort island nearby, sits outside this park’s core protected islands and is usually a separate booking — don’t assume a Koh Ngai resort stay includes park access or that park-boat routes stop there.

The park is one of the main draws of the wider Trang coastline. Nearby Hat Pak Meng is the usual departure beach for island-hopping boats along this same stretch, and Koh Chueak-Koh Waen covers two of the park’s own offshore islets in more detail.