There is something about sunsets and the calm that comes with those that is just really special. If you don't have any sort of appreciation for sunsets, I don't think we can be friends in the end, because come on...Take a look around and just see what is there on the daily.
I had one of those special sunsets again a while back at the West side of the island of Koh Mook at a place called 'Charlie Beach' and I only think back to this day with super warm feelings on how chill the vibe was over here.
For real, just imagine dropping your anchor here for the night!!
This is just s great place to hang out later in the evenings between the palm trees and take in a drink or two. Yes, there are some commercial stands there as well with beach beds and chairs which you can use for free as long as you buy a drink of some kind (which I find a really sympathetic deal actually), but you can also easily choose to just take your blanket and chill under a tree somewhere without.
I was a bit weary of this, but that had a lot to do with my sand flea experience on another beach on this island, so I choose to stay off of the sand during sunset hours and this didn't disappoint at all.
The more crowded it gets
Chilling here in the late afternoons was super weird, because as time was passing, the more crowded it was getting. Not that I mean crowds as gigantic, but more and more people were heading towards the beach to just have some afternoon drink and chill for an hour.
Often these people were returning from the neighboring island called 'Koh Kradan' which I also visited and which was even more stunning on sea life. You have this coral reef on the South East side of the island which is perfect for snorkeling because it is not too deep, but for some reason this coral has not been destroyed yet (which is an awesome conclusion!!) and there is a lot of underwater life going on over there. But uhhh..Koh Kradan is crowded during the day, so think wisely on if and when you would want to be visiting this.
You can see Koh Kradan in the distance over here. It is about a 20 minute long tail boat ride
Back to Charlie Beach! At the same time there were some sailing boats returning from other places to drop anchor here and I also saw some people coming to shore to have a drink as well.
For me dropping anchor here would be absolute heaven honestly, because the bay is quite sheltered, the sand has a decent holding, but you really need to be aware of the tides coming in and going out over here. But with an easy access to the beach with either a dinghy or a SUP and als having some taxis here (taxi is bit too much of a word, these are tuktuks and they take you to everywhere on the island for 50 cent in a fixed price), these seems like a very decent place to hang around for a couple of days without that much of a hassle.
Koh Mook in general
Honestly, I was extremely fond of Koh Mook in general which is one of the lesser known islands in the Andaman sea. It is really small and everything is kind of low profile. Don't expect big resorts here (there is just one and that looks like it really sucks) and a lot of the businesses are small and family driven.
There are also no real roads so everything is scooter, bike or tuktuk and actually a lot is easy to walk, because it also feels very safe here as well even during the nights.
This feels like an island where time stood still and it hasn't catched up with modern times which makes everything feel just a bit slower. That slower...honestly....is just fantastic!
Sure, when you look up what there is to do around Koh Mook there are all kinds of options. But if you ask me, the best thing to do here is just take a chill pill during the day, and head out to Charlie Beach in the late afternoon and you don't need a lot more beyond that.
Yeah it is small, yeah it has only like 1 or 2 ATMs that very often don't work. Yeah the housing is not your typical Thai islanding style, but that is what gives it all the charm.
And that is perfect to let the mind drift away when the sun goes down. Damn I really love spending winters in the undergoing sun.