Island days · Trang archipelago
Koh Libong & the Dugongs
Thailand’s last wild dugongs, seen at first light with the people who protect them.
Gentle giants of the seagrass
A sighting few travellers ever get.
Koh Libong is Trang’s largest island and its least visited — a low, green island of fishing villages, rubber and mangroves, ringed by the seagrass meadows that support Thailand’s most important remaining population of dugongs. Slow, shy and closely related to the manatee, dugongs surface to breathe every few minutes as they graze; from a boat on a still morning you see the round grey back, the nostrils, sometimes the fluked tail. The community here has fought to keep them, and a visit with a local spotter supports that work.
The morning, from The Sunny Hill
This is a dawn trip. The concierge sets an early departure — coffee and pastries come with you — so that you are over the seagrass on Libong’s eastern side as the sun clears the mainland hills. The boat drifts, engine off; a spotter on the bow or on one of the small viewing towers scans the water; and then, if the morning is kind, a grey back breaks the surface. Sightings are typically brief and repeated as the animal grazes and breathes, and the stillness of it all is what guests remember.
The rest of the island
Afterwards, the boat can land you at one of Libong’s long, empty beaches on the western shore for a swim and our picnic, or run you along the coast past the stilted fishing villages. Between October and March the island’s mudflats host thousands of migratory shorebirds, and the mangrove channels are beautiful by kayak on a high tide.
Good to know
- Dugongs are protected by Thai law; boats keep their distance and never chase.
- Choose a still morning. Wind chops the surface and hides the animals.
- Pair it with Koh Sukorn, the “watermelon island” of paddies and rubber farms, for a full day of island life rather than island beaches.
Dugongs — quick answers
Are dugong sightings guaranteed?
No — they are wild animals, and that is the point. Local spotters know the seagrass beds and the tides, and most first-light trips in calm weather see them, but we would rather promise an extraordinary morning than a guaranteed animal.
What is the best time of day and year?
Early morning on a rising tide, when dugongs move into the shallow seagrass to feed and the sea is at its flattest. Dry-season months (November to April) give the calmest conditions and the clearest water.
Can we swim with the dugongs?
No. Dugongs are protected and the boats keep a respectful distance; viewing is from the boat, often with a spotter on a small tower. That distance is what keeps Libong’s herd here.
Keep exploring
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