Over the last decade or so, I have traveled to a number of islands in Thailand. After spending some time in the relatively obscure island of Koh Libong, I believe that I have finally identified my ideal beach destination. Located in the southern province of Trang, Koh Libong is known primarily as a refuge for the Dugong (often referred to as a sea cow), a large marine mammal which is closely related to the manatee.

With only a handful of small and somewhat primitive bungalow resorts scattered around the island, the tourism infrastructure on Koh Libong is somewhat basic. There are no gaudy resort hotels with swim up bars, no shopping district with tacky souvenir and tourist shops and there is virtually no nightlife to speak of – no nightclubs or bars.

The island’s population is primarily Muslim; scattered around the island are four small fishing villages and most of inhabitants on the island are Muslim. That would explain the absence of nightclubs and bars – in traditional Muslim culture, the consumption (and sale) of alcohol is prohibited. That doesn’t mean that you cannot get a drink on the island; at the various bungalow resorts, you can buy alcohol and beer. Buddhists own these “resorts”.

Island life for the tourist in Koh Libong is pretty quiet. Watching the tide come in, reading a good book and collecting seashells are some of the most popular activities for visitors. In addition, there are some very spectacular sunsets. Admittedly without the bar scene, Koh Libong is pretty dead at night. The social scene for a tourist is pretty much restricted to the restaurants of the various bungalow resorts - hotel guests will often linger after dinner, enjoying a round of drinks together before retiring for the evening.

Going on a Dugong Sighting Tour – more commonly known as a “Dugong Safari” - is one of the most popular excursions for visitors.

For most people, Koh Libong is too primitive and way too quiet. For yours truly, I can do without the resort scene, clutter and commercialism (not too mention the noisy jet skis) of Phuket, Koh Samui and Pattaya - just not my cup of tea. As they say - different strokes for different folks.

After going on the Dugong spotting tour in Koh Libong, I had an opportunity to talk to one of the tour guides from Trang who had reasonable facility with English. When I told him that we had sighted four individual dugongs, he said that we were very lucky as from his experience, only 10% of such tours are successful in seeing a dugong. When I asked about the social behavior of the dugongs, he told me that dugongs usually travel in a herd of up to 8 individuals.

Doing some further investigation on my own, I learned that the dugong herd typically consists of females and their calves; the males - for the most part - are solitary, only getting together with the females to mate. Furthermore, during the day the dugongs stay (resting quietly) in the deep sea coming to the shallow coastal areas, inlets and mangroves at night to feed eat on sea grass.

That could explain, why there are so few dugong sightings on these day tours as the herds are active mostly at night. I surmise that the individuals that we saw were solitary males patrolling their territory, but who I am to know!

As sort of a gag, I produced an impromptu video where I am seen swimming in the open seas impersonating a female dugong, in the hope of attracting a male dugong. Bret, the young and affable Canadian, provided the humorous narration