5 Days in Krabi

Ao Nang is the resort town on a bay about 15 km from Krabi Town. It is the busiest and most commercial beach in the province, and the beach road is lined with restaurants, tour desks, massage parlors and convenience stores. It is the best place to sleep for island trips, but it is a base, not a showpiece.

The west end of the beach is where the boats leave from, which means less swimming and more diesel. Most people settle on the east side, which is calmer and nicer for a swim. At low tide the water stays shallow far out and often looks muddy, so it is better for a walk than a swim. Skip the stream mouth that runs onto the sand. Phra Nang tomorrow is the better swim.

From the east edge of Ao Nang beach, a 10-15 minute trail leads over the headland to Pai Plong (also written Phai Plong). It's a small sandy cove with a resort at one end and not much else, which is exactly the appeal. The beach is narrow at high tide, so check the tide before you carry a picnic over.

Go in the morning when it is quiet, and stay for a swim. The trail is not hard, but it is best avoided by small children and anyone unsteady on their feet. The cove is also a good place to watch the sunset if you don't fancy Nopparat Thara, and the walkway is lit at night.

Nopparat Thara is the long beach just west of Ao Nang, separated from it by a creek and a headland. It sits inside the national park, so there are no high-rises. The part near the pier is where the Thai-oriented restaurants cluster, which makes it a good place to look for cheaper food than on the Ao Nang strip.

Order what the table next to you is eating. Som tam (green papaya salad), grilled fish with chili dip, fried rice with crab, and a fresh coconut will cost a fraction of a hotel lunch. Ask for the spice level you want in advance, because "medium" is not the same everywhere.

Nopparat Thara is better than Ao Nang for a stroll. The sand is wide at low tide and narrow at high tide, so time it for the ebb. At the river mouth near the pier you can walk out at low tide toward small limestone islets, but watch the water coming back so you don't get cut off.

The long beach has plenty of room and far fewer people than Ao Nang. Jellyfish turn up in some months, so ask a local before swimming if nobody else is in the water. Sunset is the point of the walk, with the Andaman Sea turning orange.

The Landmark Night Market is Ao Nang's biggest, a large open-air market of grilled food, fruit, vegetables, desserts and clothes. It is aimed at visitors, so expect to pay more than at the Krabi Town markets, but the food is cooked in front of you and you can see what you are buying.

Eat in this order: a plate of grilled meat or fish, a roti with banana and condensed milk, then a mango shake. Agree on prices before the grill goes on for anything sold by weight, especially seafood.

Take the longtail from Ao Nang's east end, about 100 THB (3 USD) each way in the day, 10-20 minutes. Boats leave when they have around 8 passengers, and you buy a paper ticket at the kiosk instead of paying the driver. There is no pier at Ao Nang, so expect to wade out a few steps. Pack your phone in a dry bag.

Phra Nang is the postcard: a strip of white sand with cliffs at both ends and climbers hanging off the rock above. At the far end is the Princess Cave, a shrine to the spirit of a drowned princess. Fishermen leave carved wooden phalluses there as offerings for her protection, and it's still a place of worship, so keep your voice down and your shoulders covered. The sea is calm and clear, and at low tide you can walk across to a rock island. Come before 9am: from late morning the day-trip boats arrive, and the right end of the beach almost disappears at high tide.

The trail starts on the path between Railay East and Phra Nang, marked by a reddish dirt slope with ropes. The climb to the viewpoint takes 10-20 minutes and is steep, slippery and partly a rope scramble, with views over both sides of the peninsula. It is doable for most fit people in shoes with grip, and awful in flip-flops.

Partway up the trail forks. Left goes to the viewpoint. Right drops into a sinkhole toward the Princess Lagoon (Sa Phra Nang), and that is a different level: a steep, rocky ravine of red clay with knotted ropes that can be more dangerous than helpful, then a pool with a muddy bottom that eats shoes. Only go down in dry weather and with decent fitness. Our honest advice: do the viewpoint, skip the lagoon unless you're sure.

Diamond Cave (Tham Phra Nang Nai) is a short boardwalk through a lit cave of glittering formations, near Phra Nang. It is small and takes around 15 minutes, so it is a quick stop between the beach and lunch rather than an event.

If you have already seen caves, skip it. It's better value for kids than for anyone who has stood in a big cave before.

Railay is not a food destination, and the food is what you would expect in southern Thailand: tasty, but none of it remarkable. The East side, around the pier, has the most restaurants, and Phra Nang beach has a restaurant and a longtail-boat kitchen that sell meals, cold drinks and fresh coconuts.

Prices are higher than on the mainland because everything arrives by boat, so don't expect Ao Nang rates.

Railay is one of the best-known climbing areas in Asia, with more than 700 bolted routes on limestone walls, many of them right above the beaches. Most hard routes are steep and best for experienced climbers, but schools such as King Climbers and Real Rocks run half-day introductory courses for beginners with guide, rope and shoes included.

You will climb two or three easy routes, and the guide belays you. You don't need experience, but you do need to be comfortable with heights. In humid heat the rock is slippery and the work is tiring. The sea air also corrodes the bolts, so choose a school that maintains its gear and a guide who checks it in front of you.

Railay West is the wide beach of the Railay peninsula, with shallow water, where most boats from Ao Nang arrive. After sunset, the cliffs turn into silhouettes, and the long ridge called the Sleeping Indian, past Ton Sai, looks like a man lying on his back. Climbers come down, the day-trippers leave, and the peninsula goes quiet.

If you want this view every evening, sleep on Railay for a night or two. Otherwise leave enough time before the last public boat, because after dark the fare goes up and a private charter back to Ao Nang costs around 800 THB (24 USD).

Railay East is the mangrove side of the peninsula. You can't swim here, but it has the most restaurants and bars, and the variety is much greater than on the West beach. Most meals are Thai and Western standards at above-mainland prices.

Eat early if you plan to take a boat back to Ao Nang that evening. If you stay the night on the peninsula, it becomes a pleasant, car-free evening of music and cold drinks.

The Four Islands are Ko Poda, Ko Kai (Chicken Island), Ko Tup and Ko Mor, an archipelago between Ao Nang and Phi Phi that belongs to the Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park. Group tours by longtail or small speedboat cost about 600-1,200 THB (18-36 USD); a private longtail runs about 1,500-3,000 THB (45-90 USD) a boat. The national park fee for foreigners is 400 THB (12 USD) in most sources, and it's often charged separately at the pier, so ask whether your quote includes it.

Book at the pier or from a licensed agent, not from a hotel concierge who may add 30-50% to the same boat. In high season the islands are crowded. In the rainy months, the sea can get rough, and tours get canceled without much notice.

At low tide a ribbon of sand appears between Ko Tup and Ko Mor, and you can walk across it with water on both sides. The tide decides everything, and when it is high there is just a beach and a short swim. That's why the 09:00 boat is the popular one.

The islands are swarmed by longtail boats in high season, so get out early and walk the sandbar before the crowd.

Ko Kai is named for a limestone rock that looks like a chicken. At low tide you can walk between Chicken Island, Tup and Mor along the sand, and the water around it is good for snorkeling. The island's own beach is rocky and not very inviting, so the snorkeling is the reason to stop.

Snorkel with a life jacket if you are not a strong swimmer, and don't touch or stand on the coral. The path between the islands is usually crowded with boats and tourists.

Ko Poda is the swimming stop, with a long beach and clear water where you can see fish without a mask. The north end, where the longtails land, is the most scenic and also the most crowded, because hundreds of tourists sit down there to eat their lunch boxes. A short walk to the south end gives you the same sea with far fewer people.

Use the free time to walk south and swim there. Boats wait for you, but only for the time agreed, so keep an eye on the clock.

After a salty day, dinner means seafood. The Nopparat Thara side of Ao Nang has restaurants that sell fresh fish, and you pick your fish, agree the price and the cooking method, and add rice and a salad. Grilled or steamed with lime and chili is the way to go.

A small restaurant with ice and fish on display is a better bet than one where staff call you in from the street. Restaurants cost more than the pier market in Krabi Town, which you will see on day four.

Ao Nang has a massage shop every few meters. A traditional Thai massage is firm and a little painful at first, and an oil massage is gentler. After a day sitting in a longtail, your legs and back will be grateful.

Choose a shop with a posted price list, and tell the therapist if something hurts.

The covered morning market behind Maharaj Road is said to be the biggest in southern Thailand, and it is for early risers only: most of the action is over by 8am, and it closes around noon. You'll find sticky rice, fresh fruit, patongko (fried dough sticks), sweet Thai tea and fresh hot soy milk. The meat and fish section is for hardened stomachs.

Krabi Town's food has Muslim influences, and you will see halal restaurants and roti stalls around the center. Get a breakfast roti and a coffee before the climb.

Wat Tham Suea is a forest monastery built into a limestone cliff north of Krabi Town, and it dates only from 1975. The temple itself is at the foot of the cliff, but the reason to come is the stairway: around 1,260 steps to the top of the mountain (older sources say 1,237).

Allow 40-60 minutes up and a bit less down. Some risers are knee-high, many stretches are in full sun, so go at dawn, carry plenty of water and rest at the benches. At the top are a golden Buddha statue and a 360-degree view over forest and karst. Cover your shoulders and knees (sarongs are for rent at the base for about 20 THB). Monkeys will grab food, so keep your bag zipped. If the stairs sound like too much, the second, easier stairway leads into a quiet valley with small cave shrines.

The Emerald Pool (Sa Morakot) is a pool in the Khao Phra Bang Khram wildlife sanctuary, about 71 km (77 minutes by road) from Ao Nang. The water is cool in the morning, turns lukewarm by mid-afternoon, and a boardwalk of around 800 m from the car park leads in. The ticket is cash only and most 2026 listings give 400 THB (12 USD) for foreign adults (200 for children), with the gate open from about 8:30 to 16:30 or 17:00.

It gets crowded at weekends with school groups and tour buses, so go early, or in the afternoon after the buses have gone. The edges are slippery and there is no ladder, so take care getting in. A separate Blue Pool is a short walk further along the trail and is reportedly closed from May to October.

Nearby, in a shady forest, the Khlong Thom hot springs run at 40-50 degrees Celsius. It's the other half of the usual day tour: cool water first, hot water after. It is not as photogenic as the Emerald Pool, but it is a good way to loosen legs that did 1,260 steps in the morning.

Keep your time short in the hot water, especially in the heat of the afternoon, and drink water.

Krabi Town sits on a river with a promenade at the pier where boats leave for Railay, Phi Phi and the islands. From the pier a 15-minute longtail takes you to Khao Khanab Nam, two karst rocks side by side that are the symbol of Krabi.

In the evening a night food market sets up beside the pier, with cheap dishes that show Muslim influences, and a small stage hosts shows from time to time. A quiet walk here is the right way to end a long day before the walking street.

The weekend Walking Street night market sets up beside the Vogue shopping mall, with entrances on Maharaj Road and the river road. Sources give different days, Friday to Saturday or Friday to Sunday, from about 5pm to 10pm, so check with your hotel. It is mostly snacks and street food that you eat standing up, plus handmade soap and crafts, and stage shows by local schools.

Prices are lower than on the Ao Nang strip, and single dishes at the town's pier market start around 30-60 THB (1-2 USD). Try the roti, grilled skewers and sweets. There's no beer at the market itself, but bars are a short walk away.

The Hong Islands lie between Krabi and Koh Yao and are part of the Than Bok Khorani National Park. Group tours cost about 800-1,500 THB (24-45 USD), and a private longtail is about 2,500-4,500 THB (75-135 USD) a boat. The park fee for foreigners is quoted at around 300 THB (9 USD) and is often paid separately in cash.

The tour usually stops at Koh Hong, Koh Lao Lading (with Pakbia beach) and Koh Pakbia. A longtail is slower than a speedboat, but you can hear the water and the day is more relaxed.

The main island of Koh Hong hides a lagoon inside a ring of limestone, and a kayak is the best way to see it. The entrance closes to boats at low tide, so the visit depends on the water level.

It is a popular stop and can be busy in high season. Take a hat and a park-safe sunscreen.

Lunch is included in most Hong tours, and the tour listings mention Koh Lao Lading with its Pakbia beach as one of the stops. Expect simple food from the boat crew, and eating it with your feet in the sand beats any restaurant on this coast.

Tell the operator about any allergy when you book, and pack out your trash.

Ao Thalane is a bay north of Ao Nang with mangrove forest, and kayak tours paddle through the channels. Half-day tours start at around 900 THB (27 USD) at a Thai operator and about 30 USD on booking sites, and last about four hours. Operators say the program can change with the weather and sea conditions.

Book ahead, because one operator asks for at least three days' notice, and go with a guide who knows the channels at that tide. The same tour can be combined with the Hong Islands for a full day.