Krabi tours & island day trips

The coast, honestly

Ao Nang or Railay?

Railay has no road, no cars and the best beach in the province — and it also has one ATM, generator noise at some resorts, and a longtail ride every time you want a supermarket. Ao Nang has pavements, restaurants, pharmacies and a pier you can walk to. Families and anyone staying more than three nights should be in Ao Nang; couples on a short stay and climbers should be on Railay.

Krabi town, 20 minutes inland, is where Thais actually live. It has the night market, the weekend walking street and the cheapest food in the province, and almost no foreign tourists sleep there. It is worth one evening, not three nights.

Longtail or speedboat

The four islands are a longtail day: slower, cheaper, and you can stand at the back and watch the karsts come at you. Hong Island is better by speedboat because the crossing is longer and the lagoon has a fixed window before the tide. We do not put a longtail in the open sea in February, and we do not put a speedboat inside the hongs at low tide.

Both are private by default. Shared longtails leave Ao Nang around 09:00 with 25–30 people aboard; a private boat leaves when you want and stays as long as the light does.

When to come

November to April is dry and calm — the same window as Phuket, and the reason both coasts fill up over Christmas. Krabi's advantage in the shoulder months is geography: the bay is sheltered, so boat days get cancelled less often than on Phuket's west coast. May to October is green season: half the price, empty beaches, and rain that usually arrives in the late afternoon and leaves within the hour.

Getting here

Krabi airport is 25 minutes from Ao Nang and 40 from Krabi town; a private transfer is $28 and a shared van is $10 per person with a wait until it fills. From Phuket it is two hours by road or 45 minutes by ferry from Rassada pier. From Koh Lanta, two car ferries and about two and a half hours.