Beaches, sunsets, longtail boat adventures and more delicious food: Three amazing days in Ao Nang and Railay

While researching places to visit in Thailand, we kept returning to pictures of Railay in the Krabi province and were pleased when flights to Krabi were affordable and fit our timeline. We purchased the tickets on AirAsia while in Bangkok, about two days before the flight. I know the tickets are even cheaper if purchased with more notice, but we were pleased to get one-way tickets for around $50 each. After searching for hotels in Railay, we eventually decided on staying in Ao Nang. Ao Nang is a larger tourist town in the region and is only a 20 minute long-tail boat ride from Railay. There are a wider variety of affordable accommodations in Ao Nang, and it is much easier to get to since Railay, which sits on a peninsula, is accessible only by boat. We were happy with our decision. We enjoyed the variety of restaurants, bars and markets in Ao Nang, and although the very center of town is touristy and loud, full of tailors and other salesman sometimes shouting deals on suits or souvenirs, the hotel we chose is about a 15 minute walk out of the very center of Ao Nang, and we enjoyed that location. 

The AoNang Buri Resort was a great place to stay.

We enjoyed more than a couple of meals/beers at the Luna Beach
Restaurant, on the beach directly across from the hotel.

Walking towards the beach in the center of Ao Nang

We were in Ao Nang for two full days and two half days. We spent the two full days in Railay. There are a few different longtail boat operators that run boats from Ao Nang to Railay all day, with the last boats departing for the return trip around 6pm.  It was $2.50/80Baht each for a roundtrip ticket. We had to wait only ten minutes or so each day for the boat to fill up before leaving for Railay. We started late on the first day so we didn’t get to Railay West beach until 2pm. We spent our time alternating between lounging on the beach and relaxing in the warm water. The limestone crag scenery on this beach is so beautiful that we could have spent a week sitting on that beach and never tired of it. 

 

The longtail boat ride from Ao Nang to Railay was beautiful.

The walking street on West Railay Beach has a few
stores and cafe style restaurants.

One of the views from West Railay Beach.

The longtail boat ride over to Railay was uneventful and relaxing. It is amazing to be on the water and get close to the tall limestone crags that, from a distance through the humidity, almost look like a painted backdrop. The longtail boat ride back from Railay West was a bit more adventurous. The driver couldn’t get the boat into Ao Nang. The wind had picked up and the current was stronger than it had been earlier in the day. A couple of attempts to get to the shore produced some moderate rocking that left our whole boat laughing nervously, and the driver eventually took us about two miles down the beach to the pier and let us out there. He didn't speak any English, and no one on our boat spoke Thai, so it was a confusing and bumpy fifteen minutes as we saw Ao Nang get smaller in the distance. The 30 minute walk to our hotel was more of a walk than we would have chosen for that evening as we were starving without an adequate amount of snacks or water, but we actually ended up really enjoying the sunset walk on the low-tide beach. 

The longtail boat that attempted to take us back to Ao Nang. I read that it can be difficult to find longtail drivers that will take boats to Railay when the weather is bad and after this small incident with mildly rough water, I can understand why they wouldn't want to make even that short trip in rougher water.



Looking back on some of our unplanned
sunset beach walk.

We spent the second day exploring Railay East, the Tham Pranangnai Cave and finally going to Phra Nang Beach (Pranang Cave Beach). Railay East is not nearly as picturesque as Railay West as there are many mangroves that line the narrow beach so swimming/ sunbathing aren’t options on this side of Railay. This is where the majority of the accommodations, restaurants and bars are located. We had lunch in Railay East before eventually working our way over to Phra Nang Beach. It was as amazing as advertised. The fine white sand is the softest sand I have ever felt and the water was perfect for swimming. Other than being a little nervous about potential jelly fish, we stayed in the water for most of our time there. The view from this beach is amazing as well, and I was sad when it was time for us to leave. 



The mangroves in Railay East

One of the eight monkeys we saw on the path in Railay.



Phra Nang Beach did not disappoint.

Longtail boats off of Phra Nang Beach



 

We liked all of the meals we had in Ao Nang, especially the green curry from Ao Nang Cuisine. We enjoyed the time we spent just wandering around town and hunting down the tastiest Thai pancakes. We got our first, and only, traditional Thai massage in Ao Nang. The ladies who gave us our massage laughed at us the entire time since we were novices and had to be instructed on each step of the massage, so the whole experience was more unnerving than relaxing. I have some back problems and spent the whole time quietly hoping that the incredibly strong Thai woman wasn’t going to undo what we’ve paid the chiropractor a fortune to fix. It was nice to experience the massage, though for the rest of the trip we stuck to the less stressful foot massages. I would recommend Ao Nang as a place to explore Railay and the rest of the surrounding area. It has everything needed at reasonable prices and the beach is picturesque enough that you never forget you’re in one of the most beautiful countries in the world.