Krabi - Thailand

Krabi
Thailand island hopping is by far one of the most beautiful things you’ll ever do! If Thailand is on your list of places to visit, then you better be adding those islands to your itinerary as well.

After a few days in Bangkok (check out our experience here), we flew into Krabi via Bangkok Airlines (1.5 hrs). We purchased a one way ticket online, for about $45 per person luggage included, and very different from airlines in America, they even have a full meal during such a short flight. We were pretty amazed by the awesome service. Although we purchased our flights online ahead of time, you can also buy tickets at the desk right at the airport prior to boarding, so for those backpacking this is quite convenient and it is actually cheaper.

From Krabi airport we took a taxi and a long tailed boat to our hotel which was in Railay Beach. This was a dumb decision on our part. We ended up hollering our luggage from the taxi onto the unpaved streets to get to the “port” which was basically a plank of wood to get into a longtail boat and then dragging our luggage through sand to get to our hotel on the other side of the island. So, best tip here, avoid the hassle and schedule an airport pick up from your hotel, they’ll take you right up to the front desk.

We stayed in Krabi three nights and two full days, at times it felt rushed, so I would recommend one additional night and having a day of just relaxing and exploring more of Railay Beach which has an awesome cave and known for rock climbing.

Below is a breakdown of our excursions during these two full days.

Day 1: Four Island Tour

Upon arriving in Krabi, we booked our tour for the next two days, we bartered with a longtail boat driver in front of our hotel. Honestly, another don’t, I recommend going to the kiosk where you can reserve through the tourist stands around the hotel versus directly with a longtail boat, in the long run it didn’t save us much money.

Longtail boats lined up in front of our hotel

The 4 island tour was to Koh Tap, Koh Mor, Koh Gai (Chicken Island) and Koh Poda. The boat will stop at each island for you to hang out for a few hours before going to the next one. If you want to avoid the crowds and get some nice photos leave as early as 8am. We had a longtail boat to ourselves which was nice to be more autonomous as far as how long we wanted to stay in each island. The pricing is per boat/tour so regardless of number of people on your longtail the price stays the same. If you are in a larger group or make friends in the island you can share the fare. We packed snacks, because most islands don’t have any sort of restaurants or concession stand, our longtail boat driver had water and cut up fresh pineapples during our trip.

Each island is so unique, but by far my favorite was Koh Tap and Chicken Island, where we were able to just lay out and snorkel, the water is crystal clear and surrounded by other inhabitant islands, the scenery is really something unexplainable. This tour took up most of our day and we got back to the hotel around 3-4pm where we relaxed by the pool and later enjoyed a Thai massage, which I highly recommend you enjoy every chance you get because they will cost you a whopping $10.

Chicken Island - Got it’s name because locals believe the shape of this rock resembled a chicken head.

Day 2: Hong Island & Hong Lagoon

This is another island tour via longtail boat, first stopping at Hong Lagoon where we went for a swim. Hong Lagoon honestly felt like we were floating into a movie. The boat drives through an entryway of cliffs and greenery along both sides, leading to a beautiful lagoon with the most amazing blue/green water and surrounded by mountainous cliffs all around. We jumped off the boat and dived right in for a swim, we just couldn’t pass up the opportunity!

Longtail boat entering Hong Lagoon

After Hong Lagoon we went to the other side of Hong Island where we spent the remaining part of the day enjoying the sun and sand. In the smaller islands you won’t find stands to buy snacks or beverage, but in Pelay Beach (which is the only beach access in Hong Island) there’s a small “restaurant” where they sell food, beverages and snacks. Alcoholic beverage is not allowed in any of the islands due to being a national parks. Honestly, their juices and coconut water is so fresh and full of flavor that you won’t miss the alcohol. You may also bring your own snacks and non-alcoholic beverages.

Pelay Beach is seen behind the boats

This tour also lasted for most of the day, we headed back to the hotel around 3-4pm, but since we had a private longtail boat we could determine if we wanted to stay longer or leave earlier which was nice and gave us the chance to get another Thai massage. Are you seeing a trend here? Get a Thai massage!!

Also, each day after our excursions we sat out by the beach right in front of our hotel and enjoyed the sunset, it was so amazing to watch the cotton candy colors that just grazed the sky.

Sunset from our hotel

Hotel:

Our hotel was Railay Bay Resort & Spa, this hotel is located on west Railay beach, which is a popular tourist area. So you’ll see lots of longtail boats right in front throughout the day because its a hot spot, which is one of the reasons why we chose to stay here. The rooms were not very updated, but clean and breakfast was good. Our room was super spacious, it had a patio area with a private jacuzzi and outdoor shower, it also had a lily pad in the entryway. I recommend staying at Railay Bay Resort & Spa because the location is perfect, it’s also super affordable for being beach front, we paid $100/night, but prior to booking I saw the rates as low as $60/night, breakfast included.

The hotel is in very close proximity to a walk way/alley where you’ll be able to find shops, convenience store, restaurants and massage parlors. The food in Krabi is very fresh, the seafood is freshly caught and you can pick your catch prior to them cooking. The restaurants are very laid back but food is delicious in all parts of the island. Food at the hotel is very good as well but will cost almost double. One of the things we enjoyed the most while in Thailand was their fresh coconut water, coconut ice cream and pineapples which had so much more flavor than what we are used to in America.