Krabi sells one thing above all. A boat, and somewhere to point it.
Which four-island trip stops long enough to swim. What a Koh Hong speedboat costs against a longtail. Whether the plankton swim is worth staying up for. Reviews of every tour you can book on this coast.
A mangrove morning, an elephant shelter, the jungle circuit, then the plankton.
The bookings a first week in Krabi gets built around. What each one costs, and what the people who took it say.
01The quiet morningKayak Adventure through Ao Thalane Mangrove ForestPaddling the mangrove channels at Ao Thalane before the heat lands, with sea eagles working the cliff line.
02The elephant morningElephant Bathing Session at Krabi Elephant ShelterBathing and feeding at a shelter behind Ao Nang. No riding anywhere on the programme, and the sessions are small.
03The inland dayTiger Cave Temple, Emerald Pool and Hot Springs TourTiger Cave, the Emerald Pool and a hot-spring waterfall, all inland, all in one run from the coast.
04The night swim7 Islands Sunset Tour with Plankton Swim and BBQSeven islands, dinner on deck, then a swim in dark water where the plankton light up around your arms.
Four Islands, Koh Hong or Phi Phi. The week hangs on this one.
Three different days out of the same pier, and they are not interchangeable. What each costs to board, how far it runs, and which one earns a whole day of your week.
In Krabi the question is not where. It is what you get there on.
A longtail runs slower, sits lower and stops where the skipper feels like stopping. A speedboat buys you two more islands and a much wetter ride. Snorkelling gear comes with both, and about twenty dollars separates them.
The Krabi days out that fill before the rest do.
Every Krabi tour we have reviewed →The trips more travellers take than anything else on this coast, and what earns each of them the slot.
1
Premium 4-Island Day Trip by Longtail Boat with Lunch
Spend six hours visiting Chicken Island, Koh Tup, Koh Poda, and Phra Nang Cave Beach by longtail boat. Expect snorkeling, a low-tide sandbar, Thai lunch, fruit, water, and hotel transfers. Guides such as Toy and Luna are often praised for their warmth and care.
From · $39
Read our review →
2
Hong Islands Day Trip by Speedboat with Lunch
from $43
3
Tiger Cave Temple, Emerald Pool and Hot Springs Tour
from $59
4
7 Islands Sunset Tour with Buffet Dinner & Snorkeling
from $39
5
Tiger Cave, Hot Springs and Emerald Pool Jungle Tour
from $48
6
Kayak Adventure through Ao Thalane Mangrove Forest
from $38
7
Elephant Bathing Session at Krabi Elephant Shelter
from $48
8
Krabi 4 Island Sunset Snorkeling Cruise + Bioluminescent Swim
from $130
The best water in Krabi is too shallow and too narrow for an engine.
Mangrove channels at Ao Thalane, a spring lake so clear the fish hang in mid-water, sea caves at Bor Thor you enter lying flat in the boat. All of it is paddled, and almost all of it leaves before nine.
Railay has no road in. That is the entire point of it.
Ten minutes by longtail from Ao Nang and the mainland stops. Climbers on the east wall, a cave shrine hung with offerings at Phra Nang, and a beach that empties the moment the last boat goes.
Every Railay day out →
Twenty minutes from the beach the limestone turns to jungle.
Everything inland →
A temple with more than a thousand steps cut to the summit, a pool the colour of bottle glass, and hot springs that run into a stream shallow enough to sit in. Operators sell the three as one circuit, and it fills a day.
Emerald Pool, then the hot stream
The pool sits at the end of a boardwalk through swamp forest and is cold enough to be a shock. The hot springs half an hour on run at about forty degrees over smooth rock. Doing them in that order is the whole trick.
Tiger Cave, and the 1,237 steps
The staircase is uneven, unshaded and genuinely hard in the middle of the day. At the top there is a gold Buddha, a lot of macaques and the whole Krabi plain laid out flat below the limestone.
A shelter, not a ride
Feeding, mud and a bath in the river, with the herd loose rather than saddled. Sessions cap at a handful of people, which is why the morning slots go weeks ahead in high season.
What a day out in Krabi actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by what it charges. Most of the good ones land under the price of a beachfront dinner for two.
Longtail island days, kayak mornings, cooking classes and the ferry hops to Phi Phi and Lanta.
Speedboat island runs, the inland circuit, sunset cruises with dinner served on deck.
Private boats, the long Phi Phi days and the overnight run up to Khao Sok.
Three things Krabi does that the rest of the Andaman does not.
Warm shallow water, a plankton shelf and eight hundred limestone towers. Beaches are everywhere on this coast. These three are not.
The plankton swim
On a moonless night the shallow water off the seven islands is thick with dinoflagellates, and every stroke you take lights green around your arms. The boat cuts its engine and kills the deck lights, and you go in off the ladder. It only works in the dark half of the lunar month, which is why the operators worth booking publish a calendar instead of a daily departure.
- 1Krabi 4 Island Sunset Snorkeling Cruise + Bioluminescent Swim★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,861 reviews
- 2Bioluminescent Plankton, Snorkeling & Sunset Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · 863 reviews
- 37 Islands Sunset Tour with Plankton Swim and BBQ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 · 808 reviews
Klong Root, the crystal lake
A spring-fed lake in the forest behind Ao Luek, clear enough that the fish appear to be hanging in glass rather than swimming. You paddle in through a narrow channel under overhanging trees, and the water is cold, which on this coast is remarkable in itself. Nine different spellings of the name are in circulation, which tells you how few people outside Krabi have heard of it.
- 1Klong Root (Crystal lake) Kayaking tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · 308 reviews
- 2Kayaking at Klong Rud with Hotel Transfers★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · 215 reviews
- 3Khlong Nam Sai Lagoon with Kayaking & Optional ATV★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 · 136 reviews
Climbing at Railay
The east wall at Railay is bolted limestone rising straight off a beach, and a large part of the sport learned to climb here in the eighties. Half-day sessions take complete beginners up a graded route with a guide on the rope. The rock is sharp, the holds are polished smooth by thirty years of hands, and the view back over the peninsula is the reason every photograph of this place looks the same.
- 1Half-Day Rock Climbing at Railay Beach★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 671 reviews
- 2Beginner’s Half-Day Rock Climbing Tours at Railay Beach Krabi★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 163 reviews
- 3Ziplining with Abseiling and Rock Climbing Options★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 147 reviews
Four Krabi bookings that will not wait for you.
Most of this coast can be arranged the night before, over a beer on the beach road. These four run on moon phases, park quotas, tides and a boat that leaves once a day.
- 01Bioluminescent Plankton, Snorkeling & Sunset TourThe swim only works in the dark half of the lunar month. Operators publish the nights it runs, and both sides of a new moon sell out first.
- 02Phi Phi Islands & Maya Bay Speedboat Tour with LunchMaya Bay runs on a daily cap and shuts outright in the worst of the monsoon. The early boats have the bay before the Phuket crossing lands.
- 03Elephant Bathing Session at Krabi Elephant ShelterThe sanctuaries hold each session to a handful of people so the animals are not swarmed. Morning slots go first, and there are only two a day.
- 04One Day Tour Khao Sok Cheow Lan Lake from KrabiThe lake is three hours inland and the floating raft houses are the only beds on it. Nothing about that gets arranged the same morning.
When the Andaman shuts, Krabi moves inland.
From May the southwest monsoon puts swell on the outer islands and the longtails stay on the sand for days at a stretch. The rain comes hard and stops fast, the jungle is at its best, and every one of these runs whatever the sea is doing.
By place, from the beach road to the karst
By kind of day: boat, paddle, jungle or kitchen
Ao Nang, the four islands, Railay, then the jungle. The order most people land on.
Plankton nightThe newest Krabi tour reviews.
Everything else we have just written up →
Home Style Family class with fruit carving and market tour
Read our review →
Half-Day Sea Kayaking Adventure in Ao Thalane Bay from Krabi
Read our review →
Intermediate-Advanced Half Day Private Rock Climbing Trip at Railay Beach
Read our review →
Half-Day Rock Climbing Course at Railay Beach by King Climbers
Read our review →
Half Day Jungle Tour to Emerald pool and Krabi Hot Spring
Read our review →
Half-Day Jungle Tour Including Crystal Pool and Krabi Hot Springs
Read our review →
Full-Day Tour to Emerald Pool, Hot Springs & Tiger Cave Temple from Krabi
Read our review →
Secret Agent Odyssey to James Bond & Hong Island from Krabi
Read our review →
Snorkel and Beach Tour to Hong Islands from Krabi
Read our review →
Great Cheow Lan Lake Day Trip with Lunch at PhuTawan
Read our review →
