How To Make The Most Of Visiting Thailand’s Railay Beach

With its calm, crystal clear warm waters and striking limestone cliffs, Railay Beach lives up to the hype. Before visiting I was skeptical that it would be one of those ‘Instagram vs. Reality’ travel traps. But truly, this little slice of tropical beach heaven did not disappoint!

We visited Railay twice during our stay at Ao Nang (the southern resort town in Krabi) and explored a lot of the area both on foot and long-tail boat.

If you’re heading to the area anytime soon, or have this part of Thailand on your bucket list, here are some tips to make your visit as easy as possible…

Getting From Ao Nang To Railay

Penned in dramatic limestone cliffs that make it impossible to reach by foot or road, Railay Beach is effectively cut off from mainland Thailand.

The only way to gain access to Railay Beach peninsula is, therefore, on one of those quintessentially Thai long-tail boats that you will have seen on countless Instagram travel feeds.

Fortunately, picking up a long-tail around this part of Thailand is incredibly straightforward, especially if you’re staying near Ao Nang Beach.

Located at the corner of the road opposite Ao Nang Beach (and where the longtail boats are moored) you will find a small but clearly marked ticket booth. Here you can purchase a return journey to Railay Beach for 200 baht per person, and then cross the road to join a queue to get your boat.

There are dozens of boats criss-crossing the sea to various islands each day so you won’t have to wait long for your turn. The ‘ticket inspector’ will check your ticket and make sure you get on the right one!

TOP TIP: Naturally you’ll have to wade through the sea (can be up to knee height) to climb into the long-tail yourself. I’d advise going barefoot and changing into your flip flops/trainers when you arrive in Railay.

Start Your Day Early

From personal experience, getting up early and making it onto one of the first long-tails is the best way to do Railay beach. There are a number of hotels on Railay so you’ll never be the first there, but it will definitely be a lot quieter than later in the day, where hundreds of people arrive to soak up the sun.

The first boats leave Ao Nang beach at 8am so you’ll need to be at the ticket booth around 7:45am to get on the first to depart for Railay. You will notice that by this time there is already a healthy queue of about 10-15 people already starting to form!

Having taken the 8am boat twice (meaning we arrived in Railay at about 8:20am) it was worth the effort as it felt like we had the place to ourselves!

Arriving early also means you’ll be in with a good chance of seeing some of the endangered dusky leaf monkeys which inhabit the area…

Catch Sight Of The Dusky Leaf Monkeys

As mentioned earlier, Railay is home to a number of endangered Dusky Leaf Monkeys.

While it’s impossible to guarantee a sighting, you can maximise your chances by arriving early – they tend to retreat high into the trees of the rainforest when it gets hot.

We visited Railay twice – on the first occasion we purposely arrived early to see if we could spot some and lucked out massively. Just look at this little baby and their family!

On the second visit we arrived slightly later and caught a very quick glimpse of another family before they retreated into the rainforest.

Arriving at Railay West Beach

The long-tail boat will drop you off at Railay West, a curved 600m beach offering spectacular views of the surrounding limestone cliffs that line the bay. The waters here are warm, clear and alive with curious fish!

This beach is also lined with boutique restaurants and hotels, should you fancy something to eat, but expect tourist prices! I would recommend that you bring your own snacks or wait until you get to the east side of the peninsula.

While West Beach is delightful, the real highlight of Railay is still a good 15 minute walk away. I’d suggest, therefore, to take a few photos while you have the place to yourself (it won’t be like that for long), before heading down Walking Street passageway that connects the west and east beach between hotels.

Phra Nang Beach

While visitors arriving from Ao Nang are dropped off at West Beach, those coming from further afield are often dropped off on the eastern side of Railay. This means that by the time you’ve crossed the island you’ll likely begin to see a fair few more tourists. Another reason to arrive early!

Once you hit the pier on the eastern beach take a right turn and follow the winding path. You’ll walk past some stunning caves before arriving at arguably the most beautiful beach in Thailand – Phra Nang.

Soft sand, clear turquoise waters and an unspoilt shoreline make Phra Nang a pilgrimage site for sun worshipers worldwide. Not only can you sit back and relax, but there’s also plenty of warm shallow water to swim, snorkel or kayak. It’s also a popular rock climbing destination, with impressive climbing opportunities at both ends of the beach.

I’d recommend taking a right turn when you arrive at Phra Nang and walking the full length of the beach. If you arrived on the 8am boat and followed the steps above it’ll likely be around 9am now. You should now have a good few hours of relative peace before the main tourist contingent arrives.

Railay East Beach

With there being such an emphasis on West beach and Phra Nang, many people overlook the eastern beach of Railay. In truth there isn’t much ‘beach’, it’s more a rainforest walkway with small independent eateries and hostels. However, it is well worth a visit.

Firstly, as this is the backpacker part of the island, food and drinks prices are considerably cheaper. (It also means you’ll have somewhere to stay, should you miss the last boat back!).

Secondly, it’s just a genuinely nice place to relax after a hard morning’s sun bathing! There are lots of places to sit back in the shade with splendid views of the ocean. Many with comfy outside lounge areas and plenty of hammocks!

It’s the perfect place to grab something to eat/drink before you head back to West Beach and take your long-tail back to Ao Nang.

Getting Back To Ao Nang

Presuming you’ve kept hold of your return ticket, getting back to Ao Nang is pretty straightforward. Just head to West Beach and look for one of the long-tail ticketers walking up and down the beach. They’re normally wearing blue and on both occasions we visited wore a white hat.

They’ll direct you to the nearest departure boat – this normally involves a short jog along the beach – and you’ll be on your way back before you know it!

If you do happen to lose your ticket I’m sure either the ticketer can sell you a new one, or there will be a booth somewhere along the beach that sells replacements.

Note: The long-tails run between Ao Nang and Railay from 8am to 5:30 pm each day. Later departures cost slightly more as there are less boats to bring you back. If you miss the last boat to Ao Nang you may well end up stuck on Railay beach!

Railay Facilities

While Railay is cut off from the mainland and trickier to get to than your usual beach, it isn’t exactly remote. There are a couple of convenience stores at east beach, a pharmacy, toilets and an ATM. There are also plenty of restaurants, hostels and top-rated hotels. However, expect to pay slightly more than you would on the mainland.

There’s even a fairly daunting scramble/climb to the top of one of the peaks with a supposedly impressive viewpoint. We didn’t attempt this as we were in flip-flops but saw a few people brave it. It may be worth a go if you’re feeling brave!