10 Things to do in Ao Nang – Krabi – TREKwithBECK

28 Aug 2025

Ao Nang was one of my favourite spots in Thailand! Ao Nang is a resort town located in the Krabi Province about a 4 hour drive from Phuket. Ao Nang is famous for its beautiful beaches, surrounded by impressive limestone cliffs. This town is much more laid back than other places in Thailand and offers plenty of activities for any type of traveller. Here you can go island hopping, beach hopping, see some beautiful springs, waterfalls and much more.

I would recommend spending 3-4 days here to fully explore the area, the area is suitable for backpackers, families, couples and resort stays.

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How to get to Ao Nang

You can get to Ao Nang by taxi, shared mini van, ferry or flying (Krabi Airport). There are multiple transportation options for places all over Thailand, but the easiest way to get here is from Phuket. The shared mini van will take about 4 hours and is a relatively smooth drive. If you are short on time you can catch a domestic flight from anywhere in Thailand to Krabi airport, then catch a taxi or grab to your accomodation.

To find the best travel options, I use 12go Asia for all my transportation bookings in South East Asia.

I would recommend staying in Ao Nang over Krabi for a few reasons. The first, it is much closer to Railay Beach (which is a highlight) and other popular destinations. It also has much better markets, restaurants and scenery compared to Krabi Town. My biggest tip is book accommodation with AC! It is unbelievably hot in Ao Nang especially when I visited in February, AC will be a life saver.

1. Railay Beach

A visit to Ao Nang wouldn’t be complete without visiting the most popular beach in Krabi! Railay Beach is a scheduled beach which can only be reached by boat from either Ao Nang or Krabi. You can visit here on a tour or independently, either way is very simple. I would recommend going independently and early morning (8am when the first boat leaves!). This means you beat the tour boats and have the beach pretty much to yourself. You can get a long tail boat easily from the main beach in Ao Nang, which costs 200 baht return and takes about 10 mins.

Although some may argue this is the best beach in all of Thailand, I will say it is beautiful, but not the best. It’s worth visiting for a day trip as the scenery and the large limestone cliffs surrounding the beach are breath taking. There are multiple other things you can do near this beach (a few listed below), so you can easily tick a few things off this list in a day.

Railay Beach

2. Hong Island

If you only have time for one tour while in Ao Nang, I recommend this one! Hong Island is small island about a 20 min speed boat off the coast of Ao Nang. It is a beautiful island with white powdery sand, surrounded by lush jungle and limestone cliffs. It’s honestly one of the most beautiful places I’ve been too. On most of the tours you will get 2 hours to explore this island, so I do recommend hiking to the viewpoint which will take about 30 mins, up and down.

On these tours you will visit Hong Island, Hong Lagoon, Ko Pak Bai and Ko Lao Landing. If you want some privacy and less crowds, I would book a private tour. This way you can see the islands at your own pace and beat the crowds.

3. Railay Beach Viewpoint and Princess Lagoon

I unfortuetely didn’t complete these two activities while on Railay Beach, but I wish I did! It was just a little too hot for me and I didn’t wear the correct shoes. Railay Beach Viewpoint is an epic viewpoint overlooking Railay Beach, it’s about a 15min steep climb to the top – which does require rock scrambling and use of ropes. This isn’t recommend in flip flops, but in good Thailand fashion you will see people completing this trail in flip flogs and bikinis! You will walk past the viewpoint start, while walking to Phra Nang Cave Beach.

At the top there is a path that leads to Princess Lagoon, which is meant to be beautiful – I really do wish I did this, but I will next time with the right footwear. The tail to Princess Lagoon is not for the faint hearted, the trail can easily be lost and it does require full rock climbing for short distances – it is recommended to complete this trail with a friend or group for safety.

4. Monkey Trail

The Monkey trail is a short 15min trail at the end of Ao Nang Beach, which leads you to Pai Plong Beach. This beach is a lot less crowded than Ao Nang beach, and a bit more protected from the elements. Here you will have a beautiful beach surrounded by limestone cliffs. It’s a great little spot to visit for a few hours, or even just to complete the trail and walk along the beach!

There are few restaurants that line the beach and resorts, where you can have a meal or a drink. You will also need to sign In and out of the trail once on the beach for safety reasons! It doesn’t cost anything to visit here. Also, don’t worry about the monkeys – they are harmless, just don’t feed them !

5. 4 Islands Tour

Although this was not my favourite tour I did with my time in Ao Nang, I have put it on this list because of its popularity. It is a good tour to do to see some of the small islands off the coast of Ao Nang, as well as Phra Nang Cave Beach (if you are short on time) – I will warn you though, it will be busy no matter what time. This tour includes Chicken Island (a chicken shaped rock), Tup Island sand bar, Phra Nang Cave and Koh Poda island. Koh Poda island made this trip. That island is simply beautiful and if you can organise a day trip just to there, I would recommend just doing that.

This tour is only about $50 AUD, so if you are on a budget and want to see the islands of Ao Nang I recommend it, but I would personally book the Hong Islands tour over this one.

Koh Poda Island

6. Tiger Cave Temple

The Tiger cave temple, also known as Wat Tham Suea in Thai, is one of the most sacred Buddhist temples in Thailand. It is famous for its supposed tiger paw prints which are in the cave and its impressive Buddha Statues. It is a 10 minute drive from Krabi Town or 30 minutes from Ao Nang. The climb up to temple requires climbing 1260 steps, it is a challenging hike and you should be realistic about your fitness before attempting.

The entrance to this temple is completely free (at the time of writing this post), but you will need to make your own way to the temple. This can either be done by motorbike, taxi, songthaew or a tour.

7. Emerald Lagoon

The Emerald Pool (Sa Morakot) is a natural turquoise blue pond with fresh water supplied from natural streams. To get to the Emerald Lagoon you will need to walk 1.4km through the jungle on a hiking path, before you reach both the Emerald Lagoon and Blue Pool. The Emerald Pool is a 1-2 metre deep pool, where you can take a refreshing swim after your short hike. While walking you will come across the Blue Pool, which is a small deep pool surrounded by jungle. You cannot swim in the Blue Pool, but is is a beautiful sight!

The Emerald pool is open from 8.30am to 4.30pm and the entrance fee is 200 Baht.

8. Bat Cave

The ‘Bat Cave’ is an epic viewpoint located at the end of Phra Nang Beach, where you will see a small jungle trail. Follow this trail and climb the short wall to the edge of the limestone cliffs. Turn left, where you will pass through some smaller caves before seeing a massive opening. The short walk should take about 10-15 minutes to complete. There are a couple of bamboo ladders which you will need to climb as well. This is an easier hike compared to the Railay Beach viewpoint and much less popular!

9. James Bond Island

Another popular day tour in the Ao Nang area! This isn’t a tour I completed on my most recent trip, as I went here back in 2017. This tour is very popular to complete from Phuket but it can also be completed from Ao Nang. It’s a full day tour (about 8 hours), that includes lunch, kayaking and other popular sights in the area. James Bond Island is famous as it is the location for filming of one of the popular James Bond movies. A day tour from Ao Nang is going to cost anywhere between $70-$100 AUD, depending on what type of tour your chose; longtail or speed boat.

It is a beautiful island which I do recommend you visit once, if you are short on time though – I still recommend the Hong islands over James Bond island!

Photo by Satheesh Cholakkal on Pexels.com

10. Phra Nang Cave Beach

This is another place you can visit on a day trip to Railay Beach! Phra Nang Cave Beach is a 15-20min walk from where you will get dropped off from the long tail boat on Railay Beach. Here you can do many things such as rock climbing, swim in the turquoise waters, visit the sacred Princess Cave (with many penis statues) or go kayaking. This place is best visited in the morning, before the tour boats arrive. It is a beautiful spot to park up for a few hours! You will also visit here on the 4 islands tour, but this will be extremely busy as it is a common tour route.

The Best One Pad Thai – as expected the Pad Thai was delicious
Hom Mali Thai Food – Excellent Thai food at really affordable prices
Burget Daddy – Classic burgers and pizza, really good if you are craving something other than Thai food!

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