The flight down to Krabi went all well and in the afternoon we arrived at “Krabi International Airport” – well, in case you know the Airports Friedrichshafen in Germany or Avalon in Melbourne you know the scale.
Anyway, the taxi to Ao Nang is a total rip off (once more), 600 Baht for about 35 km, but fixed price, no bargaining. The only choice you have is which of the yelling taxi companies you chose (there’s actually a shuttle bus for only 150 Baht pp. but they didn’t want to head off before the next plane would arrive). So it was a taxi. After only five minutes (35 km?!) the driver stopped near a pier and a Thai came over to tell us that all the bungalows in Tonsai were full and Railay as well. But of course luck had it and he could offer us some cheap accommodation near the beach in Ao Nang. But after two weeks in Thailand you obviously know such lousy traps and we insisted on getting to Ao Nang Pier to take a boat to Tonsai. Eventually he gave in, visibly disappointed.
So finally we stood at the Ao Nang Pier where we wanted to take a longtail boad (basically the tuk-tuk of the sea) but we had to wait for another six people to share the boat.
Half an hour and 120 Baht later we were heading towards climbers paradise, Tonsai , a secluded beach only accessible by boat, with just a few bungalows, bars and little shops – and lots of rocks! Okay, the beach itself looks awful, at least at low tide which was when we arrived. Mud and rocks everywhere, and and muddy roads from the last heavy rain. Nevertheless we put up in a fan room at Paa Sook bungalows and hoped for the best.
The next day was definitely better, a bit of sun and water covering the dirty parts of the beach made it actually look quite nice. A short walk along the beach and through a jungle passage brought us to Railay beach, basically the more expensive version of Tonsai. The climbs were good and the sandy beach offered a cool swim.
People staying in Tonsai are mostly climbers and maybe some backpackers trying to save money, whereas Railay has Resorts with pools and that sort of stuff. It somehow loks like a big outdoor gym, some of the routes start directly at the beach or behind the bungalows and you hear ,ostly people talking about there recent ascents. Doesn’t that sound lovely?
The next days we spent climbing at various crags and fighting the swarms of mossies. The BBQ at our restaurant was really good and comparatively cheap, the climbs nice (tried the best 6c ever there!) But somehow the weather was not as good as we had hoped and the lack of a white beach with beautiful blue water made us think about alternatives which we found in an island called Ao Laoliang, about 100 km south off the coast near the city of Trang. It’s accessible part consists of a beach with white sand and some climbable rocks, snorkeling and diving spots are nearby. A diving company runs a resort there with a limited number of luxurious tents (max. 80 people at a time on the island) and you buy packages of three nights including all meals and use of snorkeling and kayak gear. Sounded pretty damn good, and our contact Mike even offered a free pick-up service from Ao Nang at 8 am the next day …