Krabi Hotel Reviews

Ao Nang is a great base for island-hopping around Krabi: beach in Ao Nang itself is okay but not wonderful and can''t swim at low tide. It''s a busy little spot (even a McDonald''s there), with some okay restaurants, although must ask for food to be cooked "Thai style" if you want the proper levels of spiciness in your tom yum gung. Ao Nang Cuisine seemed more authentic than most. Raileh and Tong Sai beaches very easy to reach, as well as those further afield. Took a speed boat to Maya Bay, where "The Beach" was filmed, which was stunning and very lucky to find it so quiet, post-tsunami: just a couple of boats on the beach. Also worth spending a day sea-canoeing. We went to the Ao Thalane mangrove swamps (nursing sunburn) rather than the beaches, and had a ball. Had monkeys jumping on the canoe, saw huge monitor lizards and even a cobra, and paddled up "Thailand''s Grand Canyon". Would highly recommend it: not too exhausting and most people go for only a half-day so had the swamp to ourselves in the afternoon, visited secret lagoons and a tiny swimming beach. Fantastic!

We visited some of the restuarants in the area, e.g E-San seafood restuarant and Chuan Chim seafood resturants. Both served excellent food at resonable price.

Be careful with the Canoeing or Kayak adventures because if you go during low tide you will walk through a lot of rubbish with your kayak in your sholders. Nice beaches are not very close to Ao Nang. Railay Beach East is no good, west very nice. If travelling in a group try to rent a speedboat for the day for around 9,000 TBH.

There''s a cart vendor set up around 50 metres from the hotel who sell papaya salad and various skewers. His papaya salad is the best in the whole area and at 25baht the biggest bargain!! Just remember one chilli is already really hot!!

Recommended restaurants: Sala Bua Thai Cuisine (quite near the Emerald Green Resort), Ao Nang Cuisine (at Ao Nang beach). There are plenty of tour agencies at the beach which will offer you packages to the various islands. Just ask around and compare prices. I went to Tiger Cave Temple which offers you a beautiful view of Krabi, if you climb all the way to the top. The temple is situated at the top of a limestone "mountain". There are 1237 steep steps to the top which is about 7km above the ground. Yes, it''s a tiring climb but the view is really great up there. Treat it as a workout session after all that pigging out on all the great Thai food!

Ao Nang is a nice place to stay. Although its beach is not a white sandy one, Ralay beach is just a 5 min long tail boat ride round the corner. Ao Nang has some great restaurants and the bars owners/workers are the extremely friendly. The Phi Phi Island Tour is a must and if you get a chance to go the other island trips, do so. Ao Nang is a chilled out place and a week is more than enough time to discover the place.

Plenty of choice for all kinds of tours - island visits, kayaking, hiking, elephant trekking. Also other things to do like Thai cookery courses. Speedboat tours are quite good, but be warned that some destinations get very busy with other day trippers (eg Phi Phi Island). Longtail boats will take you for 50 baht from Ao Nang to other local beaches. Diving is possible, but the best option may be 2-3 day liveaboards.<br> <br> In late April Ao Nang was very quiet but there was a small but entertaining bar life - a couple of places to watch football or play pool and a few little beer bars. Best way to get around is to hire a motorbike - 200-250 baht per day and very little traffic on the roads. You can then explore the beautiful countryside independently.

We did not "plan well" for our 3 nights (2 full days) in Krabi before arriving except to have made flight reservations on TG (highly recommended) for direct flights from Bangkok and to have booked at "The Cliff Ao Nang Resort". We were also very pleased with that selection. We were there at the hottest time of the year so we wanted to stay out of the direct sun as much as possible.<br> <br> Challenging. The first day we did a "Jungle Adventure". This consisted of a 3 venue expedition in an air-conditioned jeep (with weak but better than nothing air). The two highlights of the day were our waterfall visit to Hin Plerng (make sure you have on true HIKING footwear) and our climb up to the top of Wat ThamSeua -- all 1,237 steps. Bring lots of water with you for the day and be prepared for LOTS of exercise. Our 2nd day we took a speed boat trip to Phi Phi via Bamboo Island. The boat was full but not overly crowded. We required that it be covered due to our sun-burn concerns, It was enclosed on the back, but open on the front. The sun worshiping (and very ''leathery'') tourists got their preferred experience too. The venues were truly beautiful. Spectacular! and, of course, very crowded with other boats and tourists.<br><br> Very glad that we did both exursions and heard good things from other travelers at The Cliff Ao Nang that they really enjoyed "Elephant Trekking" and their day of "Thai Cooking." We also bought the book "Krabi - Caught in the Spell" by Thom Henley and found it enjoyable and invaluable as a venue reference. The geography of the coast and islands is strikingly beautiful and at times "other worldly." Don''t miss it if you are in Southern Thailand.

We went on a day trip to Bamboo Island with visits to Poda Island, Tup Island and Chicken Island on return. I definitely experienced the best snorkelling ever in the reef just off Bamboo Island. Amazing!

This part of Krabi is not really good for those back packers seeking "Thai prices," on the whole Ao Nang and Krabi are catered for Westerners seeking luxury holidays. Although "Thai prices" can be found you will need to venture away from the main beach spots and into areas were the local community lives. But highly catered for western tourist, people are friendly, but the Thai food here is tonned down a lot, not hot at all, and flavour not as good as in Bangkok, everything is catered for westerners.

Found Ao Nang Tourist Center helpful. Took their Robinson Tour around the islands - got away from the crowds amongst great scenery, and price more reasonable than we saw offered elsewhere.

We rented a car and drove all over Krabi. What a beautiful province. Did the elephant trekking, mangrove kayaking, and went to the natural spring swimming hole near Ao Luk. Great place to explore and relax at the same time.

Krabi is the place to visit! I love it and will go back again. On the first day, we took a cab from Krabi International airport to Krabi town. Hunted out the day market, but found out that it moved. When we finally found it, it was just a food market selling fresh produce and local cooked food. Not much to see, but we got to stock up on fresh fruits before going to Aonang (where we were staying). There are 2 ways to get to Aonang from Krabi Town. 1. By Longtail (the local boat) 2. By Road. We decided to take a longtail. Did not regret it, cos the sights were amazing!<br><br> On a practical note, if you bring a lot of luggage, DO NOT go to Aonang via Longtail, as there are no piers for you to get off at the beaches. We had to jump off the Longtail into the water when we got to the beach- the nearest in which the longtail can go. So if the tide is out, you may have to wade in the water at least 100 meters. So don’t wear any clothes that are too expensive or can’t wear to get wet by salt water. The beach at Aonang is not great. In fact we did not spend time there.<br><br> We took a day trip to Phi Phi Island. Check with your hotel if they do have a pickup. DO NOT get a tour package. NOT WORTH IT. Just get return tickets to Phi Phi Island. THB250 each person. Take the earliest boat out, as they never leave on time. And ask if they stop over at Bamboo Island before you get to phi phi island. The water is so clear there. We rented snorkels from the boat and jumped into the water. There are fishes that swim next to you. The sad thing is that a lot of the corals have died, due to the pollution from the boats. Phi Phi island is very crowded during Nov - May. so if you want to get away from pple, this is not the place. The beach at Phi Phi island is a semi-nudist beach. You have to rent a deck chair (THB40 each) to lie on the beach. if not, buy a mat that you can use for your whole trip (THB80). Go island and beach hopping! It is fantastic.<br><br>We went to a couple to restautants at Aonang. They were okay, not fantastic. The best that we found (not a restaurant, but a road-side stall) that sells the BEST FOOD EVER! It is along the same road as THE CLIFF. Just 5 mins walk down, you would see a whole strech of road side stalls. Would see a small stall that stand out from the rest. It has a checkered black and white floor and has nice wooded tables, chairs and umbrellas. The young couple who runs the stall work hard by themselves. The pretty young lady speaks good english, and ask her for recommendations. They also custom make your food. Tell them if you dont want your food too spicy. The Glass- noodle Phad Thai is the yummiest! Actually, everything there is great! The fruit shakes were good too. The nice lady made us a glass of lemon grass drink free. So good! Massages are something not to be missed. you can get one for THB250. Treat yourself to either a foot reflexlogy or a body massage after dinner (give yourself at least 1 hr for the food to digest).

After the initial shock of finding Ao Nang so full of tourists, we enjoyed it. It is very tastefully done, ot at all tacky, as in other Thai resorts we have seen, and no hint of adult bars etc (although they are probably hidden somewhere!) So, a good family destination and plenty to do, with good shopping. We enjoyed trying out different beaches and islands by hopping on longtail boats, but found that once we were there, the constant sound of these obats'' motors coming and going did detract from the peace we had hoped to find! Beware of going to Npharat bay - we thought we had found the idyllic deserted beach setting, but were terribly bitten by sandflies.

Ao Nang appears to be a great place to base yourself if you’re visiting the Krabi area. Many tours and day trips depart from the beachfront area but it’s also a compact resort with plenty to keep you occupied if you want to stay put. The beach at Ao Nang is pleasant, if not amazing, however the stunning Railey beach is a short longtail boat ride from Ao Nang beach and is well worth a visit.<BR> <BR> We didn’t book any tours before we arrived in Thailand, partly because we didn’t really know exactly what we wanted to do and see and partly because we hoped to get a better choice when we got out there. I’m glad that we waited because everywhere you look in Ao Nang seems to be offering tours and trips of one kind or another!<BR> <BR> I would highly recommend spending a day going out to Phi-Phi on a speedboat tour. We were taken to see many stunning beaches and coves with some snorkeling thrown in too. A kayaking trip was also well worth doing. We paddled through mangroves and a beautiful canyon and even had wild monkeys jump on to our kayak to eat our fruit! All in all, Krabi and in particular Ao Nang, is a fabulous place to visit and I would love to go back one day!

Ao Nang has the best of both land and sea! It''s a great place to visit and very affordable. We found a nice local stall to enjoy good local food very near to Verandah. Rock climbing at Railey is a MUST for all those of you who has a little adventurous spirit in you.

The Andaman Sunset Resort is located in Ao Nang which is a good jumping off point to explore the Krabi region. The seaside town has banks, shops and many restaurants. One can take the water taxis to surrounding islands and beaches. The beach at Ao Nang is a long and wide one but did not seem to be used much by tourists. White sand beaches nearby offer a nicer way to spend your day. We ended up taking the ferry to Phi Phi Don island which has an incredibly beautiful beach once you cross from the harbor landing to the other side of the island, a 2 minute walk. We would recommend staying at Charlie''s which has recently upgraded their cabanas. The restaurant is fantastic and the staff are very welcoming. We cannot say enough about how great they were with our children. And one more item...check out the Ciao Bella Restaurant just a few steps further down the beach. Get to know Luciano, the owner, and play some beach volleyball with him.

We have visited several islands in Pra Nang Bay by longtail boat and canoe. The canoe trips are beautiful. We have visited several restaurants and they all are great. For shopping we went to Krabi by bus. The market and shops in Krabi have better prices than the little shops in Ao Nang.

The beach in Ah Nang is not good. We took a boat each day to either Raleigh Beach, or Chicken Island or Padoa Island. It is extremely easy and cheap to get to these beaches. <BR><BR> Restaurants are good, there is plenty of choice, we had some great Italian meals, seafood, and Thai meals. The standard of food and service was excellent.

Good destination - although it really is a stopover for going to Railay Beach.