Ao Nang and Koh Phi Phi: A Honest Guide to Southern Thailand

Ao Nang and Koh Phi Phi: Southern Thailand’s Beautiful, Busy

Destinations, Thailand

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Sheer limestone cliffs draped in jungle greenery rise from a turquoise ocean. Sunburned bodies bask next to a stray monitor lizard. Long-tail boats chug past the most spectacularly beautiful beaches I’ve ever encountered.

And I’ve been to a lot of beaches.

But here’s the truth about southern Thailand: the beauty is real, but so are the crowds. If you go knowing that you’re unlikely to have a solitary beach vacation unless you seek out the more remote islands, you’ll have a wonderful time.

My daughter, Julia, and I spent five nights in the south: three in Ao Nang and two on tiny, outrageously scenic Koh Phi Phi.

In this post, I share how we spent five days in Ao Nang and Koh Phi Phi.

Ao Nang: Quick Facts
Getting There: From Khao Sok to the Coast
Day 1: Arrival and the Muay Thai Truck
Day 2: Railay Beach
Day 3: Hong Island Tour
Day 4: Koh Phi Phi
Day 5: A Windy Day and a Fire Show
Day 6: Back to Bangkok
Is Koh Phi Phi Worth It?
My Honest Take on Southern Thailand
Where to Stay in Ao Nang
Where to Stay on Koh Phi Phi
Tours From Ao Nang

Ao Nang: Quick Facts

Location: Krabi Province, southern Thailand
Getting there: Fly to Krabi Airport (roughly 30 minutes by transfer) or Surat Thani (2 hours)
Where we stayed: Lux Family Villas Krabi (standalone bungalows, free shuttle to beach, private pool)
How long to stay: 3-5 nights to allow time for relaxing and for taking day trips to the islands
Best for: Island-hopping day trips, Railay Beach, the Hong Islands, and anyone who wants a mix of beach and convenience
Worth knowing: Downtown Ao Nang is busy, commercial, and loud. Stay slightly outside the center if you value your sanity.
Best time to go: November to April (dry season); avoid May to October when seas can be rough and some boat tours don’t run

Getting There: From Khao Sok to the Coast

We were collected from our lake adventure at Khao Sok and transferred by van to Ao Nang, a journey of roughly two hours. The landscape shifts noticeably as you travel south. Dense jungle gives way to flatter terrain and then, suddenly, you’re at the Andaman coast.

Our accommodation was Lux Family Villas Krabi, a collection of standalone bungalows about ten minutes from the center of Ao Nang.

If you value quiet over proximity, I recommend Lux Family Villas Krabi. A free shuttle runs to and from Ao Nang whenever you want it, and we never waited more than fifteen minutes.

After experiencing the craziness that is downtown Ao Nang, you’ll appreciate the chance to escape for some quiet time at the end of the day unless you’re a hardened party animal.

Fun fact: I wasn’t one even when I was young.

We were upgraded to a two-bedroom bungalow with a private pool. I have never had a room with a private pool before, and now I understand why people seek them out.

Night swimming in warm water under a dark sky became our routine all three nights.

Day 1: Arrival and the Muay Thai Truck

After settling in and having an inaugural swim in the private pool, we caught the shuttle to the beach for our first look at Ao Nang proper.

The contrast with northern Thailand couldn’t have been more stark.

After two weeks of temples, hill tribe villages, jungle treehouses, and a lake that barely seemed real, Ao Nang’s beachside strip delivered a full sensory reset: long-tail boats bobbing in the turquoise sea on one side, bumper-to-bumper traffic and wall-to-wall tourism on the other.

My first thought was that I could be at any beach resort in the world.

And then a truck lumbered, reminding me I was still very much in Thailand.

It was a double-decker with the top deck designed to look like a Muay Thai ring. To the accompaniment of Eye of the Tiger blaring into the soft evening air, two men stripped to the waist and wearing boxing gloves pretended to fight while standing atop a moving vehicle. The purpose was to entice passersby to attend a Muay Thai bout.

Two men on top of a truck doing Muay Thai boxing

Muay Thai appears on most bloggers’ top-ten lists for Thailand. However, it’s not my thing, so I can’t comment on the actual fights.

I will say that balancing on a moving truck while miming combat is probably not the fighters’ favorite part of the job, and I felt mildly sorry for them.

We strolled the wide walkway alongside the beach. Several large sculptures caught the fading light and the long-tail boats added an exotic air.

We found a good place for dinner (okay Thai food and pretty much filled to bursting with tourists like us) and then returned to the villa for a swim in the dark.

Day 2: Railay Beach

Enclosed by limestone cliffs and accessible only by boat, Railay Beach sits on a car-free peninsula just around the corner from Ao Nang,

The long-tail takes about fifteen minutes from the southern end of Ao Nang Beach, costs roughly 200 baht return, and runs between 8 am and 6 pm.

Railay is famous for two reasons: it’s stunningly beautiful, and you can walk across the narrow peninsula past dramatic rock formations and gamboling monkeys to an even more stunning beach on the other side.

At one point during the 20-minute walk across the peninsula, a whole troupe of monkeys scampered across telephone wires and put on quite a show for passing tourists.

A few people had their water bottles stolen. The monkeys were quite aggressive, and we realized pretty quickly not get too close.

Here are a few pictures showing the cave bordering the walkway from one beach to the next, a panorama of the distinctive limestone cliffs, and me on Railay Beach.

We spent a relaxed day swimming and getting sunburned.

The highlight was a monitor lizard the size of a small crocodile that lumbered across the sand. Sunbathers scattered, but the lizard didn’t appear to notice it wasn’t alone.

Kind bystanders woke a few sleeping visitors just in time for them to scramble out of its path.

Monitor lizard at Railay Beach in southern Thaliand

Staying at Railay Beach

While super-crowded during the day, Railay Beach empties out at night and it’s possible to stay there. Here are some options:

Day 3: Hong Island Tour

We were up bright and early to take a boat tour to the Hong Islands.

On the shuttle taking us from Lux Family Villas Krabi to the beach area to meet up with the tour, we chatted with four young men who told us they were from Kitimat.

What are the odds? Kitimat is a small town in northern British Columbia, our home province. We’d met only a handful of Canadians in Thailand and didn’t expect four of them to hail from little Kitimat.

Tours to the Hong Islands are available via long-tail boat or speed boat. Because of my injured wrist, we opted for a speed boat in the fond hope it might be easier for me to get on and off.

It wasn’t, really, but I managed, and over the course of the next six hours, we visited several islands, relaxed on powdery white sand beaches, and admired emerald waters and majestic limestone cliffs.

What are the Hong Islands?

The Hong Islands are a group of uninhabited islands about twenty minutes by speedboat from Ao Nang and located within a national park that ensures they remain undeveloped.

There are no resorts, no private beaches, and limited infrastructure.

The main draw is Koh Hong, where an emerald-green lagoon enclosed by towering limestone cliffs can only be entered through a narrow passageway. Inside, the cliffs create changing patterns of light and shade throughout the day.

The water is clear enough to see the white sandy bottom from the surface.

Over the course of six hours we visited several islands, each with its own character: white sand beaches fringed by karsts, hidden coves, snorkeling spots with tropical fish, and at Pakbia Island a labyrinth of limestone caves at the waterline.

Julia made the trek to the 360-degree viewpoint on Koh Hong (419 steps, for those who like their effort quantified). Her photos from the top are stunning.

A note on practicalities: the national park fee (around 300 baht per person) is typically not included in tour prices, so bring cash. You can book Hong Island tours directly upon arrival in Ao Nang: kiosks line the beach area. Or, book in advance through GetYourGuide if you want one less thing to organize.

Lunch on the tour was mediocre Thai food, which is about what you’d expect from a meal prepared on a small boat. The scenery more than compensated.

Night Market

Back in Ao Nang that evening, we headed to the Night Market for some last-chance souvenir shopping and considerably better food than we had at lunch.

The food stalls are excellent and worth taking your time with. I got as much pleasure from looking as from eating, which is saying something.

I particularly liked the crocodile meat stall, although needless to say, I didn’t sample any.

—

Day 4: Koh Phi Phi

Julia was very keen to visit Koh Phi Phi and the famous Maya Bay, where The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed. So the next morning we took the shuttle to the large ferry dock and caught the ferry to the island.

Koh Phi Phi is car-free and cramped around the main harbor, and surrounded by some of the most dramatic scenery in Thailand. Towering limestone cliffs, turquoise water, and white sand beaches deliver everything the photographs promise.

Our resort, PP Erawan Palms on Laemtong Beach, was accessible only by a second, shorter boat ride from the main dock — which meant leaving our luggage on the wharf while we found lunch, then collecting it when the boat was ready. Slightly chaotic, completely worth it.

Arriving at PP Erawan Palms

The resort was lovely: tropical gardens, a pool, a sandy beach with bobbing long-tail boats, and an open-air restaurant with a view that made it difficult to care about the food, which was just as well because the food was just okay.

Staff were attentive without being intrusive.

On our first afternoon, we booked massages that were delivered by energetic ladies in a breezy covered area facing the sea.

While being pummeled and prodded (in a good way), I drifted off to the sound of the ocean breezes and whooshing waves.

Although pricier than massages in most places in Thailand, it was still a bargain compared to what I pay back home.

Dinner was at a beachside place in the resort next door. The salmon was cooked beautifully, and the view of the moon rising over the long-tail boats couldn’t be beat.

Day 5: A Windy Day and a Fire Show

We awakened to a windy morning, which meant our plan to take a long-tail to Maya Bay was cancelled.

Fortunately, the regular shuttle boat to the main area of Koh Phi Phi was running, so we swallowed our disappointment and spent several hours exploring the town.

I enjoyed my first coconut drink at a wonderful little place tucked into a side alley with cheerful service and no other customers, which was a shame because the food was excellent.

We spent some time on the beach, bobbed in and out of the water, which was so warm it was barely refreshing, and then returned for the second to last evening of our three-week odyssey.

Since our last night would be spent at a hotel near the airport, I didn’t really count it.

Julia decided to embrace her inner fire at the fire show being held at a nearby resort. When the show ended and audience members were invited down to the beach for a photo op, she was first in line. I love this video of her holding aloft a flaming bar in celebration of the end of our three-week mother-daughter adventure.

Day 6: Back to Bangkok

The next morning, we caught the shuttle back to the harbor, hopped on the ferry for the three-hour journey back to Krabi, and from there took the shuttle to the airport for our flight to Bangkok for our final night before the long haul home to Canada.

Three weeks and so many wonderful memories. No wonder so many people we met had visited multiple times. It’s a country that rewards slowing down and seeking experiences away from the tourist areas.

Is Koh Phi Phi Worth It?

Honestly, unless you have more than two nights, I’d say skip it. Koh Phi Phi is beautiful, but it is also a long way from the mainland.

On a two-night stay, a significant portion of your time is spent waiting for boats and riding boats.

If you have three or four nights and can be flexible about weather, then definitely consider including a visit to Koh Phi Phi. Maya Bay in particular requires the right conditions, and we simply ran out of time and luck.

If you’re choosing between spending an extra night on Koh Phi Phi or extending your time in Khao Sok or Chiang Mai, I’d opt for the latter every time.

My Honest Take on Southern Thailand

The beauty here is not overstated. The karst scenery around Ao Nang and the beaches of Koh Phi Phi are extraordinary. It’s no wonder millions of people flock here.

Downtown Ao Nang is hectic, commercial, and doesn’t feel particularly Thai. Koh Phi Phi’s main village is similarly international-resort style rather than authentic.

This isn’t a complaint exactly; it’s just useful to know before you go. The beauty is real and the infrastructure around it is very much built for mass tourism.

If you only have three weeks in Thailand and you’re choosing what to prioritize, I’d spend more time in Khao Sok, Bangkok, and Chiang Mai.

The south rewards visitors who can stay long enough to get beyond the busiest beaches and find the quieter corners.

That said: the long-tail ride through the karsts, the Hong Islands lagoon, Railay Beach and the lumbering lizard, the naughty monkeys, and the moon over the boats at Koh Phi Phi are all worth seeing, and I’m glad we went.

Where to Stay in Ao Nang

We stayed at Lux Family Villas Krabi which I heartily recommend, particularly the two-bedroom villas for those travelling with family or friends. The free shuttle takes the sting out of being ten minutes from the beach.

Here are other options in and around Ao Nang:

Where to Stay on Koh Phi Phi

PP Erawan Palms on Laemtong Beach is comfortable, scenic, and away from the noise of the main village. The only drawback is that you need to take a boat when you want to go to the main part of Koh Phi Phi and there isn’t a lot to do apart from basking in the sun and swimming.

But then, it is a resort, so that’s kind of the point.

Here are other options on Koh Phi Phi:

Tours From Ao Nang

Book tours at the kiosks near the beach, or in advance via GetYourGuide. The Hong Islands tour is the standout day trip.

Railay Beach is easy to do independently by long-tail from the beach.

Here are some options from GetYourGuide. If you have the funds, I suggest a private tour so you can go where you want and also not feel like you’re being herded..

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