As a rule, tourists come here by boats from the beaches of Aonang (Krabi) or even from other provinces, for example from Phuket. And this is the beach that is spoken about when they say «Railay Beach» or «Railay Beach», although correct, the Thai pronunciation will be «Riley» or even «Raleigh». In fact, there are two beaches on the peninsula, and both of them are Railay!
West (West Railay Beach) - bathing, and the second - East (East Railay Beach)- technical, so to speak. For me, West Railay is one of the most beautiful beaches in Krabi province (after Pra Nanga).
The content of the article
- one Beach description
- 2 Entering the water, depth and waves
- 3 Sun beds and shade
- 4 Beach photo
- five Infrastructure
- 6 Houses and hotels on the beach
- 7 How to find the beach
- eight Beach Map
Beach description
It is very convenient that it is in quick reach from the accommodation of the winterers (we are talking about the village of Ao Nang). The sand is ordinary, fine, yellowish, and there are stones in the surf, but very little. Even on a weekend, there is enough space on the beach for everyone, the beach is wide. In the morning, there are not too many people here, except that tourists who settled in local hotels crowd in the shade of trees.
Entering the water, depth and waves
The entrance to the sea is relatively fast, and the depth comes in 10 meters from the coast. At a slight low tide, the opportunity to buy remains, although it will be necessary to go much further and may be too small. In general, the low tide changes well both the appearance and the swimability of the beach..
But with the West Riley there is a more complicated problem - already from 9 o'clock in the morning a lot of boats with tourists from Ao Nang rush to the peninsula, so there can be a lot of people on the coast during the season. Waves happen only in inclement weather.
Sun beds and shade
By the way, with shade, as on all the beaches of Krabi, Railay is good only in the morning and at lunchtime, and then you can hide from the sun only in cafes. The beach is very open, wide and long. At low tide, the sea goes far from the shade and you have to choose between shelter or close to the water.
Beach photo
Infrastructure
In terms of infrastructure, there are cafes on Walking Street, shops, a resort, several guesthouses and a couple of serious hotels on the southern end of the beach, which are not allowed to enter the territory..
To reach the center of the active life of the West Railay, you need to walk to the Walking Street sign (written in English in large letters Walking Street) and go deeper into the peninsula along the path. Although it will go deeper - this is loudly said, it is enough to walk from a couple of tens of meters.
A hundred meters later, the path turns already on East railay, where there are also cafes, shops and housing. Approximately, somewhere, about 10 minutes walk, and on the way you will come across the only vodomat on the entire peninsula with cheap drinking water.
If you turn to the East Railay to the right, then in another 10 minutes there will be a beach Phranang. West Railay is approximately 15 minutes' walk to Ton Sai.
You can also rent a kayak on Raleigh Beach or buy a boat ticket to the islands. You can even sail to Phuket, if you wish. At the northern end of the beach there is a crumbling rock that is overgrown with greenery and at first glance seems impassable. In fact, there is a hidden transition to semi-wild hippie beach Ton Sai.
Houses and hotels on the beach
User-rated Railay Village Resort & Spa & Sand Sea Resort .
These are three star beach resorts with swimming pools, restaurants and a well maintained area, located in the center of the beach, right next to the sea. But these are far from the only options for location. The full range of affordable housing can be viewed by clicking on the button below.
There are several resorts built here and full of small hotels, both on the coast and in the interior of the peninsula. The price tag for housing, food and cafes is more expensive than in the main resort. The owners take advantage of the remoteness of the area and shamelessly raise prices for everything.
Hotels in Krabi>
Be sure (and I insist) to check for discounts or special offers on the excellent Roomguru service. He will quickly and easily show you discounts in all existing booking systems. In Asia, for example, there are a lot of offers on Agoda.com, which are much more interesting than for exactly the same hotels on Booking.com.
For the lazy, here are the direct links to the hotels listed above:
How to find the beach
Railay West can only be reached by boat, as the peninsula is separated by rocks from the rest of the land. There may be some secret trails, but usually everyone swims there from Ao Nang., Ao Nam Mao, Krabi town, or even from Phuket.
Extreme climbers in good trekking shoes walk along the rocks along the sea at low tide, from Ao Nammao to East Railay, but then they still have to return by boat or stay on the peninsula waiting for the next low tide. Usually people come to live for some time in Ao Nang, from where they swim, periodically, on Railay.
On the Ao Nang promenade, you can buy a boat ticket for 100 baht and get to Railay in 10 minutes. A return ticket also costs 100 baht (you can buy both directions at once, there is no discount). It should be borne in mind that with a round trip ticket you need to contact the same carrier, in the sense of a boat office.
For example, on Ao Nang there are two of them, their ticket offices and piers are located at opposite ends of the beach. Nopparat also has its own boatmen, as well as Ao Nammao. So, if people in blue vests brought you to Railay, then with a return ticket you do not need to get into the boat with red or striped vests - they will make you pay for the fare.
A boat from Krabi town costs 150 baht per person, from Ao Nimao 80 baht, but they dock on Railay East. By the way, the ebb is very pronounced on it, if you sail at a strong low tide, you will have to go from the boat to the coast through muddy water and silt.
Longtails are sent as people accumulate - 10 people. That is - you bought a ticket, sit on the bench and wait until the man in the vest begins to call you all to the boat. On Ao Nang, people always hang out more, so boats are recruited literally in 5-10 minutes, but Ao Nimmao is a suburb and few people know about him, so there is a real prospect of smoking bamboo for half an hour or an hour while waiting for fellow travelers.
Beach Map
Riley Beaches Scheme
West Riley Beach Map
West Riley Beach Map:
