A Weekend in Krabi!

I am staying in a small village near Don Sak town in the South of Thailand, which is 40 mins from Surat Thani city.  It is a very rural area which normally only sees tourists and backpackers pass through on their way to the islands.  The red star is my teaching location; Teacher Joy booked a van from our resort there to Surat Thani where we took a bus across country to Krabi town (blue star).

Our teaching week is from Monday to Thursday, leaving us with long weekends to travel and explore other areas; we decided on Krabi for last weekend since we are heading to Koh Samui and Koh Phangan this weekend for the Full Moon Party.  Much to our confusion Krabi town is about 40 mins away from Krabi (Ao Nang beach) - this lead to a comedy sketch escape plan from thee worst hotel ever (think dungeon- esque!) launching our bags, quickly followed by ourselves over a side wall to avoid the 800 THB cancellation fee!  Krabi town itself wasn't much better; I felt it was a dark, dingy and depressing town on the banks of a pretty murky river.  [where was this in the guide books!?!].  So we hopped on the first shuttle bus and headed straight to Ao Nang and it was the best decision we made - our weekend in Ao Nang was incredible! 

We went from one extreme to the other and ended up in a fabulous hostel, nicer than many hotels I've stayed in.  'I Krabi Hostel' in Ao Nang was so comfortable and for a hostel it really did have the wow factor! Check out our room below:

There were three of us in a room, and it cost 330 THB/ night/person which is approx £6.60!  If your travelling budget can stretch to that then I 100% recommend I Krabi Hostel.  

The highlight of my stay in Krabi was without doubt a day trip around the islands.  On our first night we were lucky enough to meet two people living and working in Krabi: Ellie, a local and Alejandro -originally from Venezuela.  They arranged for us to go on the boat trip with them the next morning and at a discounted price (bonus!) We left at 1pm and arrived back at 9pm; in total, including bottled water, sunset dinner on Railay beach and snorkeling for the small boat day trip it cost 900 THB (normal price 1000).  So that'd be £20, which in my opinion is well worth the money. 

First Night Out at Reggae Bar

Krabi Ao Nang Beach

On the Boat

The Islands

Chicken Island!

Railay Beach

Our Boat

So there it is - my islands boat trip from Krabi.  It was an incredible day; chillin' on the bow of the boat, snorkeling for the first time and getting to see hundreds of tropical fish, seeing the beautiful islands with white sand, swimming off the boat in open sea, (watching) cliff diving, having a BBQ dinner on Railay beach as the sun went down, wading back out to the boat after dinner, lying on the bow of the boat stargazing as we sailed away, seeing fluorescent plankton at night; all of this with new friends and Ellie our new local friend who knew everyone running the tour and gave us VIP treatment!! Hands down one of the best days of my life! 

Top Tips

--> Island tours are 100% worth the money! (go for one that includes snorkeling and dinner)

--> Don't stay in Krabi town - instead book to stay in Ao Nang!!