Krabi, Thailand: beach paradise meets climbers' playground
On Railey Beach majestic limestone cliffs punch through the soft, sandy beaches and warm waves. With 500+ bolted routes as well as great diving and numerous chill-out bars, nowhere else competes.
Dangling precariously from a limestone overhang, fingertips clinging to a narrow fissure, may not be to everyone’s idea of the perfect holiday, but hey, there’s a picture-perfect beach right there too! In Krabi Province, adrenaline junkies cut their drug with high-grade tropical paradise and get baked under the dreamy-eyed gaze of sun-worshippers of a less energetic persuasion.
Railey, together with Ton Sai and Pranang beaches, are locked away on a limestone headland that juts into the Andaman Sea just a few kilometres from Krabi town. The towering cliffs, that attract savvy, in-the-know climbers from around the world, form a natural barrier keeping roads out and isolation in. So, in defiance of touristy commercialisation, parts of the Railey peninsula have maintained a rustic, backpacker charm.
Railey can only be reached by boat, either from Krabi town or nearby Ao Nang beach. During our evening boat-transfer, the domineering cliffs were silhouetted by distant lightning which flickered through banks of retreating storm clouds as they hurried across a star strewn sky. And when you arrive, no-one has spoilt the beaches with jetties or piers, so you paddle ashore, feeling like the first visitor, particularly if you opt to stay on down-to-earth Ton Sai Beach, the unspoilt domain of long-term backpackers and rugged climber types.
But there are plush resorts too. West Railey and Pranang Beaches, with their glorious sunset vistas and broad beaches, command the most exclusive prices. However, all the beaches are connected by a network of paths so if you’re looking for midrange accommodation, try East Railey. The shoreline here is scattered with mangroves and is no good for sunbathing or swimming but its only five minutes walk from the classic beaches. What’s more, East Railey’s waterfront bars are the best, particularly at high-tide on a clear night when waves gently rock the bamboo platforms built into the sea. On a moonlit night, blend into the Rasta backdrop of the Skunk Bar and mellow into your beer to a reggae soundtrack.
Railey rocks
The climbing ranges from child-friendly scrambles to sinew wrenching overhangs. If you don’t have your own gear, there are plenty of setups offering guided climbs from child or beginner level, to more advanced bottom roped climbs or even challenging multi-pitches on some of the more demanding routes.
For less demanding exercise, scramble along the rocky path between Ton Sai and West Railey, or clamber up the rocks at the north end of Pranang beach to access some magnificent caves that cut deep into the cliffs. If you take a torch you can follow the caverns right through to a vantage point high above West Railey.
Towards the southern tip of the peninsular a colossal outcrop has a vertical chasm weathered right down to sea-level creating an isolated, salt water lagoon an hour’s strenuous clamber from the beach.
Kayaks are available for hire on West Railey beach and there are numerous dive centres to choose from too.
Where to stay
From simple bungalows costing a few hundred baht per night to fancy suites for well over 30,000 (£600), almost all accommodation is featured on www.krabirailay.com. The site doesn’t offer a ‘live’ search for availability; you place an enquiry via their web form and wait for an email back but they were pretty prompt. However, booking directly with a resort may prove cheaper.
Our spacious and immaculately kept ‘Mountain View Terraced’ room at View Point Resort (www.viewpointresort66.com; (+66) 08 3533 3398 / 08 5629 7070; yong@viewpointresort66.com) was 3000 Baht (£60) / night including breakfast. We were just a short walk from East Railey’s many cafes and chill-out bars. Ask for a room at the top of the hill, where you’ll enjoy stunning views of the cliffs behind the ambiguously named Stone Bar, a popular climber’s watering-hole and Railey’s closest approximation to modern nightlife.
Bars and restaurants
There is no big party scene and you’re more likely to wrestle an overhang than suffer a hangover, although where there’s a will there’s a way and there’s no shortage of options. All the bars try to get an edge over the competition for at least one night each week with attractions ranging from karaoke and snake shows to Thai boxing spectacles (WWF style choreographed scraps).
For food, you’ll be spoilt for choice. Mas Mann curry at The Last Bar on East Railey is a must. Chicken with Coconut Milk at Ya Ya Resort is also not to be missed. Try a buffet at View Point too; crocodile kebabs selected from the meat counter and cooked to order – awesome. Personally, I never tire of Thai Green Curry; it’s slightly different wherever you order it in a very Asian same-same-but-different kind of way.
Getting there
Most visitors will transit through Bangkok, which is served by around 90 airlines operating flights to and from well over 100 domestic and international destinations. Internal connections to Krabi airport are available with Thai Airways, Lufthansa, Tiger Airways and Air Asia. For evening arrivals, it’s worth organising your airport transfer in advance as most of the long-tail taxi-boat operators clock-off at dusk.
Our luxury pick-up (1500 Baht (£30) for a family of four) was arranged by www.krabirailay.com. A spacious, air-con van whisked us through Krabi’s early evening traffic to the harbour where we were stuffed into a slightly suspect arrangement welded to the side of a motorcycle for a brief spin along the jetty. The boat was met by a tractor, splashing through the shallow water to whisk us ashore.
For our return we arranged a morning transfer for a fraction of the cost with NJoy (joykrabi@hotmail.com; (+66) 08 1609 8191), one of the ‘travel agents’ on East Railey beach; bargain prices demand that you make your own way to the boat, paddling through the waves, and swap air-con for the breeze on your face in the back of an open sided van.
When to go
November to January is high season, with prices to match, and the weather then is drier with more sunshine. You may find Summer months oppressively humid but it depends very much on your climatic tastes. Check out average temperature and rainfall here: http://krabi.sawadee.com/weather.htm. Being tropical it can rain (spectacularly heavily) at anytime and the electric storms are amazing.
Footnote
At The Last Bar on the northern end of East Railey Beach you will most likely meet an Englishman, fondly know as the magician, who has been there almost ten years. In another bar I met an Australian who professes to be scared by all the cars in the nearby, small town of Krabi. He’s been on Railey beach for nine months and shows no sign of leaving anytime soon.
Nobody actually wishes to leave but reality for most of us is that holidays have to come to an end.
