How to get to Ao Nang:

Ao Nang is relatively accessible from seemingly anywhere you’re coming from in Thailand. We were coming from Ko Lanta and took a ferry and a short tuk tuk ride to reach our place. It’s not far from the Krabi airport if you are flying into the area.

Where we stayed:

We stayed at an AirBnB that was about a 15-20 minutes walk from the beach. Here’s a link to where we stayed.

The AC and wifi worked really well and we liked that this place was a bit tucked back from the tourist strip of town. Our host Adeelah was also so sweet and cooked us breakfast twice at her bakery (which was right across the road from the AirBnB). We did lose power once for a couple hours and the roosters woke us up EARLY but all in all this was a great little place for $23 a night.

Here's a link to get $20 off AirBnB if it’s your first booking!

What we did:

There is a lot to do in the Ao Nang area and a LOT of tourist stands trying to sell you a plethora of tours. We made an effort here to try and stay away from that and to find our own way around.

1. Tiger Cave Temple

After figuring out how to take the local bus which cost 150 baht ($4.80 USD) each there, we made it to the temple which is about 30-40 minutes out of town. The local “songathews” are mini vans/pick-up trucks with a covered open seating in the back that you just kind of hop in and out of. We flagged down a driver, hopped in and hoped for the best!

Once we arrived we headed to the steps to start the climb - 1,237 steps to the temple! A lovely couple on the bus had warned us to pace ourselves on the steps since there are some really steep ones and it’s quite hot and humid. Some of the steps were SO steep they were almost knee height so it was a bit of a challenge but we successfully made it to the top!

The temple itself isn’t necessarily “wowing” but the view from the top is really beautiful and it was nice to spend some time walking around and seeing the town from all angles. On the way down it had gotten much hotter and more crowded, so we were glad that we made an effort to come early. We hopped in a songathew to get back and paid 75 baht each (not sure why it was a different price). Considering the cheapest way to book a “tour” to the temple was 1500 baht, we felt pretty good about navigating this ourselves!

2. Walk to “Monkey Trail” and Hang out on a slightly secluded beach

If you walk alllll the way to the southern end of Ao Nang beach (past the “boardwalk” area and hotels, you’ll find an unsuspecting, unmarked pathway called “Monkey Trail.” The quick hike over the hill only takes about 15-20 minutes and has some steep steps, but you’ll be rewarded with a mostly secluded beach on the other side! The beach I believe is technically owned by the resort there, and we had to sign in as visitors but there is no fee. There are trees shading the back of the beach that make for a lovely area to set up for a few hours of relaxing time by the water. We really enjoyed lounging on this less crowded beach in the shade. It did appear that on the walk back there was a small sign labeling the trail so I do think it’s relatively maintained. This was one of our favorite, low key days in Ao Nang so I’d definitely recommend checking it out!

3. Rent a kayak for the day and explore Railay, Tonsai and the Phra Nang Cave

There were lots of boat tours and excursions that offered to take you to Railay and Tonsai, but we decided to rent a kayak and try and make it there ourselves. Again, we walked all the way to the southern end of the Ao Nang beach and rented a double kayak for 1000 baht ($32 USD) for the entire day. The paddle to Tonsai took about 45 minutes and we did cross paths with quite a few long tail boats but it was generally not too tough. We laid on the beach and watched the rock climbers on the nearby cliffs for a while before jumping back in the kayak to get to Railay and the Phra Nang cave. Railay was beautiful but quite crowded. We stopped in Phra Nang cave which is a “love” cave with many, ahem, phallic statues. There was a traditional Thai rock climbing wedding ceremony taking place here as well which gathered quite the audience. After exploring the caves a bit we hopped back in the kayak to head to the eastern side of Railay. Unfortunately, the winds had picked up and all the sudden we were facing 3-4 foot swells and a dicey paddle. We ended up having to turn around because the wind and water were fighting us too much, so we didn’t make it to the Railay viewpoint. The paddle back was quite tiring and took maybe 1.5 hrs, and we ended up with our kayak for about 6 hrs all in and certainly had a less-touristy kayaking adventure!

4. Get a traditional Thai Massage

I had heard that a traditional Thai massage was quite the experience and was set on getting one while we were in Ao Nang. After strolling a few minutes from our AirBnB, I popped into a street side place charging 200 baht (X USD) for an hour which seemed to be the fair price. The massage was far from relaxing, my masseuse quickly hopped on my back and started walking all over me, twisting my body in all sorts of ways, and cracking my fingers, toes, back, neck - you name it! While it wasn’t the usual massage experience I’m used to it was definitely unique and I felt quite limber afterwards! It’s certainly worth getting a massage in Ao Nang for the experience - just be prepared that it’s a far cry from a swedish massage :)

Best Thing We ate

Hands down- Kodam Kitchen is the place to eat! We ended up eating here twice during our stay. This place is a little tucked back away from the beach but wasn’t a far walk from our place. The massaman curry here was amazing and the atmosphere was really charming. I’d recommend having a reservation if you are planning to come here - we didn’t and only had to wait about 30 minutes but it was certainly a happening place.

The other notable place we are (for me more than for Josh) was Govinda’s which was an Indian restaurant. I had probably the best falafel I’ve ever had in a wrap with super fresh veggies.

Expenses for 5 nights in Ao Nang in USD:

• Accomodations: $141.53
• Food: $154.05
• Transportation: $24.00
• Laundry: $6.62
• Activites (kayak rental): $32.00
• Misc (sunscreen, a few other things): $21.41

Total: $379.61