Krabi and a 4 Island Trip

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Just for the hell of it, we signed up for a snorkeling trip. A tour to four different islands off the coast started out looking a bit sketchy, but ended up being a great day. 3-4 days in Krabi town doing very little is enough to drive anyone mad although the girl that cut and shaved me was very nice and gave me another good experience.

Krabi is a small city with a population of around 18,000. Located just upriver from the coast, it has no beaches and hence visitors make a beeline for Had Yao, Ao Nang or Rai Leh (Railay). There are numerous good beaches in the area and are described at the bottom of the page.


Onto the 4 islands tour. Being picked up and then dumped from our songthaew near the beach was a little unnerving. Our group of about 5 (2 welsh, 2 american and 1 german) was all of a sudden swollen with a few hundred Korean or Chinese. I dont know which they are, as the Asians say that we all look the same, I say the same to you.

I wont waste time describing the 4 islands as you can probably well imagine that they are:
a. white sands
b. blue seas
3. beautiful beyond belief

The highlight for me was undoubtedly the snorkelling experience. I HATE with a vengeance and cannot stand swimming as it brings back embarassing memroies of school and a general poor performance on my part but this was different. Most of us used a life jacket to aid the floating and some, the Asians, jumped into the water fully clothed. And I mean, shirts, trousers, socks, everything!

The scene under the water was fantastic, my face being surrounded my hundreds (honestly) of little fish swimming all around me. It was fantastic to see so many colours of fish and all the different shapes and sizes. The coral was stunning as well, slightly different from Australia, but I dont mind saying it hurts when your bloody feet scrape against it!


Wiki descriptionof the beaches. Apologies for the turd entry but its been a while since this happened and my memory is not so good these days...
Ao Nang Beach, is Krabi's most developed beach. Fringed by palms, the long beach is backed by a wide range of accommodation including resorts, bungalows and guesthouses. Most travel services can be found here, and there is a good variety of restaurants featuring both local and international cuisine.
Railay Beach, paradise found? The coast in the south of Thailand is a luxurious tropical paradise. Towering limestone cliffs shelter incredible beaches, the most beautiful is Railay. Isolated from the mainland, the peninsula of Railay is surrounded by the warm Andaman Sea, lush jungle, and twisted rock. It contains enough activities for the most adventurous while allowing those who just want to chill out in paradise the opportunity to do just that.
Tonsai Beach, Tonsai beach is a gym monkeys paradise. Hundreds of steep generously bolted tendon popping routes ranging from 6a+ to 8c. A great place to hang out climb and day dream of that new project you're about to start sometime after lunch. Here you will find the famous, the wanna be famous and lost hippies.
Hat Yao, the longest, completely empty stretch of beach on mainland Krabi

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