These are the Top 10 Things to do in Krabi,
Thailand while on your Vacation
 1. Visit
Wat Tum Sua Buddhist temple (Tiger Cave Temple).
Wat Tum Sua is a big unknown attraction in Krabi, Thailand and many
tourists that I've talked to have told me that there is very little
about it on any map they have or in the Lonely Planet Thailand
guide. To me, a visit to Wat Tum Sua is second only to number 10 on
the list.
Why go to Wat Tum Sua? (also spelled Wat Tham Suea or Wat Thum Sua
or any of 15 other variations!)
A.) It's one of the few decent hikes you're going to find in the
South of Thailand. I've spent a couple years in the south and the
best hikes I've found are those leading to waterfalls usually. I've
not visited Khao Sok National park though, and I've heard there are
some good hikes there that take you far into the jungle.
B.) You'll get some fitness climbing one of two things... either the
100 steps up into the foothills to see where the monks live in kutis
(huts) built into the walls of the caves or you can go the 1,237
steps leading up the hill and visit a Buddhist memorial complete
with a big Buddha and numerous stupas and a chedi. It is windy at
the top and you'll probably have free refrigerated water that's nice
and cold if the electric isn't out at the time.
C.) You'll be able to see and feed monkeys, some of which may grab
your things -so be careful with everything you have including your
shoes.
.JPG) D.) There are a few places to see on the temple grounds and they're
building more all the time. They are building a 99 meter chedi with
8 levels that might be done about midway through 2008. It's quite
cool inside near the top and you can go in if you wish even though
it's not finished yet.
E.) You can do a little cave exploring in the foot hills area. There
are a couple rooms to go back into. There are lights if you find the
switch outside on the left side of the cave wall. Or, bring a
flashlight (torch).
F.) The price to visit the national parks has risen up to 400 baht for
an adult visitor at some Thailand parks. Wat Tum Sua is free but you should give a donation -
maybe 100 baht?
2. Visit
Huay To Waterfall in the Khao Phanom Benja National Park.
Also called "Khao Panom Benja" and "Huoy To" and "Huai Toh" and "Huay
Toh" waterfall. This is a nice park that you might get charged
300
baht to go see. I guess it's worth it if you stay a few hours. As
far as waterfalls go, this one isn't as spectacular as Surat Thani's
"Dod Fa" or Ko Samui's "Na Muang II", but, it's a nice park and a
relaxing way to spend a couple hours. The water is cool and clean
and there shouldn't be too many people there if you're there during
off-season. I've not been there during high-season. Expect farang
yer-yer (many). It is located north of Krabi town and about 22 km up
the road toward the BIG mountain top you see in the distance. Though
the waterfall is at the base of that mountain of course. ;)
 3. Go see the
Crystal Lagoon. This is a clear pool of water (photo right) that is
fed by a spring, but it is not a hot spring. The temperature of the
water is warm enough that you won't be cold. Best way to get there
is to get a map that has the location on it - north west of Krabi
town and take a motorbike out to see it. It's kind of a long ride to
get there, but I thought it was worth it. There is a boardwalk for
some of the hike to get to the Crystal lagoon or Crystal Pool or
Crystal Spring, and the other part is a walk through the woods.
There can be many people here when school lets out in particular.
Better to go in the morning on a weekday that the kids don't have
off for some holiday. Try Tues-Thurs for best bet as the kids have
off for MANY Thai holidays on Mondays and Fridays. National park
fees apply. They may give you a discount if you can speak Thai well
enough to convince them that you already visited another National
park - Huay To waterfall that same day for instance. Save your
ticket stubs!
4. Take a ferry or longtail boat to Ko Phi Phi islands. They are
south of mainland Krabi and are quite beautiful. I'll be honest,
there are a lot of tourists talking about how disappointed they were
with the islands. I think people are expecting less - in terms of
development and since the tsunami Koh Phi Phi has been built up pretty
well and far past what it used to be. If you've been there in the
past and you want to return to relive the feeling... don't. It isn't
the same feeling anymore! There are many islands around Phi Phi that
can be seen, trips to see 4 islands are just 450 baht per person on
a shared long-tail boat from Ao Nang beach.
5. Ao Nang beach... The beach at Ao Nang is nothing all that spectacular and if that's the
only reason you're going - don't bother. What Ao Nang does have is
shopping. There are hundreds of small shops selling mostly the same
types of things, but if you haven't done it before you might get a
kick out of it. If you love shopping, you'll have a good time. Guys,
stay out of this one because you'll be bored in 10 minutes. The
water in Ao Nang is fairly clean I guess for Krabi, and the beach is
cleaned often. I think there are spots with some coral and rocks
under the surface that you can cut your feet on, so be careful.
Here's another beach that is more family oriented, quieter and with
more shade if you're into that..
Nopparat Thara Beach
>>
.jpg) 6. I found a cool little wat (Buddhist temple)
called
Wat Tum Sang Phet that's off the main track. It
means Diamond Cave Temple and there seem to be some very shiny glimmers in
a brown stalactite the monk pointed out to me. This small temple is built on one
side of a huge limestone hill. They are in the midst of doing
massive renovations -and soon they will have an entire road that
goes around the limestone hill. As it is now, if you go into the
front of the wat you can see huge stalactites above the temple area.
If you look up you can watch a drop of water fall from one and move
so that it hits you in the forehead. It's great fun. For me it was
anyway, I did it for 10 minutes.
There is a path around to the right and to the left that you can
take which goes completely around the hill where there are many
caves open for exploring - bring a flashlight. Today, and the reason
I decided to write this post, I met a senior monk at this wat as he
saw me hunting snakes on the ground. He said he's not seen snakes,
but he'll take me in the cave around the side. I went with him and
he ended up giving me a tour of the entire grounds over the next 40
minutes. We walked entirely around the hill and saw many caves. I
even found a small orange snake by the cave (harmless) so I was happy
enough. He was very
surprised to see a snake and he actually stepped right over it and
kept walking while I took photos. I showed them to him afterward and
he was so excited. He made me show all the monks and nuns at the
temple the digital photos.
This is a very quaint little temple with
the monk quarters and main buildings off to the left side bordering
a lovely stream and some large palm trees. There are a couple dogs
around that might bark once or twice, but that's it - they go away
and leave you free to explore.
Oh, one more thing - there is a
meditation place built up onto the hill that a guy from Hungary built
recently,
so the monk was telling me. Apparently he came a couple years back and
built this steel meditation platform above the trees. I had been
there a couple times and if the mosquitoes weren't so crazy I would
have meditated there. I had no idea it was built by a foreigner.
Who'd of thought? Pretty cool
stuff!
.jpg) 7.
Nopparat Thara Beach. This is my choice for a beach to go to if I
have time. I will skip Ao Nang and keep going further down the road
(away from Krabi town) and go to this beach. It reminds me of the
windward side of Oahu, Hawaii because the trees are exactly the same
here. They drop these tiny seed cones that are small and round and
that are all over the north and "windy" or windward sides of Oahu.
There is plenty of shade here for picnics or sleeping and some good seafood restaurants.
There is little to no shopping. When the tide is low and even medium
you can walk out to the islands in the picture that are about 150-200 meters away
from the beach. On a nice day the water is very clear and has a nice
color for photographs. This is also the beach that the large ferry
to Phi Phi and to Phuket leaves from. There is a tourist information
office here and brochures can be found during operating hours.
8. Koh Lanta? This one is questionable. I am adding it to the list
because I realize that not everyone is like me and some people might
enjoy it. The beach is so dirty in the off season that it's plain gross. I see
Koh Lanta as a haven for visitors to Thailand that are into smoking
pot or doing other drugs and want to sit around and do nothing but
more drugs and/or drinking. Is there more to it? Not sure. But I
think it IS good for those activities and you'll probably be left
alone if that's what you want to do. I do like
to eat at two of the restaurants that are on the non-hotel side of
the island. There are a couple nice places to go look out onto the
ocean from that side too. Is there anything to DO on Koh Lanta? I
met a woman that told me her friend owned a Thai cooking school
there called "Time for Lime". So, if you're into that sort of thing
- there you go. Otherwise, maybe take a ferry to somewhere else from there...
9. Chicken Head Island. I've not been here or to any of the other
islands surrounding Krabi. There are many that you can take a
longtail boat too - all recommended for a nice way to spend a
morning. Afternoons might be too hot to be stuck on a long-tail boat.
Make sure you have life jackets on-board before leaving the shore.
Insist on it.
 10.
Railay beach. Railay beach might be my favorite place for a day
trip out of all of these Top 10 Things to Do in Krabi on
vacation. There are lots of ways to get there. You can take a longtail
boat straight from Chao Fa Pier in Krabi town for 100 baht if you
can get 6 people to go with you at the same time. You might wait
extraordinarily long to find 6 people though during off-season.
Sometimes they ask if you want to go for 150 baht for 4 people. 600
baht seems to be the amount they want to make to go one-way.
If you want you can take a tuk-tuk, song-taew (truck) or motorbike
taxi to Ao Nang or Ao Nam Mao and you can get a longtail boat from
there. Prices vary a bit. The cheapest way is from Ao Nam Mao pier
where you'll pay just 50 baht one way if you get the required number
of people - I can't remember how many 6 or 8. From Ao Nang it's 100
baht each person.
Railay beach has a couple interesting things. For active people you
might want to hike up to where the 'lagoon' is in the middle of the
mountain. You find it by going from Railay (East) toward the
mountain - walking along the sidewalk until you see a muddy and root
filled path leading up the hill to the left. That's it. Take that up
and when you reach a "Y" at the path take a left to see the scenic
lookout and a right to find the lagoon. The lagoon, if you decide to
go, is not an easy trek. You MUST have decent shoes to scale down
the rock faces that are jagged and dangerous quite frankly. There
are 20 foot drops that, if you lose your shoes - you'll cut your
feet - 100% guaranteed. I had sport sandals and I still didn't feel
comfortable to risk it, my feet were very wet and muddy from the
slippery trail and I pictured my foot slipping out of my sandal and
slicing my foot open. Not my idea of a fun trek.
You can head over to the Phra Nang cave (pictured) which is really a nice spot.
It's my favorite spot if I had to pick a favorite. Don't miss the
phallus (penis) wood carvings cave which is fascinating (hah!).
Railay West has some shopping, some nice restaurants (outdoor) and
last time I went a book store with many English language novels.
 At the Northwest side of Railay West is where the climbers tend to
go and hang out. There are numerous climbing routes, I think someone
said 700+. If you climb - go here! Even if you don't climb, it's fun to watch people climb
too - I've taken videos of people climbing and I'll get them online
soon. Climbing is a slow and cautious activity, not always quick and
exciting but fun to watch anyway.
I don't stay in Railay when I go, I'm very cheap and the 1000 baht
plus for marginally decent rooms during high season doesn't do it for me. I usually go
in the morning and return around 5 or 6 pm. There are some nice accommodations there if you have the cash.
Alternatively you can visit during low season when 2 different
hotels (at least) offer rooms for as low as 350 baht.
So, there you have it... the top 10 things to do in Krabi on
vacation. Are there more things to do than these 10? Yes, SO many
things. I could have written a top 50 things to do and maybe I will
someday if I get really ambitious!
|
