I have always been in love with the sun and the sand… walking on the beach and feeling the sand squish between my toes and watching the sun go down in the deep blue sea are some of my happiest moments.
Krabi, Thailand is a paradise with beautiful beaches, pretty little islands, delicious food and just gorgeous blue waters of the Andaman sea. We wanted to stay in a place that was relatively less busy and crowded compared to Phuket. Most of Thailand is swarming with tourists anyways and for good reason.. It is a gorgeous country!
We were in Krabi to celebrate my niece’s 18th birthday. We were there for a short four days but we had such an amazing time and such wonderful experiences in this brief period. We stayed in a resort close to the Ao Nang beach in Krabi. It was a pretty resort surrounded by little hills and the rooms were partially built on stilts and we were surrounded by beautiful water everywhere in the resort. You could kayak your way through the resort.
On our first day, we did the 7 island sunset tour which lasted 6 hours.We started a little after mid-day and cruised the Krabi waters in a long-tail boat and occasionally a speed boat.
Our first stop was the Phra Nang Cave that is near the well-known Railay beach. This limestone cave is full of stalactites and stalagmites. The cave is probably more well-known for its “Phallus Shrine” which is full of a strange variety of offerings to the symbolic phallus of Shiva or the Lingam – I was surprised to learn what the lingam actually represented (I had no idea what I was worshiping as I was dragged through temple after temple in my younger years – remember I mentioned in one of my earlier posts I was born a Hindu). Anyways, bizarre yet interesting revelation this was.
We then headed out to Koh Tan Ming where we did some snorkeling. After a bit, we hopped over to Koh Si island where the snorkeling was so much better and we had more time. The water was so clear and the underwater life so pretty!
We then hovered around the Chicken island for a bit before heading over to the Tup and Mor islands where we just walked around the beach, collected shells and lounged in the warm waters. Finally, we halt at Koh Poda, where we had a Thai buffet. As the sun went down, one of the crew members entertained us with a fire dance.
Finally, the island hops are done and we head back. On the way back though, we have one more stop in the middle of the sea for more snorkeling and swimming with bio-luminescent plankton. It was a great experience to hop through all those pretty islands but it just seemed like too short a time at each of the stops and we felt rushed. We did the Hong islands the next day which was SO much better and just what we needed.
It was again a full-day island tour where we stopped at a couple of great snorkeling spots. The tour took us to the rock island of Koh Daeng, Koh Lahding, and finally on to Koh Hong. The water in the Hong Islands especially the Koh Lahding or Paradise Island is amazingly clear and you can see marine life right near the shore without even getting your snorkeling gear on. You venture a little further into the water and you can see the most stunning variety of fish and corals. You simply cannot pull away from the water. And the beaches are beautiful white sand beaches.
The next day we just hung around Krabi town, shopping for junk jewellery and indulging in local delights. Thai food is simply heavenly – the satays, the curries, just divine.. we binged on some lip-smacking dishes! We sampled some interesting local Thai spirits and chugged lots of Thai beer (the usual lager variety – not very exciting but definitely refreshing in Krabi’s humid weather). Singha and Chang dominate the local beer scene. Back when we visited Krabi, we didn’t research much on local craft beer and may have missed out on a couple of good places. We’ve heard that the Full Moon Brewworks may be worth a shot.
We also enjoyed some great live music from one of the local bands (unfortunately we cannot remember the name of this wonderful band) at a cosy little restaurant in the main street (and we cannot remember the name of this restaurant either – we had had one too many beers and shots).
It was the most wonderful 4 days in Krabi – we relaxed, swam, lay on pretty beaches, drank lots, ate lots, danced some, laughed hysterically (and cried some tears of joy), and had loads of fun!
Krabi will always be special for many reasons and we’ll make our way back there again someday to reignite these beautiful memories.
(Most of the pictures in this post were taken by my niece, a very talented photographer. Check out some of her cool pics here.)
ourhoppytravels 