Non Stop Family

In addition to the wish to discover Bangkok, our family trip to Thailand had as its main objective to explore the warm waters of the Andaman Sea. In order to carry out this exploration, we chose to build our base at Ao Nang beach (you can see here why we chose this place instead of Railay Beach and Krabi) and, we are forced to admit that it was a good choice, having an account of our objectives.

But of course we did not want to restrict ourselves to Ao Nang beach, which is not at all the most beautiful in the area, so we had several objectives that we want to share with you, in the hope that it may give you some tips when you organize the itinerary for your family travel.

So, we hope our 4-day itinerary in Ao Nang, Krabi, will help you plan your family trip. Of course much remained to be explored but we felt that the 4 full days (5 nights) we stayed at Ao Nang Beach were wonderful and a great experience.

Day 1 - Ao Nang Beach and Noppharat Thara Beach

Our stay was at the Ibis Styles Ao Nang Hotel (we made the reservation on the Booking site) and, after a wonderful breakfast, we spent a few hours exploring the pool. After some hectic days on our trip, we tried to make this first day in Ao Nang as relaxed as possible for our family.

After a few hours to increase hunger, we went for a walk around Ao Nang and, although it is not a big city, it is full of life and possibilities in terms of activities to do. This is also true of food, which has a wide range of food options, especially Thai food, from which we had the best experiences.

After a delightful lunch, we tried to stroll and explore the beaches of Ao Nang Beach and Noppharat Thara Beach which gave us a good start to the beginning of a wonderful stay, although, although we marveled at these beaches, they would not compare to those that would follow along with our family travel.

Something that we were also exploring on that first day was the different tour offers and, we must say we were even happier to have stayed in Ao Nang because the offer is huge and for lower prices than we had explored on the internet case we had stayed in Phuket.

Day 2

On our second day in Ao Nang, we chose to take the boat and spend the day in Railay. Railay may seem to be an island, for having to travel by boat, but what happens is that it is a peninsula surrounded by mountains and accessible even by boat only. Railay is not an island but, it is not a beach, there are more, beautiful and different, all paradisiacal.

Railay West

The arrival of the boat is made by Railay West, a beautiful beach, a paradise of warm waters and that will leave you enchanted upon arriving. It is a beach with little ripples and we feel very safe for children.

It is also in this area that most of the restaurants in the area are located, and even for prices that are not extremely expensive, considering that it is located in an isolated and very touristy place. And that's where we had lunch, by the sea with a paradisiacal landscape.

Pra Nang Cave Beach

And if Railay West was already marvelous, you'll fall in love with one of the most beautiful beaches you've ever seen, Pra Nang Cave Beach. The road from Railay West to Pra Nang Cave Beach is easily reached on foot (you can see the path here on Google maps and it does not present any difficulty for those who travel with children) and, besides a wonderful beach, will reserve a surprise, the Pra Nang Cave.

And we speak of surprise, because this is not a cave, is decorated with several phallic objects, whose justification for the beginning of the tradition is not quite certain, but nowadays the locals usually place there objects with phallic shapes with the intention of having more fertility and prosperity.

We do not know if it works, but the effect is completely different from what you would normally expect to find in a cave, and prepare to answer some questions to your children. But, all this visit is a must, impossible not to perform.

ViewPoint and Princess Lagoon

Something we were very curious to see was the Princess Lagoon as well as the View Point and we knew that to do so we would have to look for the direction to indicate the direction along the way between Railay West and Pra Nang Cave Beach and, the truth is We found the path but sadly it starts off on a very steep climb, which unfortunately did not seem to be safe to hold with children.

We do not know if this is always the case since we had read that when it rains it could be more dangerous, but if you want to do this, we advise you to be very careful and take appropriate footwear to the terrain, as slippers will increase the dangerousness of the course.

Monkeys

This island still had a surprise because it is the residence of a community of monkeys that we had the opportunity to see up close. Of course, they do the children's delight, but just be careful if you have food with you, as they will try to take away, as they can with other objects. Keep your distance but be sure to enjoy them.

We also left the council to pay attention to the hours. It's easy to lose track of time when you're in paradise, but the last boat to Ao Nang departs at 5:30 p.m., so don't be late.

Krabi Weekend Night Market

At weekends you can visit the night markets in the city of Krabi. You can easily and Ao Nang carries out the booking of the transport and that was exactly what we did. This is not a huge market but it has a great offer of traditional food, delicious and at very low prices. It is also a great place to buy your souvenirs, just be sure to haggle the price, do not accept the value that you are asked for soon.

It was also possible to see some interesting shows and this turned out to be a very good night and not to be missed in the city of Krabi.

Day 3

Phi Phi Island Tour

Our third day was destined to one of the main attractions for travelers to Thailand, we talked about the famous trip to the Phi Phi Islands.

Unfortunately, once we booked our trip, we had bad news. The famous Maya Bay, due to the large influx of tourists, was "closed" to the public for 3 months in the Low Season (June, July, and August) and we went there in July. It was with sadness that we had to deal with this news but, we must say that, even so, this was a beautiful, wonderful day and the landscapes we have seen and experiences that we live will never be forgotten. Something not to miss on your family travel to Thailand.

We advise you to make your reservation to this day tour only when you arrive, because you will have a lot of offers and, for more affordable prices you will find online. In our case, the premium speed boat tour was priced at 1495 Bath each adult and 1295 child.

Throughout the trip, we were given juice and water, as well as fruit, and included lunch and transfers from the hotel, as well as the return to the hotel. Unfortunately, our guide was far from being very professional but we tried that to don't stop us from making the most of our trip.

Our itinerary by the company Krabitours was as follows:

1st stop

Bamboo Island - The First island was Koh Mai Phi also called Bamboo island -snorkeling 30-45 minutes from the boat.

2nd stop

Phi Phi Don Tonsai Bay - Ton Sai stop for lunch at a restaurant where Thai lunch will be served. Afterward, free time to walk along the streets of Phiphi village or sunbath on the Dahlam beach.

3th Stop

Pileh Bay & Lohsamah Bay - Loh Sa Mah and Phi Phi Lay cove. Ao Pileh is very nearly enclosed by the limestone walls of the island's cliffs so that the water appears almost to be an inland sea.

4th Stop

Monkey Bay

You will see Monkey's group, sightseeing, snorkeling and swimming 30 min.

5th Stop

Viking cave- About 20 min. Viking ships then, sightseeing around Ao Nui (Nui Bay).

6th Stop

Chicken Island - On the way back to Ao Nang, sightseeing around Chicken Island, Tup Island in a circle.

At the end of the day, you will arrive tired but you will love every minute.

Day 4

This would be our last day in Ao Nang and we knew we wanted to spend a few hours strolling through the shops, experiencing the famous Thai massages and enjoying the latest experiences with local food.

Thus, we have left aside for this day the last island, which is near Ao Nang, accessible on a small and fast journey through a longtail boat.

And so it was, after a good breakfast, we drove to Ao Nang beach to buy the tickets for the Poda Island (300 Bath boat ticket and 500 Bath tax to enter in natural heritage).

Well, when we feel that we can no longer be surprised, Thailand always gets more. This is a beautiful island, white sand, blue water, warm and transparent and with stunning scenery.

It is also a very visited island, so during the hours we spent there, there are several boats coming and going, without however taking the beauty of the island. As mentioned earlier, we went to the island in low season (July) and it was possible to enjoy the island but in the height of the tourist season, you can find a lot of people.

Although almost deserted, it has a restaurant where we could have lunch as well as use the bathroom, so it was perfect for the last day.

After this visit, we took the return boat so that we could enjoy our last hours in Ao Nang. Do not forget to try the Thai massage, you will find prices between 200 and 300 Bath and, believe me, very good, despite the pain you will feel.

After a delicious meal by the sea and after the last purchases, it was time to return home the next morning.

So this was our 4 days in Ao Nang, Krabi. We hope our tips help you to program your trip to Thailand. If you still don't have a place to stay in Thailand, we always do our reservations with booking, they are our partners and its with them that we get the best deals. You can look for the best deals in the city of Ao Nang by clicking here, it won't cost you any money and, it helps us to support our blog.

Booking.com

If you want to discover more about Ao Nang and want to discover the best places to stay, you can find it here on our post about The Best Place to Stay in Ao Nang. Thanks for your visit to our blog, if you like why don't you share with your friends and, leave one comment on our Non Stop Family blog.

If you are planning your visit to Thailand, here is a list of some of our destination-related posts that are sure to be very helpful in organizing your itinerary:

- HOW TO GET FROM KRABI AIRPORT TO AO NANG- TIPS FOR A FAMILY TRAVEL
- KRABI TOWN, AO NANG OR RAILAY? WHAT IS THE BEST PLACE TO STAY?
- KRABI (AO NANG) OR PHUKET? WHAT IS THE BEST DESTINATION FOR A FAMILY TRIP?
- 2 DAYS IN BANGKOK- DAY 1: OUR ITINERARY FOR A FAMILY TRIP
- BEST PAD THAI IN BANGKOK - THIP SAMAI

Pin It for Later

Something we always try to accomplish before we travel to a new place is to study the best way of reaching our destination. Those who, like us, travel with children, know that after a plane trip, there is nothing worse than wasting time looking for the best way to reach our final destination.

We really believe that, when we study what it takes to get to our destination at home before we travel, it saves precious time, reducing the tiredness of adults and children, and has also the great benefit of allowing to save money and avoid falling into some "traps" that may make our arrival less pleasant.

That being said, when we traveled from Bangkok to Krabi Airport, this did not mean that we had arrived at our destination which was by Ao Nang beach (you can see here why we chose to stay in Ao Nang rather than in Krabi or Railay beach).

As the distance between Krabi Airport and Ao Nang is about 25 Kms (just over 30 minutes by car), we had to do a study on what suited us best to make this trip and we came across 3 main options, namely Shuttle Bus, Taxis, and Online Transfers Reservation

Shuttle Bus

When you arrive at Krabi Airport, and you feel lost because you don´t know how to get to your destination, don't worry, you will get a lot of offers, that will literally come after you.

One of the offers that you will get it will be the Shuttle Bus service to Ao Nang, at a cost per person of 150 BAHT (prices of 2018).

Believe me, even if you do not need to go to Ao Nang, and want another destination, it is very often to be approached to ask about your destination by locals that will ask if you want to use this mean of transport.

That is a very frequent way of getting to Ao Nang from Krabi Airport and, it's safe and it can be a great and cheap option.

Taxis

Also when you arrive at the airport, you have the option to take the taxi, which probably will also approach you when you arrive at the airport.

If this is your option, you will have to move to the airport exit, and to your right, there is a parking lot where a man will ask you to wait, then he will use a radio to call a taxi to take you to your destination. In our internet search, we found people talking about prices between 500 and 600 Baht, which can take up to 4 people in the taxi. We paid 500 Baht, 2018 prices.

Online Transfers Reservation

If you search the internet, you will be able to find a huge offer of transfers that will take you from the airport to your destination. When making your reservation, you can mark your time of arrival at the airport, making reference to your flight number, as well as make the reservation for your return.

You will find a great difference between prices, being some more attractive than others, so we advise you to consult more than one company. However, we could not find any on with more attractive prices than the taxis and the Shuttle Bus.

Our choice

As you can easily see by the name of our blog, we always made our family trips with our son so our trip would be for 3. In this way, one of the criteria of choice, the price, would not count for our decision, since the difference between 3 Shuttle Bus tickets (450 Baht) and Taxi (500 Baht) would be minimal, less than 2 dollars or 1.5 euros.

Given the small monetary difference and, given the comfort issue, our choice was the taxi. The trip was quick and comfortable, less than 40 minutes and it finished directly outside our hotel, which is very convenient.

As for the Shuttle Bus, it might be a great choice when it's a solo traveler or two (three already make up for the taxi, in our opinion). Although they are leaving the airport very regularly, you may have to wait a while before more passengers arrive, and if your hotel is not one of the first to unload passengers, it can increase travel time. As mentioned above, these are not huge drawbacks and, if the financial savings are large, can compensate for the longer travel time. In the case of 3 or 4 passengers, I think Shuttle Bus is no longer the best option.

Regarding the Shuttle Bus, in our searches on the internet we collected very good opinions but, also some references to situations where the vehicle went to the city of Krabi ,and then it was necessary to make the change to another vehicle that was heading to Ao Nang Beach, which turned out to be annoying and made the trip more time consuming. As we haven’t opted for this mode of transportation, we cannot give our experience but it is always important information to be shared and we advise you to ask the driver for the route he will be taking to your destination.

The third option, the online Transfers booking, as we mentioned earlier, we found the price as the major disadvantage, since it was superior to other hypotheses.

However, it may always be good to do a search on the internet before your departure and, in groups of 5 or more people, may even be an economically more advantageous option.

Return

As for the return from Ao Nang to Krabi Airport, if your option was to book your transfer online, this is an issue that you will not have to worry about. If you have chosen to make your trip by Shuttle Bus or Taxi, you will easily find dozens of tourist agencies that offer this service in Ao Nang, usually all for the same price, 150 Baths per person in Shuttle Bus and 500 Baht by taxi (2018 prices).

Just schedule with the company and set the time and place you want to be picked up. Nothing more simple and comfortable and our family, as on the first trip, returned to Krabi Airport by taxi.

We hope our tips help you to program your trip to Thailand and that your family enjoys Krabi. If you still don't have a place to stay in Thailand, we always do our reservations with booking, they are our partners and its with them that we get the best deals. You can look for the best deals in the city of Ao Nang by clicking here, it won't cost you any money and, it helps us to support our blog.

Booking.com

If you are planning your visit to Thailand, here is a list of some of our destination-related posts that are sure to be very helpful in organizing your itinerary:

- 4 DAYS IN AO NANG, KRABI - ITINERARY FOR A FAMILY TRAVEL- KRABI TOWN, AO NANG OR RAILAY? WHAT IS THE BEST PLACE TO STAY?
- KRABI (AO NANG) OR PHUKET? WHAT IS THE BEST DESTINATION FOR A FAMILY TRIP?
- 2 DAYS IN BANGKOK- DAY 1: OUR ITINERARY FOR A FAMILY TRIP
- BEST PAD THAI IN BANGKOK - THIP SAMAI

Pin it For Later

We started our trip to Thailand with a 3 nights stay in Bangkok but, after it, it was time for us to explore the magnificent Thai beaches that filled our fantasy for years. We had doubts about choosing the base for our stay, but, our final choice was to do the trip from Bangkok to Krabi, instead of Phuket (you can know more about the reasons of our choice through this link).

Having made the booking of the plane trip to Krabi, we quickly found that the choice of where to stay would still lead to a new decision since the vast offer included hotels in Krabi Town, Ao Nang, as well as Railay. So, we started to search to get as much information as possible, we also talk to anyone who had already been there and now, after our return from Thailand, we would like to share the information and our opinion, in the hope that we can help you choose.

So, before we talked about our choice, we want to give some information about the three destinations referred to, namely Krabi Town, Ao Nang and Railay which, although not far away, offer different attractions for those who visit them.

Krabi Town

It can,t be said to be the most beautiful city in Thailand, but what we feel in it is that we are not in a place destined for tourists, so it retains an authenticity that we advise you to know and, especially, to visit its markets, in special nightly and held on Fridays and Saturdays.

This is the easiest and cheapest place to get to and from the airport, and by exploring the different hotel booking sites we found that the prices were the lowest when compared to Ao Nang and Railay. It is also easier to reach some famous attractions, such as the Emerald Pool and Tiger Cave, however, to go to any beach, you must always go by transport, as there is no beach nearby. If you want good accommodation, for low prices, and feel the atmosphere of a Thai city, this will probably be your place.

Ao Nang

Although not a big city, it has a good movement of people, we didn’t felt surrounded by crowds. Its streets are arranged, it is a clean city and, at the level of the restaurants, it has a wide offer, as well as tour operators. It is very easy to make shopping’s in the various street shops that are located near the sea and the principal streets, as well as you will find numerous possibilities to exchange money, as well as having a good offer on nightlife, with a lot of bars and live music.

Although Ao Nang isn't the most beautiful beach you will see throughout your stay in Thailand, it is the one that offers more deals on the level of stay, with very affordable accommodation prices and a great value for your money, everything being very organized in order to conveniently receive the visitor.

At the tour operator level, it is the best place to stay, as the offer is huge and you will not have any difficulty scheduling your tour to your favorite destination as well as owning several dive schools.

At the level of health care, there is a good offer that, if you are traveling with children, it is always important and you can feel safe. It’s also easy to get Krabi Airport from here.

Railay

In Railay, you will undoubtedly find the most beautiful beaches in the area. In fact, this peninsula is all paradisiacal and, if you want perfect beaches and resorts, this is your place. It is also very famous for being a paradise for climbers, with perfect places to practice, such as its calcareous walls that attract climbers from all over the world. In addition, kayak tours are also famous in their waters, something we strongly recommend that you do but, always taking into account the weather conditions.

But, what looks like the perfect place to stay, has some disadvantages. The first is that, because is surrounded by beautiful limestone mountains, it’s only accessible by boats, which depart frequently from Ao Nang and the port of Krabi, which will always delay your arrival at your final destination and, don’t operate 24 hours a day.

Please note that if you arrive late at Krabi Airport, you may not have a boat to take you to Railay. During our stay in Ao Nang, the last boat that leaves Railay was at 5:30 p.m. and on one of the days due to a stronger storm (which occurs frequently), we fear we will not be able to return to our destination due to the impossibility of the boat leaving the pear.

In our travel to Krabi, we arrived at the airport around 9:00 p.m., so we knew we couldn’t go to Railay that night, so we put that aside. Please note that if you choose to stay in Railay, book at least 4 hours before your departure to go to the airport and, in the event of a thunderstorm, consider staying the last night in Ao Nang or Krabi, to avoid the possibility of being held in Railay.

Railay has a number of quality hotels and restaurants but with higher prices than in Ao Nang. It also has a reasonable range of tour operators that will allow you to reach the places you want to visit, as well as being a perfect location for rock climbing.

Our choice

As we said, the three hypotheses have different attractions, so your choice should always be linked to your own interests. What works for some is not necessarily what others are looking for.

In our case, as you know, we travel as a family, so there is always a choice directed to what is best for those who travel with children, namely we always have the concern that is as safe as possible, to avoid unnecessary travels and, easy access to food and health care.

As Krabi was away from any beach, we didn’t wish to be always making unnecessary trips, we put aside this possibility at first, so we had to choose between Ao Nang and Railay.

We are obliged to say that Ao Nang, despite being a beautiful, huge beach, doesn’t compare to the beauty of Railay, but the fact of being secluded and only accessible by boat, led us to opt for Ao Nang. As we mentioned, the fact that we arrived in Krabi at night will not allow us to go to a hotel in Railay that night and, changing hotels the next day was not the desired option.

Another advantage in favor of Ao Nang is the price of lodging, where we were been able to find lower priced hotels, with very good quality, when compared to Railay. Ao Nang also offers much more food and restaurants options, markets and local shopping’s, as well as health care, which have influenced our decision.

After the trip, we can say that this was, in our opinion, the best decision. Ao Nang has a lot to offer to anyone visiting this part of Thailand and, you will easily visit Krabi (especially its night markets) and Railay, your paradisiacal place after you been there. From Ao Nang, you will also be able to visit famous Thailand’s Islands, as the Phi Phi, with Maya Bay, Chicken Island, James Bond…

We hope our tips help you to program your trip to Thailand. If you still don't have a place to stay in Thailand, we always do our reservations with booking, they are our partners and its with them that we get the best deals. You can look for the best deals in the city of Ao Nang by clicking here, it won't cost you any money and, it helps us to support our blog.

Booking.com

Don’t forget to leave a Like, and to comment and share our Non Stop Family blog. You can see all about our 4 days in Ao Nang itinerary on our blog, just click HERE.

Pin it for Latter

Day 1 - Ao Nang Beach and Noppharat Thara Beach

Day 2

Railay West

Pra Nang Cave Beach

ViewPoint and Princess Lagoon

Monkeys

Krabi Weekend Night Market

Day 3

Day 4

Shuttle Bus

Taxis

Online Transfers Reservation

Our choice

Return

Krabi Town

Railay

Our choice

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