Railay Beach
Railay Beach
4
About
West Railay, Phra Nang, and East Railay Beach make up this tranquil strip of sand. Accessible only by boat, you can easily find a secluded and peaceful spot to relax, sunbathe, and enjoy the crystal clear waters. There are pursuits like cliff jumping, rock climbing, and kayaking for the more adventurous. Park yourself at a Reggae bar and sip a delightful cocktail as you watch the sunset. The dry season between November and March is the best time to visit Railay. You can take a boat from Krabi, Phuket, or Koh Phi Phi to get there. – Tripadvisor
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393 within 3 miles
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- Rasel HussainManchester, United Kingdom204 contributionsAmazing sunset and viewsMost beautiful sunset view ever!!! Make sure I stay till sunset and see the amazing views and beautiful sunset. Highly recommended and well worth the wait..make sure I see the viewpoint tooVisited February 2024Traveled with friendsWritten February 16, 2024
- andi_wilsonWhitehaven, United Kingdom922 contributionsGreat day outI can’t agree with the last review about the beach…stones? Cloudy water? Actually the total opposite! Beautiful powdery white sand and crystal water. We arrived early, spent 100 baht each on a kayak and paddled around for an hour, absolute heaven. Then we walked to Railay East and the Phranang cave beach to watch the climbers on the cliffs. Plenty of shops and restaurants to choose from. Not sure I’d like to stay but loved it for a day trip. The scenery is something else! Just like everywhere in Thailand, not enough bins/recycling, fair bit of trash. I really wish the Thai government would recognise this issue or the country will be buried under plastic bottles in the not too distant future. Would thoroughly recommend a visit to Railay, worth the price of the longtail boat trip!Visited February 2024Traveled as a coupleWritten February 21, 2024
- Darren S28 contributionsGreat day outBooked trip for 200THB ea (about £6.50) via long boat. My wife was a bit sceptical as doesn’t like boat trips due to sever sea sickness but she was fine. Beautiful place with spectacular scenery. Sea bit cloudy but perfect temperature to cool down. Not much to see in way of snorkelling. Walked along full length of beach and then over the rocks (not ideal for flip flops but made it) to watch the crazy rock climbers! Plenty of cafes but no bins again - Thai gov must not believe in bins! Well worth a day trip but not sure I could stay any longerVisited March 2024Traveled with familyWritten February 29, 2024
- David DDevon, United Kingdom28,538 contributionsBeautiful beach, a boat ride to get hereFriday 19th January was the first time that we visited this beach, also known as Railay West. We visited this Beach twice during our recent stay in Ao Nang Beach. On both occasions we travelled here by long-tailed boats. Here is the landing and departure point for the boats. This crescent shaped beach with it's golden sand stretches for approximately four hundred and fifty metres along the coast. It is situated in a secluded bay with impressive cliffs and headland at both ends. Looking out to sea there are a variety of islands to be seen. Like all the other beaches there are no sunbeds or umbrellas here. The only natural shade is provided by the trees along the back of the beach, these are very popular areas. Visitors happily spread their beach towels and mats out on the sand. The holiday hotel resorts, behind the beach, have sunloungers and umbrellas in their grounds for the guests. Some visitors come and spend time here, we spent a little time then went exploring the peninsula. From the beach Railay Walking Street, lined with shops, restaurants, bars and more, leads across the peninsula to East Railay Bay Beach and then on to Phra Nang Cave Beach. Kayaks were available to rent they were 200 Baht (roughly £4.50) for an hour and 300 for two hours. There were all day charges as well, which included free drybag .This enabled visitors to paddle up to and around the picturesque and sometimes dramatic coastline.Visited January 2024Traveled as a coupleWritten March 5, 2024
- nigel bTredegar, United Kingdom64 contributionsNot quite what it’s raved out to be!It is a lovely area, sadly spoiled by over commercialism and the legalisation of cannabis! The main strip is like Pot City Central, with a pungent smell of cannabis, it doesn’t add to the ambience! The Main Street is served by one set of the grimmest toilets I’ve seen and you have to pay 10 baht to get in! No running water, no paper and no bin, they smelt to high heaven! You’ve also got to be slim enough to fit in the tightest turnstiles on earth! All in all we are glad we went, but wouldn’t rush back!Visited March 2024Traveled as a coupleWritten March 7, 2024
- KelseyRugby, United Kingdom240 contributionsDefinitely worth the visitOnly 100THB each way per person for a tail boat to Railay Beach is a must do. It's only a short boat ride across. Recommend going early in the morning as the tide soon goes out towards the afternoon. There are two beach sides. One side is a bit more rocky than the other. There are few cafes and restaurants, souvenir shops and minimarts along the walk between the two beaches. There are also roaming monkeys about. If you like rock climbing you can do this here as well as kayaking and paddle boarding. 200THB for an hour for a kayak. Definitely worth a visit.Visited March 2024Traveled as a coupleWritten March 10, 2024
- Polly FVancouver, Canada151 contributionsBeautiful and easy to get to!What a beautiful beach and day trip this was from Krabi! We hopped on a longtail boat for 100 THB one way and it takes about 15 minutes to get to Railay Beach. The beach is beautiful and there are lots of nice restaurants as well. Definite must visit!Visited March 2024Traveled as a coupleWritten March 12, 2024
- Luba RomBeersheba, Israel89 contributionsBeautiful beach, the view is stunning!We arrived from Nofarta beach, by a short trip in a wooden boat at a nominal cost (not through an organized tour) and we were here for a few hours. It was very hot, we didn't go into the water and took a walk on the beach and in the restaurant complex in the area. The beach is very beautiful, busy. There are caves, mountain climbing and other things we didn't get to. We saw cute monkeys in the complex. It is recommended to comeVisited February 2024Traveled as a coupleWritten March 13, 2024
- Inspire633256518285 contributionsPhenomenologicalThe view and experience was phenomenal and the sunset was superb. Must visit the island. And long tail boat was also good but if leave the railey beach after sunset they will charge you 150 thb per person that thing should be changed. And the restaurant over there was also bit expensive.Visited March 2024Traveled with familyWritten March 23, 2024
- ebenisMelbourne, Australia104 contributionsGreat for swimmingThis is a stunningly beautiful beach, and if you go early enough in the day, not so busy that you can't appreciate it. We took a longboat over and back with some quite unfriendly and unhelpful boat drivers. Beware, it is not easy to get in and out of the boats, and they will not help you! You will also likely get a bit wet, depending on tides. Swimming at Railay was great. Lots of shops to peruse as well. We did walk around to the nearby Phra Nang Beach, which was horrible. There were so many people on the walk to and at the actual beach that you could barely move.Visited March 2024Traveled with familyWritten April 1, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
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4.0
5,882 reviews
Excellent
3,015
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743
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258
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robertobaroncelli
Sesto Fiorentino, Italy2,022 contributions
Aug 2023 • Friends
Breathtaking. Not Caribbean water but beautiful. Wonderful beach. I recommend it in the morning so you can admire the drawings made by the crabs in the sand. Possible to eat as there are many restaurants and cafes. Tip: when you get off the boat go left, all the way to the end. On the big tree there are monkeys; cute cute

Written September 12, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Samantha M
Oxford, UK397 contributions
Jul 2023 • Couples
Incredible beach.
Beach was soft sand, clean. And had amazing views left and right of the limestone rocks and trees. Was a place in paradise.
Water was slightly green so not your picture perfect blue but still would recommend coming to railey for whoever is leaving/ coming too the krabi region.
Things to note;
No roads, all walking.
Boat to AO Nang, taxi boat will charge 800baht for private or 100baht per person providing there is 8 people on the boat. So if you want a boat, make sure you are on the beach at the right time otherwise you can either pay up extra or wait for a while for 8 people to be ready.
Beach was soft sand, clean. And had amazing views left and right of the limestone rocks and trees. Was a place in paradise.
Water was slightly green so not your picture perfect blue but still would recommend coming to railey for whoever is leaving/ coming too the krabi region.
Things to note;
No roads, all walking.
Boat to AO Nang, taxi boat will charge 800baht for private or 100baht per person providing there is 8 people on the boat. So if you want a boat, make sure you are on the beach at the right time otherwise you can either pay up extra or wait for a while for 8 people to be ready.
Written July 16, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Château de Crocq, chambres d’hôtes.
Crocq, France63 contributions
Feb 2025 • Couples
It may be very beautiful, but you have to go very early because from 9 am , the boats land masses of tourists and it is hell. On the beach, impossible to rest with the incessant noise of boat engines and there is no shade. On the street that crosses the island, it’s like Mont St Michel! Too many people.
When it comes to cleanliness, it’s not great especially at low tide.
When it comes to cleanliness, it’s not great especially at low tide.
Automatically translated
Written February 7, 2025
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
KayeLondon
London22 contributions
Dec 2024 • Solo
Railay Beach is nice at 7am, after 730 there are hoards of day trippers from Ao Nang & it is awful. At any given time there are 40-50 longboats, hundreds of people, no peace as the noise from the outboard motors is constant all day. Railay Beach is over tourism at its worse. Ao Nang also terribly over crowded & horrible.
Written December 31, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Markus S
Vientiane, Laos8 contributions
Apr 2024 • Family
I've visited Railay Beach multiple times because I love it. However, this time, my experience was deeply disappointing due to the incredible amount of waste. Days after jellyfish washed ashore, the smell became unbearable. It seems like no one is taking responsibility for cleaning up. We couldn't even enjoy dining at a restaurant near the shore because of the stench. It's heartbreaking to see such a beautiful natural park deteriorate, despite government policies aimed at keeping it clean. If the local government doesn't take appropriate action soon, I'm sure many travelers, including myself, will not return or recommend this place. It's sad to see that no one seems to be addressing this issue.
Written April 13, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Yana S
6 contributions
Dec 2023 • Friends
Scam alert! We bought a two-way ticket from Ao nam mao beach to railay. At the counter the salesman said: the boat is operating until 10 pm; after 6 pm need to wait until the boat is full. DO NOT TRUST THAT! Regular boat schedule is only until 6 pm. After 6 pm, the sailors will tell you that you have to cover the cost of whole boat (800 bhat), and if we do not pay, or if the boat is not full, they will leave us there!!! Even we had a return ticket!!! DO NOT trust longtail boats and ticket sales booth at Ao Nam Mao! Full of crap experience!!!
Written December 22, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Oscar D
23 contributions
Nov 2022 • Friends
Would highly recommend going early in the morning to beat all crowds. The beach on a good day had incredible views and crystal clear water. Arrived around 8:30am and basically had a private beach.
Written November 17, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
hoi61
Austria240 contributions
Mar 2023 • Couples
Stop longtailboats! This beach is dirty and extremely loud due to the constant traffic of longtail boats. You cannot hear your own words. It's grand central station for longtail boats- don't believe this to be a paradisical swimming beach. Thailand calls this a paradise! It is louder here than at an airport! The fine 'white sandy' beach is getting dark from the dirt these boats bring. At any time you have more than 50 boats lining the beach. They are allowed to bring the cheap tourists from Ao Nang to this so called paradise. This is a completely trashed 'paradise'. From the longtail boats you can walk straight up to cannabis bars, that sell you anything to make you 'happy'. My Gosh, what a sad trap this 'beach' has become. Thailand manages again and again to turn beautiful nature into abhorrent trash. Big, loud tour groups are welcome and they will soon be the only ones that accept this kind of environment, because the tours are cheap. What will happen when these tour groups no longer come one day? Thailand will be left with concrete and rubbish covered islands, which will give no more jobs and life to anyone. Only then the sickening greed will be regretted - or just forgotten. Mai pen rai.....
Written March 6, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Powell936
Norwich, UK53 contributions
Dec 2022
The photograph shown does not show a true reflection of Railay Beach. It’s missing the longboats. I counted 28 boats in a line leaving each end of the beach free. Number 1 problem; the rocks beneath the water. The boats have taken up the smooth sand. There is a pier on East Railay. The boats should stick to that side leaving this beautiful beach clear. The walking street has many different bars and shops all selling their wears at an over inflated price. A T-Shirt selling for 190 baht in Bangkok is on sale for 280baht in Railay. If you like the smell of green/weed, you’ll love this place. Magic Mushroom food and drink is freely available. It’s not in your face so it wasn’t a problem, the smell of cannabis is every where but it’s not a strong smell. It is worth a day trip but I would not go again. Check what plug sockets the hotels use; we were lucky and brought our own adapters from the UK
Written December 17, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Arminator
San Diego, CA21 contributions
Mar 2024 • Solo
The pictures are mostly deceptive as this dump of a beach and small village greets you with streets smelling of sewer, urine and garbage, there's trash everywhere. It's overcrowded during the day, but had beautiful moments on the beach early in the morning if you stay overnight. Dozens of boats running their truck engines all day pollute the entire bay and provide a noisy background you can't escape. Plenty of shops here selling weed and mushrooms, with folks and patrons looking out of it. Restaurants serve mostly mediocre food, but it's cheap. Service is mostly unremarkable and you feel that the locales are often annoyed about the drunk, high and loud tourists. I stayed 3 nights and couldn't wait to leave. This place, perhaps an oasis of beauty and tranquility 10 years ago is definitely past its prime.
Written March 6, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi. I'm travelling from Railay to Koh Lipe on 25th Jan 25 & all the transport options seem to leave from Ao Nang/ Krabi airport / bus terminal from 6-7am. I assume none of the transfers include pick up from Railay and I'm not sure if the long tails would depart early enough to accommodate us getting to Ao Nang early enough. Any info greatfully received. I've tried to ask 12Go but can only contact support after I've booked but unsure if can physically get there as dont think we can get out of Railay by any other means than boat
Written October 26, 2024
hello,
i read your review and wanted to ask a question please. we are planning to go to Railay Beach Club for a week but are dissuaded due to the noise comments. Was it bad always? Was it all over the beach? can you give us some more information as we are really looking for a quiet holiday.
Written August 28, 2024
Hello, I will be visiting and staying on Railay this coming summer. After my stay, I'll be flying out of Krabi Airport with a departure time of 0830AM. I was wondering if it will be easy to find a long tail to take me to Krabi Town around 4 or 5 am in the morning so that I can catch a taxi from town and make my flight. How long is a boat ride from Railay to Krabi Town typically?
Written May 31, 2024
Is there a currency exchange in Railay (no matter if east or west)? Thank you
Written February 10, 2024
Is it easy/ safe to walk from east to west Railay at night? I understand there is a path but checking if we can stay in one area and then walk to another in the evening for dinner. Thanks
Written September 19, 2023
Yes, that would be fine. I wouldn't recommend going to Ton Sai beach area at night though as the rocky jungle path would be to difficult to navigate at night. East to West is fine though😃
Written September 28, 2023
Are there cliff jumping options available (tours or private boats) around Railay or the nearby islands?
Written June 28, 2022
Hi we were in railay beach in february , i can honestly say no jumping from cliffs to the water , but plenty of rock climbing , but there are plenty of boat trips to nearby islands with lunch and snorkelling equipment , these trips are brilliant and suit both couples and families with children .
have a good trip.
Written July 2, 2022
Is is better the avatar or the sand beach? (I know avatar is in the other side, not in the west side)
Written January 18, 2020
Definitely the Sand Beach, the other side is nice for the Sunrise, but the Shows is on the West Side!
Written March 10, 2020
Are there chairs and umbrellas on Railay beach ?
Written January 2, 2020
The resorts have that covered. But if you are just visiting bring your own, but you are not likely to need one
Written January 19, 2020
Is there any other boat apart from the long boats that can get to the island.
Written November 7, 2019
Try Ploy Siam speed boat charters. They are a little more cost, but not as crowded and very accommodating if your schedule is tight.
They still have to shuttle you in on Long Tail boats. Prepare for a knee deep splash as you disembark the smaller boats.
Written December 11, 2019
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