WORTH A DETOUR

Thailand · Krabi · #1 of Thailand's ten by fame

Railay Beach

No road goes there. The longtail drops you in knee-deep water.

How we rated it: up one for first place on the fame list. The sharp rocks and the tide are in the catch. Photo: Wendy Harman · CC BY 2.0

The hang

There is no road to Railay. A shared longtail from Ao Nang takes 10 to 15 minutes, costs 100 baht a person each way (about 150 after 6pm), and lands straight on the sand at Railay West: there is no pier, so you step out into knee-deep water. Three of the four Thailand lists we read name it. By mid-morning the sand fills and the boats keep landing all day. The tide comes in a long way, sharp rocks near the waterline have cut a few people, and beginner climbing courses on Railay East run 1,000 to 1,500 baht for a half day. We measured 611 metres of West beach.

The real intel

Best months · warmest sea: April (31.3 °C), then May and March. Coolest: January (29.1 °C). One year of data, 2025.
Best months · emptiest: Early: the boats start unloading day-trippers from about 10:30.
Getting there: Shared longtail from Ao Nang, 10 to 15 minutes, 100 baht a person each way, about 150 after 6pm. In the rainy season (May to October) boats may land at Railay East instead.
Cost reality: Longtail about 200 baht a person return. Kayaks or paddleboards about 200 to 300 baht an hour. Staying for sunset can cost a 50 baht surcharge even with a return ticket.
The catch nobody tells you: Sharp rocks near the waterline (water shoes advised), a tide that comes in a long way, and thin boats back after 6pm.

The year at Railay Beach

Warmest sea in April. Fewest wet days in January. Pick your fight.

Sea (°C)

29.1

29.8

30.7

31.3

31.1

30.4

30.5

29.7

29.9

29.1

Air (°C)

27.3

27.9

28.9

27.9

27.7

28.5

27.4

27.2

27.3

26.7

27.7

Sun (h/day)

10.7

10.8

10.9

9.5

8.6

10.4

8.5

8.3

8.2

7.6

10.3

Rain (days)

One year of data, 2025, from Open-Meteo at this beach's coordinates. A rain day is 1 mm or more. The red bar is the month to aim for in each row.

The neighbours

6 beaches within 6 km, as the gull flies.

522 mRaile Tawan Ok Beach331 m of beach, measured. Not rated yet.
687 mTon Sai Beach592 m of beach, measured. Not rated yet.
688 mAo Phra Nang531 m of beach, measured. Not rated yet.
943 mEagle Beach52 m of beach, measured. Not rated yet.
1.2 kmLittle Rai Ley East Beach123 m of beach, measured. Not rated yet.
1.6 kmPhai Plong Beach364 m of beach, measured. Not rated yet.

Straight-line distances from the mapped beach shapes (OpenStreetMap). Roads are longer, and in Bali they are much longer.

The crowd

Full by mid-morning, and the boats keep landing all day.

The facts · we measured

Length: 611 m
Mean width: 22.4 m
Area: 13,678 m²
Warmest sea (2025): 31.3 °C in Apr
Coldest sea (2025): 29.1 °C in Jan
Sea by month, °C: Jan 29.1 · Feb 29.8 · Mar 30.7 · Apr 31.3 · May 31.1 · Jun 30.4 · Jul 30.4 · Aug 30.5 · Sep 29.7 · Oct 29.9 · Nov 29.1 · Dec 29.1

Questions people ask

How do you get to Railay Beach?

By longtail boat only; there is no road. A shared longtail from Ao Nang takes 10 to 15 minutes and costs 100 baht a person each way, about 150 after 6pm.