The area known as Railay is a bit of a geographical curiosity. It's part of the Krabi province mainland, but can only be reached by boat. High vertical cliffs cut off the peninsula from the rest of the coast. The peninsula is really just a build-up of sand between the cliffs and two large rocks. The result is three beaches with decidedly different characters.
View of Railay from the boat to Namao
East Railay is a long gently curving arc of rocky sand with some mangroves at either end. With its stony nature and boats from Nammao coming and going at just about all hours, East Railay is not the best beach for sun and fun. West Railay, on the other hand, is quite the opposite. White sand stretches between two large rocks at either end.
But the picture postcard beach is Phranang Beach, south of West Railay. White sand runs between the large rocks which divide Phranang from West Railay, down to the large stone pillar which caps the peninsula. In the side of this cliff at the south end of the beach is a cave housing an unusual small shrine. Another stone pillar just offshore completes the picture postcard beauty. While the two Railay beaches are lined with several resorts each, only one resort has direct access to Phranang, the Rayavadee. A path at the base of the southern cliff gives public access to Phranang Beach.
There are a number of day trips available from tour desks and shops around the peninsula. The same trips seem to be on offer everywhere, and include day trips around the nearby islands. You can also book trips to the Emerald Pond and Hot Waterfall, which are back on the mainland.
Although part of the mainland, you can only reach the Railay area by boat. There are two areas on the mainland where you can get regular boats, which will take you to two areas in Railay.
To the east, and thus closest to Krabi airport and town, is the dock at Nammao bay (Ao Nammao). Boats from here run to Railay East, at just about any time of day. "Shared" boats depart when full for a cost of 50 Baht per person.
While Railay is very small, it still has a full spectrum of accommodation choices, although not a lot of selection in each class. At the very top end of the spectrum is the Rayavadee Resort, which is so big it has all of Phranang Beach to itself, plus frontage on Railay East and West. In terms of value-for-money, I quite liked the Tropical Villas at the Sunrise Tropical Resort. Another option would be the deluxe or better rooms at the Railay Bay Resort.
In the cliff that marks the southern end of Phranang Beach is a small makeshift shrine dedicated to a princess (Phranang) who, according to legend, dies in a shipwreck near this spot sometime around the fourth century BC. Locals leave offerings of food, flowers and ... lots of wooden lingas (phallic symbols). The wooden phalluses are not fertility symbols. Rather, they are to appease the spirit of the virgin princess and thank her for a safe journey.
Railay's small size means that there aren't too many dining options outside of hotels. Still, some of the hotels themselves, such as the Sunrise Tropical and Ya-Ya's, are known as much for their food as their lodging. The very short list below covers some of the options outside of hotels. As always, things change with time and what you find on your visit may not match my experience. In addition to these, there are a lot of shacks and small restaurants at the north end of Railay East.
20 October 2007
Among the small collection of resorts at Railay, the Sunrise Tropical probably represents one of the best value for money places. The resort consists of a collection of small villas on East Railay Beach. My 'plus' villa had a queen size bed, sitting area, dressing area, large bathroom and outdoor shower. There was also a small porch out front with a couple of chairs. My particular villa near the pool wasn't very private without closing the blackout drapes, but most of the other rooms appeared more private.
