Thailand Travel Diary - Part Two: Tourist Attractions

There are a lot of tourist attractions in Thailand that mostly involve water activities. A lot of tour guides offer half day trips to different islands inclusive of lunch or dinner.

Pro Tip: Do not book any excursions with the hotel, they will charge you triple the price. We found a local tour shop on the strip of Railay Beach that we use to book our four isand tour.

We wanted to check out the main town-center, so we took a longtail boat to Krabi Town/Ao Nang, which is only about 15 minutes from Railay Beach. The longtail boats do not live until they are mostly full so you may have to wait about 15 minutes or more before they head out.

The marketplace in Krabi Town was perfect for buying affordable souvenirs. We came across a random tour guide that was going to five different islands and providing dinner at Railay Beach, which was our destination. This turned out to be a great tour and we enjoyed it way more than the one we booked for the following day that was going to more popular islands.

Poda Island

This was the first island we visited on this trip. It had beautiful palm and pine trees, it was not crowded at all, and it was perfect for snorkelling. Almost any island you to go in Thailand is great for snorkeling.

Chicken Island, Tup Island & Koh Mor Island

There’s a unique island that literally looks like a chicken head (hence the name). It is quite fascinating to see. When the tide is low, there’s a sand bank that connects Chicken Island to Tup Island and Koh Mor, which are smaller in size. The view here is just stunning and was probably one of my favorite place out of all the places we visited. It reminded me of the sandbanks that are popular with The Bahamas and The Maldives. In the background, you can also see panoramic views of Railay Beach.

We did a bit of snorkeling here and the water was so shallow that you could kneel and see the fish swimming by. Be wary of the rocks in the water.

Phra Nang Beach/Cave

This was the last stop on our first tour guide. We had a delicious Thai dinner, which was supposed to be followed by swimming in the dark cave. This beach was literally right next to our resort. We skipped out on swimming in the dark and called it a night (I didn’t want to get wet after I had already dried up).

Bamboo Island

This is one of the islands in the Phi Phi Archipelago. It has beautiful clear turquoise water, soft white sand beach and tropical plantation in the background. It was our first stop on this second island hopping tour

Monkey Beach

This island is home to a lot of monkeys. Unfortunately, the tide was too high at the time when we were visiting, there was no shore for us to dock.

Phi Phi Island (Maya Bay)

This is one of the most popular islands to visit in Thailand. Thanks to the movie, ‘The Beach’, by Leonardo Di Caprio. This bay has been closed to tourists since June 2018 to allow the corals to regenerate due to the severe damage that tourism has caused to the environment.