Ao Nang Beach

Ao Nang Beach is the most popular beach on the mainland of Krabi Province which primarily attracts short stay holiday makers who appreciate the convenient travel links and wide range of amenities.

About Ao Nang Beach

Ao Nang Beach is 1.4 km long. The beach is fairly narrow and at the south eastern end it features a majestic headland that separates Ao Nang Beach from Railay. Railay has three beaches which are more attractive than Ao Nang Beach. However, Railay is accessible only by boat and therefore less convenient as a place to stay. Getting from Ao Nang Beach to Railay for a day trip is, however, simple and cheap. Near the junction between the beach road and the road leading away from the beach into Ao Nang Town there is a kiosk selling tickets for 100 THB a person for the one-way boat trip to Railay. On Ao Nang Beach wooden longtail boat operators wait for people to take to Railay in exchange for the ticket. The journey by wooden boat from Ao Nang Beach to Railay takes about 10 minutes although you may need to wait a while for boat to fill up before you depart.

Ao Nang Beach is good for swimming and sunbathing. The water quality is often not as good as it is some more remote island destinations in Thailand but considerably better than some of Thailand’s other very popular beaches, such as Pattaya Beach. Another thing which commends Ao Nang Beach to visitors is the relatively small number of beach vendors, who can be annoying in other places, and also there are no shops directly on the beach. Ao Nang Beach does get busy but visitors tend not to get hassled.

The beach front road in Ao Nang has a wide range of shops, bars and restaurants. Families appreciate this variety as children don’t always want to eat Thai food and demand to eat foods with which they are more familiar. The beach road in Ao Nang caters for all tastes with Thai restaurants, as well as pizza and pasta restaurants, fast food outlets like McDonalds, steak houses and a very good Indian restaurant (The Bombay Palace) located a short walk from the beach in Ao Nang Town.

For visitors staying near Ao Nang Beach there are lots of things to do and places to see in the area. The next beach along from Ao Nang Beach, Noppharat Thara Beach, is much quieter and the small park area behind the beach is a popular picnic spot for local people. Further away is Krabi Town which has interesting markets and a very pleasant riverside promenade. You can get to Krabi Town very cheaply on the white shared taxis which ply the beach front road. Also worth visiting is Wat Tham Suea, known as the Tiger Cave Temple, which is a large Buddhist temple complex with a hill top temple and some interesting caves with shrines inside.

Location of Ao Nang Beach

• Ao Nang Beach is 27.1 km by road from Krabi Airport