Ao Nang 2026: beach, hotels, Railay and islands from Phuket
Quick answer: Ao Nang is the main beach resort of Krabi province, about 3 hours by road from Phuket. Its beach is decent but not the prettiest; you stay there mainly because it is the best base for Railay (longtail boat, about 100 baht one way), the Hong Islands and the 4 islands. Best time: November to April. Ao Nang is a long avenue of restaurants, massage parlours and boat agencies, beside a bay lined with limestone cliffs. The beach is wide at low tide and can be very narrow at high tide; the water is not the clearest. On the other hand, everything is easy to organise there: trips, kayak hire, boats to Railay, restaurants and accommodation for all budgets. For travellers from Phuket it is the right choice for a night or two in Krabi.
Highlights
The beach and the cliffs
The Ao Nang waterfront, with longtail boats at the water's edge, nicest at sunset.
The sand and the tide
The beach is wide at low tide and shrinks to a narrow strip at high tide; to the north, Nopparat Thara is quieter.
Railay and Phra Nang beach
15 minutes away by longtail boat, beaches reachable only by sea; see the Railay page.
Sea trips
The 4 islands, the Hong Islands, Phi Phi and kayak trips leave from Ao Nang or Krabi.
Practical info
Tips
- Choose your hotel by distance to the beach: close to the beach you pay more but you walk; set back it is cheaper but you need a motorbike taxi or a songthaew. The tide changes the beach a lot: check the tide table before hoping to swim. For a trip, the agencies on the main street are many: compare them and read what is included (lunch, park entrance fee, insurance). The monkeys on the neighbouring beach steal food: do not feed them. For the trip from Phuket, read Krabi from Phuket; to choose between the two regions, Phuket or Krabi; to hire a car, car hire in Krabi.
How to get there
From Phuket: private transfer or minibus by road (about 3 hours); see also the one-day speedboat trip From Krabi airport: about 40 minutes by road From Krabi town: about 30 minutes by songthaew or taxi
Opening hours
Our guides that feature it
Nearby
See on the map →
Comments
No comments yet.