Wandergliding: Kayaking at Railay Beach

October 24^th, 2024

After a quick shower at my hotel, as I did sweat a bit climbing the 1260 steps of the Tiger Cave Temple, I ordered a Grab ride to head to the supposedly gorgeous Railay Beach. My Grab driver was the most entertaining one I’ve had (granted that’s only out of four rides). His name was Jambo, and he was a big, jovial dude who didn’t speak much English but had embraced a translation app. His phone was mounted on his windshield, and we’d take turns saying something and allowing the other to understand what was said and respond. It was a stark difference from my first three rides with Grab where there was very little spoken between me and the driver, although sometimes that is nice too.

A cool stoplight on our drive over to Ao Nang:

Jambo dropped me off in Ao Nang, a little resort town west of Krabi, where I hopped on a long-tailed boat for the 15 minute ride to Railay Beach, well the east side of it which is mostly resorts and it doesn’t have much of a beach. Long-tailed boats are interesting. This one could seat about 12 people, and the engine is like a big exposed V8 with a super long drive shaft to the propeller. The captain simply rotated his wrist for gas and then pushed the long shaft opposite to where he wanted to propel the boat. A couple of European guys questioned why they needed such a long shaft. I pondered that as I plugged my ear closest to the engine since I was near the back of the boat and it was super noisy. It made sense in that if it was a shorter shaft, the prop would be shooting the water down more than behind us so it wouldn’t be as efficient. Needless to say, these kinds of boats would not be allowed in Canada.

The pier at Ao Nang:

The engine of the long-tailed boat:

Getting closer to Railay Beach:

We arrived at the floating pier on the east side of the isthmus where there wasn’t much of a beach, but instead some resorts, a few restaurants, a mini-mart and a drug store. I was shocked that the last two businesses were allowed to occupy such prime real estate. I followed the general flow of travellers on the path over to the main beach, which passed by some tall cliffs where some tourists were rock climbing.

The pier on the east side of Railay Beach:

The wasted real estate:

Rock climbers:

Some overhanging rock on the path over to the west beach:

Definitely some interesting rock formations:

Reaching the main beach, I was gobsmacked. A beautiful sandy beach with tall, precipitous mountains on either side with a couple of similar looking islands a few hundred meters offshore and many more in the distance. I can see why this place is an attraction for foreigners and locals alike.

The north end of the beach:

Railay Beach:

After wandering up and down the beach under the overcast sky, I decided to rent a kayak to paddle around the small peninsula on the south side of the beach after first exploring the two islands right in front of the beach. I was a little wary taking my phone with me in a dry bag and found it difficult to unlock it and take photos at times with my slightly wet and salty fingers, but I was able to capture some memories of this lovely kayaking session.

Ready to go:

Between the two islands in front of the beach:

Rounding the point:

Stopping at the only little beach around the peninsula. The water temperature was lovely.

A nice catamaran anchored offshore:

Overhanging rock from the tall cliff. There was a small natural tunnel in this area but the tide was high enough that it would have been questionable to paddle through it.

From my research online, I had read about a “Princess Cave” that happens to be filled with wooden penises…yup, you read that right. I thought you had to access it by boat, but it turns out I had pretty much walked by it on the way to rent the kayak. The legend has it that fishermen used to bring their wishes and prayers to the Phra Nang princess in order to keep them safe on the seas. However, people with fertility problems started to bring these wooden penises as an offering to hopefully help them out with their issues too, and judging by the number of phalluses in the cave, she must be doing her job well!

The Princess Cave...interestingly you can spell penis from the word princess...

A monitor lizard was wandering towards the cave:

A fancy resort on the main beach. What a great place that would be to have dinner...the views would be amazing.

The power of water...one drip at a time:

After the morning of climbing 1260 stairs to the top of the Tiger Cave Temple and now a paddling session, I was ready for a late afternoon snack and a drink before heading back to Krabi. I was actually surprised how difficult it was to find a beachside restaurant as there was only one fancy looking one on the main beach which was now closed for a private wedding reception and on the east side it was primarily resorts. I eventually found a place and then caught the long-tailed boat ferry back.

Back on the east side of Railay:

One of the nice resorts:

After the restaurant, I asked the waiter where the bathrooms were. He led me about 40 meters from the restaurant and told me they were around the backside of a building...well, this is what I found. I guess it ain's all paradise here. Needless to say I found a bush out side instead!