Best things to do in Krabi, Thailand in 3 Days

Krabi town is the centre of Krabi province which lies on the southwest coast of Thailand. It is mostly popular for its gorgeous coral islands and infamous parties. Although Krabi is a part of the mainland, the town is prominently characterized by limestone cliffs, dense forests and fauna, and a sparse laidback town.

I would say that is because Krabi is slightly cheaper than Phuket or even Koh Phi Phi and much sparsely populated with equally picturesque beaches, water activities, and delicious Thai food. Most tourists prefer much more mainstream towns like Phuket or Koh Samui for raving party scenes.

Krabi is very quiet comparatively. There can be a few tourists during the peak season. But if you are going at an offseason, you may even get a huge chunk of the beach to yourself.

Related article: Thailand Travel Itinerary to save you a ton of time

You can reach Krabi by the following means of transport:

Air: There are regular flights available to and from Krabi to almost all domestic airports in Thailand. The flights usually are extremely affordable and starts from THB 700 if you book ahead in time. International flights are also available from the airport to a few select destinations like Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Krabi airport is 14km to Krabi city centre and 27km to Ao Nang beach.

There is an airport shuttle available to most of the popular points in Krabi town. The bus runs from 8 am to 8 pm around 10-12 times a day. It costs THB 100 from the airport to Krabi town and THB 150 to Ao Nang Beach. A taxi will cost around THB 350 to Krabi town and THB 600 to Ao Nang beach.

Bus: Direct bus run from Bangkok, Phuket, Surat Thani to and from Krabi. If you are in Bangkok you can take an overnight bus from the Southern Bus terminal that starts at around THB 650 per person. If you are already down south, you can also take a minivan which is usually faster and easily available.

Buses in Thailand are comfortable with reclining seats, blankets, a mobile toilet and a simple but free meal. You can book your tickets at Bookaway.com or 12.goasia.com

Train: If you want to avoid a bus and sleep more comfortably, you can also take a train. However, there is no direct train to Krabi. Instead, you can take a train to Surat Thani. From there you can change to a bus or a minivan that you can find near the railway station itself. Trains in Thailand are okay, sometimes slow and unreliable. The majority of people prefer the bus over the train. You can book a train in Thailand at thairailwayticket.com.

Ferry: If you are in Phuket or Koh Phi Phi, you can easily catch a ferry to Krabi. You can take book a ferry beforehand online on Phuketferry.com or directferries.com. Otherwise, you can simply buy a ticket at the pier which are easily available round the clock.

Krabi is a beach town so it’s mostly hot and humid. While October to March is the best time to visit, it is also the peak tourist season. Summer months are hot in Thailand and June to October is heavy rainfall in the area so a lot of water activities may be closed during these times. I went in April and it was good enough to travel.

If you are short on time, I would suggest that you spend at least 2 days in Krabi mainland and 1 day in Koh Phi Phi and nearby islands to enjoy the most of it. You can either choose to live in Phi Phi or take a day trip from Krabi. Here is a day-by-day log of the activities that you can club and enjoy at Krabi :

Ao Nang Beach is a sprightly tourist destination in Krabi. Ao Nang is a short 30-minute drive from Krabi town. However, the area near Ao Nang beach is very busy and tourist-centric. It is lined with hotels, resorts, clubs, bars, restaurants, bakeries, Tour agencies, Street markets and so much more.

You can happily spend a good amount of time at this lovely beach. I would also suggest taking a long walk from end to end to experience the bustling aura of south Thailand. All types of food are available in this stretch from American, European, Thai, Japanese & Indian.

One of the must-do activities is to hire a scooter (two-wheeler) and drive to Krabi town by road. The limestone cliffs that sit on both sides of the lanes and the patchy foliage around it gives Krabi a very distinctive feel. It will leave a very strong impression of its terrain.

I found that a very refreshing ride. At night you will also find some restaurants right next to the cliffs. And they sometimes use their caves for theme-based dining.

Wat Kaew Korawaram is the most popular temple of Krabi and rightly so. Most of the Thai temples are very rich in décor. Their rooftops in Red, blue and golden triangular arches with gold-plated intricate traditional oriental designs give them such a distinctive style.

But this temple looks plainer yet grander somehow. I would say perhaps even a little more elegant since it is only done in dull white and dark blue colour with accents of gold.

I enjoyed walking to the temple. Mostly because of the rows of unique lamp posts in traditional Thai design on both sides. On top of that, there are dragons on the handrail while you climb up to the temple floor. A very sweet spot to Instagram 😉. The opening hours are from 10 am to 5 pm and there is no entry fee.

While you are in the town, visit the “Black Crab” statue located within the walking distance of the temple. It has just become a popular place to touchpoint and while at the spot, have a look at the view right next to it which opens up to the river basin and will give you a glimpse of the rich mangrove story of the Krabi town.

Additionally, I really enjoyed the overall décor of the tow. The traffic lights are adorned with massive animal sculptures like an elephant with a sword, Lion & Bison. It’s a delight!

Wat Tham Sua (Tiger Cave) is a sacred Buddhist shrine around 20 mins from the foothill of Wat Kaew Korawaram. The temple is named after the legend of roaming tigers around the area where there is also a footprint of them in the cave. To reach the top you must climb a total number of 1,237 steps. Take a bottle of water while starting since you will only get any water once you reach the top.

While climbing you will start getting an aerial view of Krabi town. And it’s all miles and miles of green forests and limestone mountains in grading shades of colours of blue in many layers as you see from the top. There is an enormous golden statue of Buddha on the top. And as nice as it looks in the daytime, it’s just so much grander at night. The statue is completely lit up and looks so vibrant against the dark sky.

Try to take this either in the morning or in the evening hours when the sun is a little cooler and the heat is less. Sunset is a great time to be on the top but tries to descend before the dark or it gets a little risky to climb down the steep stairs at night. The timings of entry are from 8 am to 5 pm where you cannot enter after 5 pm but can climb down afterwards. There is no entry ticket to this.

If you can drive around a two-wheeler then it’s best you visit these places by yourself. Don’t take a tour package or buy online tickets for any of these for they honestly cost nothing.

Now, if you are aware of popular culture in the east (and India) is the worship of the phallic symbol commonly knows as ‘penis’. Yes, I am talking about the male genitals. At Railay beach, you will find a cave temple dedicated to the worship of phallus along with the sculpture of a phallus in various sizes, big and small being prayed to. I saw many tourists giggling, but I would suggest you refrain from it for it may hurt local sentiments.

The second stop and the first island is Koh Poda. It is comparatively bigger in size than all others in the 4-island tour. It’s a lovely island and is one of those whose pictures keep popping up on the internet and wallpaper and you wonder if they are even real. Yes, they are.

There isn’t much to do otherwise on the island. You need to bring your own water since you will barely find anything during the tour except on your boat. Just relax around the place, take a bath in the shallow waters, take a nap at the beach (I did) and after 45 minutes, your resume for the next stop.

The second island in your trip would be Koh Gai or chicken island. Don’t be fooled, there are no chickens here – to see or to eat. The name stuck because the island looks like a chicken head, like what happens to most tourist places. You will not be able to land on this island since the beach where you can walk on does not have easy access to boats. Instead, you can do something better, snorkelling!

Thailand and its most island tours offer fantastic water activities, snorkelling being very popular here. It doesn’t matter if you cannot swim (like me). You can put on a life jacket and take a dive into the sea.

You will be afloat and if you learn a little to put on the snorkelling equipment and use them, you can easily spot some lovely corals and some ocean life around. Just don’t try to walk on corals or you may get a few bruises. It is fun and there is always help around.

After the snorkelling, you can have a go at a meal on the boat which is usually a part of the package. It is a basic meal of rice and chicken (or vegetables) with some sides but by the time you are so hungry that it tastes sumptuous. I loved the hospitality through, they urged us to finish all of it and take several helpings if we want.

The last stop and the third and fourth islands on the list are Koh Tub and Koh Mor. They both are small islands and you can take the round of one in about 10 mins. They are just next to each other and connected by a thin sand trail during the low tide.

Again, they are lovely places to relax, take a sunbathe with clear green water and clean beaches. By the time we arrived, I was damn right exhausted. So just spotted a place to park me and did literally nothing.

There comes the end to the four-island trip. It is here where they drop you at the Ao Nang beach again and bid adieu. You can also take a 5-island or a 7-island tour package. They will just keep on adding islands to it.

Love Beaches? Do check out our other blogs on popular Thai islands

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After a lazy afternoon at the Phi Phi, you head to the water for some water activities. Snorkeling again is very popular and the gear is available on most of the tour boats. You can snorkel in the shallow waters near Phi Phi islands where the water is clearer and corals more visible.

Post this you can head to Maya Bay (If open). With the shooting of the movie ‘The Beach’, Maya bay became extremely famous. The reason that it is so beautiful is that because the cliffs shelters the bay from three sides. The beach is in the middle. If you get down at the other side of the island you must walk on a few rocks, go through some caves, climb a ropeway and get down several stairs to reach the main beach.

The sad part is since it is so popular you will find it crowded. The bay is lined up with a handful of boats which brings quite a large crowd to the beach. So if you want to see the best of it, try to come early morning before 8 am or after 5 pm. The charges to Maya Bay are 400 Baht. Your tour package usually includes this.

On the way back you will be halting at Monkey beach. As the name suggests, the beach is full of monkeys and these are the friendliest monkeys in the world. They are so familiar with humans that if you open up your palm they will climb up your hand and sit on your shoulders. While it is a lot of fun, just take care that they are not harmed by you or anyone around. All tourists are not animal-friendly.

Here is a word of advice for a responsible traveller. Littering is an increasing problem in the islands of Thailand and you can see the footprints as well. People come and litter the beautiful beaches, leaving plastic bottles, hats, sunglasses, and food leftover behind. This then goes to the sea.

The local sea life is running a risk now due to which many beaches are closed to tourists indefinitely. Make sure you take your litter home or throw it in dustbins ONLY.

Krabi has a great infrastructure for tourists. Maybe not as good as Phuket but still, pretty decent. You can find good hostels, resorts, budget hotels and of course luxury ones too.

The best area to stay in Krabi is undoubtedly near Ao Nang beach. It is the commercial centre and you will find tons of great restaurants and markets around the corner. You can also stay in Krabi town but you will have to come to this side anyway for the activities. If you want you can split your time between the two areas.

Here are some great places to stay that you may like:

Budget Hotels:

iRest Ao Nang Sea Front

Aonang Sunset Hotel

Sabai Hotel Aonang

Mid-Budget Hotel:

BlueSotel Krabi

Beyond Resort Krabi

Krabi Tipa Resort (personally recommend, see photos below)

Affordable Luxury/Boutique:

Aonang Princeville Villa Resort and Spa

Railay Bay Resort & Spa

Amari Vogue Krabi