Rai Leh

Rai Leh is considered to be all of the peninsula, which has four primary areas:

Phra Nang

shown as Pranang Cave Beach in local maps a fine white sand beach, on the southern tip of the peninsula. Can get crowded and busy. This lovely beach, recently voted one of the 10 most beautiful beaches in the world, is 20 minutes away from Ao Nang by longtail boat. It has jaw-droppingly spectacular scenery and is an excellent swimming beach. Watch the climbers climb right off the beach. Have a massage, eat a delicious barbeque and salad lunch, maybe cliff-jump off the rocks into the water. It's a great place to spend a lazy or not-so-lazy day. Phra Nang is arguably the finest beach in Thailand. A broad strip of white sand with massive cliffs framing each end of the beach, Phra Nang has just enough facilities: roast chicken and salad lunches cooked on the beach, massage ladies and people inconspicuously selling cold drinks. It still thankfully lacks all the things that spoil a beach: pollution, traffic, noise, over-enthusiastic hawkers, jet-skis and lager louts.

Rai Leh East

the mangrove side of the peninsula, used by long-tails to/from Krabi. Not good for swimming or sunbathing. Plenty of restaurants and bars. Mid-range to budget accomodations.

Rai Leh West

a fine beach of white sand and shallow water, where most long-tails arrive from Ao Nang. North end of the beach is great for swimming. South end is ok, but a little rocky under the water. Mid to high end accomodations. This beach is especially beautiful after sunset, when the silhouetted surrounding rock-faces give the place a totally unique and almost supernatural look. Idling on the beach whilst watching the antics of the rock climbers scaling the surrounding cliffs is about as relaxing an experience as can be found anywhere. To the right the bay stretches away past Tonsai to the massive Sleeping Indian cliffs, so named because that is exactly what they resemble, at night. The kilometre-long Sleeping Indian is lying on his back, with his hands folded across his midriff, his feet sticking up and a feather sticking out of his headdress – it’s an uncanny resemblance, especially at night-time.

The place to catch the sunset is at Coco’s very comfortable bar, right in the middle of the beach. This, the only bar on West Railay, is always a quiet one and has to be a candidate for being southeast Asia’s best beach bar. After sunset West Railay beach starts to empty and by midnight is usually almost completely deserted, except for the occasional party of illicit skinny-dippers, enjoying a dip au naturel at the northern end of the beach, where there are no resorts and so no people around.

Midnight swims, au naturel or otherwise, are sensational on dark nights, when the brilliant-blue bioluminescence in the water lights up disturbed water like a neon-lit Christmas tree. To best appreciate this amazing phenomenon, bring a pair of swimming goggles along and swim underwater for a while: the bioluminescence will wreath your body in a million tiny blue lights, in surely the loveliest clothes you’ve ever worn.

Ton Sai

a cove around the corner from Rai Ley West where rockclimbers and backpackers hang out in cheap accommodation and practice climbing.

It's a 5-10 minute walk between any of these landmarks, except for Ton Sai, which is a longer hike through the jungle. The village itself is a pedestrian's dream, as there are no cars, and the uneven bumpy walkways make even bicycles impractical.