Photo By: Elin Chow

During our recent trip to Krabi, Thailand, my husband and I spent most of our time at Ao Nang Beach - one of our favorite place to be!

Ao Nang Beach
Ao Phra Nang, or commonly known as Ao Nang, is the most 'westernized' and busiest beach in Krabi, Thailand. A backpacker hotspot and a tourist alcove, Ao Nang is a relatively small town with one main beach, Thus, it can get really crowded during the peak season.

Ao Nang Beach is located just 5 to 10 minutes walking distance away from Ao Nang Cliff Beach Resort. The street that leads to the beach is lined up with a wide array of shops, restaurants, travel agencies and different accommodation options.

Ao Nang beach, although not as scenic as Railay or Koh Phi Phi, it is still a great and relaxing place to unwind and recharge your batteries. The beach boasts a long coastline with sky blue water and fine, golden-hued sands. Located at the southern end of the beach, the magnificent limestone cliffs provides a wonderful backdrop to the blue waters of the Andaman Sea.


While at the beach, you can spend your day here swimming, sunbathing, snorkeling or enjoying a drink at a nearby cafe. For us, we spent most of our day sitting on the benches, enjoying the cooling sea breeze and the warmth of the sun.


The centre portion of beach serves as a docking point for the long-tailed boats running to and from Railay beach everyday.

As the shore is often packed with long-tailed boats, it can be relatively difficult to find an open patch of water at the beach for a swim. Even if you could find, I would not recommend anyone going for a swim either as there are simply just too much boat traffic.

Ao Nang beach is definitely not a peaceful place to relax due to the level of noise pollution arising from the endless streams of long-tailed boats arriving and departing throughout the day. You might want to consider hopping onto a long-tailed boat to Railay beach instead if you prefer a more quieter and peaceful atmosphere.


For kids, the clean beach and extremely fine sands makes it perfectly ideal for sand-castle building.



Besides that, Ao Nang Beach is known to be a fantastic spot to catch a sunset. Every evening, hundreds of people, both locals and tourists flock and gather at the beach to watch the sun disappear into the Andaman Sea.

In the next instant, before we realized it, the sun just disappeared beyond the horizon, leaving behind its fire-red glow.

Final Thoughts

Ao Nang beach is one of the perfect place for people looking for peace and tranquility. Unlike most other popular beach destinations in Thailand, Krabi is actually more suited for families vacations and couples seeking for a romantic getaway. We could barely spot any bars and pubs alongside the beach. Most of the nightlife in Ao Nang are located off the main street, hidden away behind the beachfront shops.

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