One of the Best Beaches in Thailand is Railay Beach Krabi
After traveling to more than 21 countries around the world, we truly believe Thailand is one of the best family vacation spots in the world. One plus is that Thailand is a relatively safe and affordable place to visit with kids as well as having a beautiful cultural heritage that makes this family holiday destination truly unique. However, what sets Thailand apart are the exquisite beaches that make you want to book a flight today. There are soooo many ‘must visit places in Thailand’ to choose from, but after living in the Land of Smiles for the past 16+ years, you can trust me when I say that one of the best beaches in Thailand is Railay Beach Krabi.
Why choose Railay Beach Krabi in Thailand for your family holiday?
Out of the thousands of beautiful beaches in Thailand, like Phuket vs Phi Phi vs Koh Samui and many others, why should you choose Railay Beach Krabi as your family vacation destination?
- The stunning limestone cliffs jutting out of the emerald blue sea make this place magical
- The pristine white sand beaches that are powdery soft unlike some other beaches in Thailand that might be pebbly, rocky or even muddy
- Part of the charm is that it is a walkable beach town that has many restaurants, ice cream shops, cafes, massages, souvenirs, tours and activities located all within walking distance from your family-friendly resort in Krabi
- Did I mention Railay Beach is only accessible by boat? Can you imagine how exciting it would be for your kids to get to jump up into a wooden long-tail boat, glide across the relatively calm, emerald blue waters, passing towering limestone cliffs all along the way
- Railay Beach is one of the most kid-friendly beaches in Thailand due to the shallow, calm waters
- Lots of fun activities on Railay Beach Krabi such as kayaking, exploring caves, hiking to viewpoints, snorkeling, diving, long-tail boat tours, and much more
- Krabi has an international airport with many daily flights from Bangkok or just a 2 hour ride from Phuket
When is the best time to visit Krabi Thailand?
Thailand has a tropical climate, which means it is mostly hot and humid year round. The temps range from about 75’F (22’C) to 100’F (40’C), but mostly stay in the high 80s-low 90s’F (mid 30’Cs).
Thailand generally has two seasons: wet and dry.
THE WET SEASON
- heavily influenced by the monsoon winds and typically lands between June to September
- However, the rainy season for Krabi is mostly mid-July to October with September and October being the worst
- However, I can say that our most recent trip to Railay Beach Krabi was early October 2024, and we only had rain for one day for about half the day.
TIPS FOR TRAVELING TO THAILAND WITH KIDS DURING RAINY SEASON: Pack shoes that can get wet, quick drying clothes, and a poncho or small travel umbrella.
THE DRY SEASON
- generally is between November to April
- Has mostly clear, sunny days
All this being said, the very best time to visit Railay Beach, Krabi, Thailand with kids is between December to February for mostly sunny days that aren’t unbearably hot.
What's the best beach to stay in Railay Beach Krabi?
First off, let me explain that Krabi is a large province in Thailand. There’s an international airport, which makes it pretty convenient to get here and has daily flights from Bangkok for as low as 599 THB (~$18 USD).
Within the Krabi Province, there are sooooo many kid-friendly beaches.
Some of the best kid-friendly beaches are on the mainland :
- Ao Nang Beach (see below for why I recommend Railay vs Ao Nang)
- Railay Beach
- Phra Nang Beach
- Long Beach
Some of the best child-friendly beaches in Thailand are on islands in Krabi Province:
- Koh Phi Phi Islands
- Ko Lanta Islands
- Ko Pu Island
- Koh Jum Island
Other must visit islands in Krabi (but only good for a day trip but can not stay overnight):
- Maya Bay
- Ko Hong Island
- Ko Poda Island
- Ko Phi Phi Lee
- Monkey Bay Bamboo Island
Now that you have a good overview of the Krabi Province. Let’s narrow into the Railay Beach Krabi area.
There are 3 kid-friendly beaches in the Railay Beach Krabi area:
Phra Nang Beach
Positives :
- Our favorite beach in Railay
- has powdery white soft sand perfect for building sand castles
- has a wide and long beach area where you can spread out away from the crowds
- Some areas have shallow water that is great for toddlers to play in, but also some areas on Phra Nang Beach have deeper areas for teenagers to swim in
- Has such a lovely stroll from Railay East through the limestone caves with the stalactite formations dripping down from the cave ceiling above your head. We also encountered the cutest and sweetest Spot Dusky Leaf monkeys on our walk as well as a large Komodo dragon. That was exciting!
- This could be a plus or minus: there is only one place to stay on Phra Nang Beach — a 5 star luxury beach resort that would make for the best family vacation destination in Thailand, possibly the world, if you could afford it (our family could not — boo!)
- Also, maybe a positive or a negative: Phra Nang Beach has one of the most unique restaurants in the world to eat : The Grotto (Supposedly for hotel guests only, but I recently heard others can make a reservation even if you aren’t a hotel guest. I’m going to try and find out on our next trip to Railay Beach Krabi).
- Many activities to do and many places to explore on Phra Nang Beach in Railay Beach Krabi area such as:
- the Phra Nang Cave with an amazing viewpoint (see below for why it was my favorite activity on Krabi)
- During low tide, you can walk ‘across the sea’ to access a hidden gem called Ko Rang Beach with a very large limestone cliff jutting up out of the Andaman Sea
- Beautiful sunsets
- the Princess Cave (not kid-friendly in my opinion due to the large amounts of penis idols set up for the ‘princess spirit’)
- You can snorkel around the coral reefs right off the beach
- A lot of people were kayaking here from Railay West Beach (we tried before our 8 year old started melting down about the deep waters — so we kayaked to Ton Sai Beach instead and was a great trip still!)
- a great place for rock climbing on the beautiful limestone cliffs — I saw places for beginning climbers all the way to advance climbers
- Hike to the Emerald Lagoon
- Hike to the East Railay Viewpoint nearby
Negatives :
- Even though it is a public beach, there are no bathrooms
- There are no restaurants or shops selling any drinks or food or anything
- Railay Beach West is the second best beach in the Railay Beach Krabi area
- Ao Nang
- Koh Phi Phi Island
- Maya Bay
- Hong Islands
- Poda Islands
How to Get to Railay Beach Krabi in Thailand
- The charm of Railay Beach is that it’s unaccessible by car!
- You must take a boat to get to Railay Beach.
- I highly recommend taking a long-tail boat over a speedboat.
- To get to Railay Beach, first take a taxi to Ao Nam Mao pier or Ao Nang Longtail Boat Service Club. Both these locations will have long-tail boats readily taking passengers to Railay Beach from 8:00am-6:00pm.
- Long-tail Boat Trips to Railay Beach are 100 baht each way.
- The longtail boat ride is only about 20 minutes, but it is one of the highlights of our family trip to Krabi Thailand!
- When we landed at the Krabi International airport, we booked a van for our family of 7 in the Grab app for about 500 baht (~$18 USD). There were also taxi and van drivers waiting for passengers right outside baggage claim too.
- Thankfully, our super family-friendly hotel on Railay beach had a special promotion with a free long-tail boat transfer from Ao Nam Mao pier to the Railay East pier.
- Then the hotel staff carried our luggage from the pier to the hotel.
TIP: check to see which of the 3 piers on Railay Beach is closer to your hotel’s check-in desk
After you finally make it to your hotel, I recommend you explore around your hotel, take a swim in the pool, then check out Railay Walking Street (in Google maps) to get some yummy Cashew Nut Chicken or Pineapple Fried Rice!
