This was the sight that greeted us as we tromped down from our hillside cabana to Ao Phranang (a beach in the Railay area of Krabi Province), on our first morning there. We were pretty happy with it.

 

 

Railay is a popular rock-climbing destination, but we also found a couple sweet rope swings like this one.

 

The Railay area is surrounded by such high cliffs that, although it’s not an island, long-tail boats (like the ones pictured here) are needed just to get to the region.

 

The limestone (karst) formations along the beach create countless overhangs and caves.

 

 

The limestone seemed almost to be dripping before our eyes.

 

 

As the sun went down, the already-quiet beach emptied out and the scenery became more and more gorgeous.

 

 

 

 

The other large beach we hung out at in the area, Ao Railay West, wasn’t too bad either:

 

 

But exploring those stunning outlying islands by kayak (and snorkel!) on our last day yielded even more discoveries:

 

 

 

 

These rocks were just off the island where we snorkeled.  The island was a pillar of rock with just enough beach at low tide to pull the kayak up.  But with pristine coral all around, the scene underwater (not pictured) was spectacular!

 

This beach, located in a national park and winding toward that far crescent of sand at low tide, was our favorite spot of the day. Especially because the only building on this island was a shack with some sandy picnic tables out front that served delicious Thai food!

 

 

 

 

 

We didn’t want the day to end!

 

But paddling back, we knew it was an unforgettable way to end the vacation.