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Railay and Tonsai Beach are two beautiful beaches located next to each other in Krabi. Visiting these beaches is one of the top activities in the area. If you are planning a trip, you may be wondering whether you can walk between Railay Beach and Tonsai Beach.
Quick answer: Yes, it is possible and relatively easy to walk between Railay and Tonsai Beach. This is actually more simple and straightforward than trying to take a boat between these two beaches. Find out more about how to get around the Railay Beach area.
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HOW TO GET TO TONSAI & RAILAY – Tonsai and Railay Beach by shared taxi boat
Railay and Tonsai – In Brief
In order to travel from Ao Nang to Railay or Tonsai Beach, you will need to take a taxi boat which costs 100 baht per person each way. Children four years and older need to pay, and their charge is the same as adults. However, these shared taxi boats are not able to take passengers between Railay and Tonsai Beach. So, if you want to travel between these two beaches, you will need to be willing and able to walk along a short and intrepid jungle path.
Why visit both Railay and Tonsai Beach?
If you’re planning to visit the area, we do recommend exploring both Railay and Tonsai Beach. Each of these beautiful beaches has its own unique character and ambiance, and they each offer their own advantages. Tonsai is a quieter and more tranquil beach with an amazing spot for bouldering and rock climbing. There is also a fantastic rope swing on the beach. There are fewer facilities, shops, and restaurants situated on Tonsai.
Railay beach, on the other hand, is more popular and is often more busy. There is a great choice of places to relax, eat, and drink, and you can also see monkeys in the trees at the south end of the beach. Both beaches offer stunning scenery and activities such as kayaking, swimming, snorkeling, and of course, sunbathing.
Which beach should you visit first? Railay or Tonsai?
If you’re planning to visit both Railay and Tonsai Beach, we recommend starting with Tonsai. It costs the same to get to both beaches (100baht by shared taxi boat from Ao Nang). There is a good reason to do it this way around. When you are looking for a boat to return to Ao Nang, you need to wait a long time on Tonsai beach. The shared taxi boats only go when they are full. However, because Tonsai is a relatively quiet beach, it can take a long time before taxi boats are ready to depart.
On the other hand, if you start visiting Tonsai first and then walk to Railay beach, you should be able to catch a taxi boat pretty quickly from Railay when you’re ready to go home.
How do you walk between Railay and Tonsai Beach?
There is a jungle path between Railay and Tonsai beach. This path is not accessible to prams or wheelchairs. The walk between Railay and Tonsai Beach is likely to take around 10 minutes and is only a few hundred meters in length. If you’re planning to do this walk, we recommend wearing good footwear; trainers are much better than flip-flops or sandals. We do not recommend attempting this walk at night. If you are doing this walk with young children, supervise them carefully; there are a couple of sections with steep drops.
1 find the path
There is a short and intrepid jungle path that links both of these beaches. The path is situated at the southeast side of Tonsai Beach and the northwest side of Railay Beach. The jungle path is relatively easy to navigate and well-worn, so there is very little chance of getting lost on this route. The terrain on the path is relatively challenging with large rocks and roots and a couple of steep sections.
The route is pretty easy to follow. If you are starting from Tonsai, walk to the south side of the beach, which is the opposite side of the beach from the taxi boat drop-off and pick-up location. When you reach the end of the beach, you will notice some rocks and a steep path leading up into the jungle.
2 Follow the path and go either way at the junction
Follow the rocky steps up the steep hill, taking care on the rocks. The path leads into the jungle and follows an undulating route. After a few minutes of walking, you will reach a fork junction; you can either go left or right here. Both paths lead to Railay Beach.
The path to the right is shorter and slightly easier with less climbing, so we recommend going right at this point. However, if you are unsure, don’t sweat it; just pick one of the paths, and you’ll still get to Railay. There are a few sections of steep uphill and downhill along this next leg of the journey. Also, watch out for a couple of drops to your right.
3 Take care descending the rocks
After a few more minutes of walking, you will notice that the path begins to descend as it approaches Railay Beach. There are a few challenging rocks to climb down at the end of the walk. Take your time and take care on these rocks, and finally, you have arrived at your destination. Now you are on Railay Beach; you will find several cafes, restaurants, and plenty of taxi boats ready to take you home when you are ready to leave.
