Railay is a gorgeous peninsula off of the Krabi region. You can only reach it by boat and that keeps some tourists away. The beaches (especially West Beach) are amazing and the water is bathtub warm. Already sounding like paradise to you? Well, let me add on to that. The people are friendly, the atmosphere is incredibly laid back and, although there are a bunch of people there, it does not have the meat market and total party feel of some of the other islands in the Krabi region.For the 6 days that Rob and I were in Railay, we lived in flip flops, bathing suits, shorts and tees. The food was amazing and somewhat inexpensive. We hung out with some locals, went swimming almost every day, trekked around some of the trails, and hung out on the beach. Yes, it is probably sounding better and better to you, but this is why it could be considered paradise to me - the rock climbing. The climbing in Railay is amazing. There are limestone cliffs that have tons of sport routes on them and they
range from easy to no way I will try it hard. It is somewhat of a climbing mecca in Thailand and there are some amazing climbers that set their sights on climbing in Railay.Out of the 5.5 days in Railay, Rob and I climbed for 4 of them (everyone needs a rest day every now and again). We climbed routes from 5.8 to 5.10c. We climbed off of trails and off of the beach (it was way too cool to walk down the beach, look up at the rock, put your stuff on and then climb right off of the sand). We hiked up to Phra Nang Cave and through it (it is a huge cave where you will need a head lamp to find your way, but it goes all the way through the mountain. You start on one beach and, with a short rappel down, you end on another and then rappelled off the other side. The views were amazing and the cave itself was very fun to explore.
Other than the climbing, the sunsets were amazing. Sitting or swimming in the warm water
(think in the 80's) while watching the sun turn the sky red, orange, purple and pink as it fades into the hills was amazing and I never got tired of it. We must have sat on West Beach 3 times to watch the sun go down and each time blew us away.So what does one do on a rest day when you can't climb? Well, you go on a sunset snorkeling trip. We left the beach on a long tail boat around 2pm and then headed out to snorkel around 4 different islands. We saw tons of coral, lots of fish and some of the bluest water you can imagine. After that it was off to another island to watch the sunset and eat some dinner (water, fruit and dinner were included in the $20 price). We had some great seafood curry and vegetables and watched another wonderful sunset. Then it was off to do some night swimming. The coolest thing about this was that we got to swim with the phosphorescence in the water. After jumping in the water
we got our masks and whenever you move your hand (or any part of your body for that matter) a bunch of little blue lights would follow it. Needless to say it was very cool to see and something I don't know if I will ever get to do again. We must have swam around for 20 minutes just watching the little blue lights following our every move (kind of trippy). Then it was time to get back in the boat and head for the shore. We got back around 8:30pm (yes that is a 6.5 hour trip and an amazing one at that) and headed off to our room. If you are ever in Railay I definitely recommend it and if you ever have the chance to swim in phosphorescence don't hesitate and just jump in.After 5.5 days it was time to try another place so it was off to Koh Phi Phi (an island near Krabi and Railay). We will climb there and I hope to experience scuba diving. I will put pictures of paradise up when I get a chance.
Pictures in order:
1- On the way to Railay East Beach.
2- One of the many views from West Beach of Railay.
3- Me getting ready to go snorkeling.
4- One of the sunset pics that I took (I will not put them all up because you will really be jealous).
5- The view from the cave opening before rappelling down to West Beach.
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