Krabi, Thailand
Strolling down Tubkaek Beach
Our impressions of Krabi
Serene and secluded beach: When we decided to spend a week in Krabi, we expected it to be on a super touristy, busy beach. We were very pleasantly surprised to find that the resort we booked was on a quiet beach that was insulated from the craziness of Krabi. We spent hours walking along the beach with very few other people in sight and loved the serenity of Tubkaek beach
Great mix of activity and relaxation: We’re not big beach people (this was our first real beach vacation), so mixing in activities with beaching was important to us. Krabi turned out to be the perfect place for a healthy mix of beaching and adventure. We loved all of the activities nearby – hiking, kayaking, and even golfing. We also enjoyed walking up and down the beach daily and soaking in extraordinary sunsets
Fun, chill beach restaurants and bars: Simply stated, the restaurants/bars on Tubkaek beach were awesome. They had some of the most beautiful views of any beachfront restaurants that we had been to and were simple and relaxing with none of the typical beachfront kitschy-ness. A highlight of our time in Krabi was exploring the spots on the beach
What we saw in Krabi
Beach walks: Our favorite activity of our vacation in Krabi was walking along the beach. Tubkaek beach somehow looked a little different every day with the changing tide (it was the craziest shift in tide we’ve ever seen), amorphous clouds, and technicolored sunsets. Tubkaek beach was very quiet and unpopulated which made it a joy to walk around. It was one of the most beautiful beaches we’ve been to with insanely blue, clear water and limestone formations out in the distance. We made a point to be on the beach during sunset and were rewarded with the most beautiful sunsets of the trip so far. A real honeymoon activity 🙂
Dragon’s Nest hike (Ngon Nak Nature Trail): We’ve never taken a true beach vacation together (outside of a few days in Michigan) and Jessie in particular is not a fan of sitting on the beach for long periods of time. Luckily, our hotel couldn’t have been closer to one of the best hikes in Krabi – Dragon’s Nest. We decided to do the hike on our first day as there wasn’t rain in the forecast (every other day it was supposed to rain, but it never did). We spent just over an hour and a half walking up a steep, beautiful, and occasionally treacherous trail in the jungle. The trail was super quiet and full of roots and mud which made it a nice, albeit sweaty challenge for our first beach day. There were gorgeous views of the limestone cliffs around Krabi and the Andaman sea when we reached the top. On the way down, we heard a mysterious noise that sounded like an animal giving birth or dying. We couldn’t figure out what the source was, but assumed it was some type of monkey
Longtail boat to Hong and Pakbia Islands: We wanted to get on the water and explore nearby islands, so opted to take a longtail boat one morning. Bao was our boat driver – he was incredibly kind, enthusiastic, and didn’t speak a lick of English. We had a lovely 30 minute boat ride to Hong Island, our main destination for the morning. We started our time on Hong Island with a short hike up a nature trail with informative sign posts that detailed the flora and fauna on the island, as well as the impact of the 2004 tsunami. We walked up 350 very steep metal stairs to reach the top of the trail and got a nice view of Hong Island and the Andaman sea. After our short hike, we did some snorkeling (spotted some awesome blue fish and what looked like a sea snake :o) and beached it. After a few hours on the beach, we explored the Hong Island lagoon and set off for Pakbia Island – a tiny island with nice swimming and a beach that was surrounded by water on two sides. Great way to spend a morning in Krabi!
Golf: We thought that golf would be a fun and different activity while in Krabi and it was! Determined to get our 10,000 steps for the day, Jessie insisted that we walk to the golf course which was just 45 minutes away (in the blazing sun and uncomfortable heat). We packed a bag with plenty of water and set off on foot for our golfing adventure. With no sidewalk, walking on the windy road was a fun but occasionally terrifying experience. About 20 minutes in, we spotted a massive flattened snake on the road and decided that we would get a ride the rest of the way… We played 9 holes at the Sofitel which had a gorgeous, oceanfront course. It took us a few holes to warm up (Doug is an excellent golfer, Jessie is not), but towards the end we both crushed the course with back-to-back-to-back pars (for Doug) and bogeys (for Jessie). We kept it exciting until the end and had the chance to yell “fore” as Jessie hit a drive dangerously close to a few groundskeepers
Ao Nang: After golfing, we thought it would be fun to venture into Ao Nang – one of the more popular areas in Krabi. We contacted our new friend, Mas, who came to grab us along with his wife. Ao Nang was happening! It was a beachy, kitschy, touristy town with tons of people, a million places to eat and drink, and more souvenirs than we had seen anywhere. It was fun to stroll around the area especially after a few days of solitude in Tubkaek. But, it also made us feel relieved and grateful for our more serene, private accommodation in Tubkaek
Where we ate and drank
Amari Breakfast Buffet (x7): There weren’t many options when it came to dining near us and very few of them were cheap, so we decided to take advantage of the free breakfast buffet as one of our two meals of the day (we’re normally lunch and dinner people). The Amari breakfast buffet was decent – not the best, but not the worst that we’ve had. The breakfast selection got notably better after two guests complained that there weren’t enough veg options and there weren’t any Indian options (we were in Thailand, so this part seemed like an odd complaint). We were happy to be the beneficiaries of this interesting complaint the next day when tons of veg and Indian options popped up
Marco’s Restaurant: Marco’s was an awesome, romantic beachfront restaurant at the Amari Vogue. We would have happily eaten here every night (beautiful scenery, delicious food, and oh so convenient), but we wanted to try different places and keep costs down. We ended up eating here three nights which we strategically planned around when there would be live music (there was an amazing Filipino couple who we bonded with on the first night that sang great covers). We tried many of the dishes here during our three dinners – our favorites were the crab curry, pad thai, and surprisingly the shrimp quesadilla (our first Mexican food on our trip!)
Mama Moon: We spotted this place on our first beach walk and decided to come back for dinner the next night. We had a nice linner of calamari, crab salad (which involved a lot of labor for not very much crab), and paneng curry. The food was decent, but the highlight was definitely the location – basically in the sand on the beach
Tubkaek Seafood: We were reluctant to go here after looking at its subpar reviews, but decided to give it a shot. It was our favorite restaurant on Tubkaek beach and one of our favorite spots in Thailand – don’t judge a book by its cover! We spent two wonderful nights at this awesome beach joint playing cards, eating delicious and relatively affordable Thai food, and downing big Singhas (our Thai beer of choice). This spot was also our favorite place to watch the sunset as we had an amazing view of the water and limestone formations. Definitely one of the places we’ll mentally transport back to next winter
Mama’s Ao Nang: With millions of options, we reverted to Google to figure out where to eat in Ao Nang. Mama’s came up as a highly reviewed spot with cheap eats to boot. We walked a few miles down the main drag of Ao Nang until we stumbled upon Mama’s – a small, no frills spot with delicious food. We chowed down on a papaya salad, pad thai with shrimp, and massaman with tofu. It was one of our most delicious meals in Thailand
Where we stayed
Amari Vogue: We used all of our Chase points to book a week in Krabi at a nice resort – the Amari Vogue. Thankfully, it turned out to be even better than we expected. The room was the perfect place to spend seven nights (the longest we’ve spent anywhere) as it was super spacious, had a comfortable bed, sitting area, and porch, and kept us insulated from the humidity and heat. The resort had a nice pool with a view of the ocean, private beach, and great bar area where we spent many hours catching up on our blog and planning the next part of the trip. The best part was the location – Tubkaek was a private beach insulated from the craziness of Ao Nang which we really appreciated
