Ao Nang Beach
Ao Nang is the centre of tourism in Krabi province. That means pushy touts, tailor shops, travel offices, massive resorts, cheap guesthouses, Western style watering holes, chain restaurants and tourist-oriented cafes serving overpriced food. Sound tempting?
Still, Ao Nang is not as in-your-face as Ko Phi Phi, which courts a younger party crowd, and it's not as seedy as the most popular beaches on Phuket. It does have nightlife, but you won't see strings of go-go bars here. The atmosphere is not as low key as Khao Lak, but it's perhaps suitable for families seeking a lively and comfortable holiday. If you get away from the main tourist drag, the surrounding area is dotted with shaggy limestone cliffs and is quite scenic.
Ao Nang's beach, however, leaves something to be desired. The sand is a grainy tan, the water a deep blue during high season and a murky brown in the slower months, and the shore is often so packed with longtail boats that it's tough to find an open patch for a swim. It's deep enough to swim at high tide, but at low tide you're restricted to a waist high wade for the first 300 metres. If your travel agent tells you the beach here is a white sand paradise, you need to find a new travel agent.
Even so, the beach is a fantastic spot to catch the sunset, and the truly spectacular beaches of Railay, Ko Poda and Ko Hong are only a day trip away. Haad Nopphara Thara also offers a more attractive and relaxed beach just a short bicycle or boat ride to the northwest.
First and foremost, Ao Nang is a tourist town -- even the songthaew routes and times are posted in English. Every local and their brother runs a travel office, making it exceedingly easy to arrange tours and onward travel. Activities around Ao Nang include the usual tourist driven stuff: cooking classes, elephant rides, snake farm, lady boy cabaret, shooting range, muay Thai, fishing, kayak and speedboat tours.
While it's perfectly accessible for independent travellers, Ao Nang's tourism industry is focused mainly on package holidays -- good deals on decent rooms for long-stays are the speciality. During high season, the majority of tourists taking advantage of such deals are Scandinavian, Russian and continental European, so Anglophones might feel a little out of place. Ao Nang attracts people of all ages, though it's especially popular with the middle aged and older set.
The beach faces west and overlooks Phra Nang bay, named after the legendary Thai spirit-goddess that's also the namesake of Phra Nang beach on Railay and its cave shrine filled with hand carved phallices. Across the surf you can see the Poda islands and Chicken Island further out. To the east sits a majestic limestone mountain that lends Ao Nang much of its scenic character. The mountain is protected by the National Park service and is off limits to climbing and hiking. At its base lies the five-star Centara Grand Beach Resort.
Route 4203, also known as Ao Nang Rd or Moo 2, is the main thoroughfare through town. It runs directly alongside the beach before cutting east through the main tourist drag. It's along this strip that you'll find the widest array of restaurants, bars, cheap guesthouses and shops selling beach tourist tat. Some of the most interesting accommodation is located down the side streets that stray from Ao Nang Rd into some very pleasant stretches of countryside.
Between Ao Nang beach and Nopphara Thara beach, Khlong Hang Rd shoots northeast and is home to a second, higher end strip of restaurants and hotels. Continue north on 4203 and you'll hit Haad Nopphara Thara itself, which almost feels like a sleepier extension of Ao Nang -- it's close enough to easily walk from one to the other, but the best part of Nopphara Thara beach is further north and would be a hike on foot. Luckily, songthaews pass by every two minutes.
A couple of health clinics (they claim to be "international clinics") are located on Ao Nang Rd, but the closest proper hospital is 15 km away in Krabi town. The Ao Nang police station is in the heart of the tourist strip a short walk from the beach. The post office is a good kilometre east up Ao Nang Rd, just past Full Moon guesthouse. Most guesthouses and resorts offer internet stations and WiFi is readily available at cafes. Several banks offering currency exchange and plenty of ATMs are scattered around the area.
