Just one month after visiting Bangkok, I am back here again in Thailand, this time to have a taste of some adventure sports. With return flights from Singapore costing about S$90-100, it is quite affordable to visit Krabi or any part of Thailand. For this trip, we took AirAsia to Krabi and came back via TigerAir. Both airlines operate daily flights to Krabi.

well-trained instructors to guide your climb and belay you

There is a plethora of things to do in Krabi, from adventure sports such as rockclimbing, diving, kayaking to more leisurely activities like lazing on the beach or shopping at the night markets. We had originally planned to dive around Koh Phi Phi or the islands surroundind Aonang, but the prices were quite expensive. Even for the local island named Chicken Island, 2 dives cost 2500B (~$100) and the depth was only 6m. I think snorkelling would be more worth it. For a longer trip out to the outlying islands like Koh Phi Phi, 2 dives cost from 3500-3900B (~$140-156). We felt that it was not worth it because there would be many tourists making day trips to the island and the waters would be crowded with people.

After scouting around, we decided to do rockclimbing instead because Krabi is one of the few places in the world home to natural rock walls suitable for scaling. The brochures were advertising a full day rockclimbing trip at 1800B ($72) and half-day at 900B ($36). We managed to bargain with some travel agents to a good price at 1400B for a full-day tour. It is inclusive of lunch, transport to and from our hotel, as well as climbing equipment and an instructor.

climbing, climb on!

The pickup included a songthaew ride to the pier, followed by a longtail boat ride to Railay beach. Trust me, Railay beach is really more beautiful than Aonang beach. Do choose your accommodation on Railay beach if you go to Krabi. During the first half of the day, we were climbing at the rock wall which is beside the sea. The routes were not so difficult. For beginners, the instructors provide training on how to belay and tie the basic knots for the harness. They also guide you when climbing, such as offering advice on which hole or crevice to grip, which arm or leg to go up first.

climbing is not an easy sport

Most people signed up only for the morning half day climbing tour, so in the afternoon, we went to the other side of the island with an almost vertical rock wall. It looked intimidating and we kind of regretted doing the full day climbing. We could have been relaxing on the beach by now. Ultimately, even though the second part of the day was more tiring, we felt like we really pushed and stretched our limits. It was more fun to climb this wall due to the difficulty level and there were some parts where we were stuck for some time, but the sense of achievement when you finally make it to the top is overwhelming. In all, we did 3 climbs in the morning and 3 climbs in the afternoon.

enjoying the view at Railay beach

After that, we had about half an hour left to relax at Railay beach before the boat and songthaew ride back to our hotel. Our arms and legs were jelly from climbing and reaching greater heights, but we were very satisfied with today’s acitivity. Unfortunately, the sky was overcast and there was not much of a sunset to watch.

on the boat back to Aonang