Krabi and the Andaman coast: Thailand's limestone paradise

The first sight of Railay from the sea is one of travel's reliable jolts: a wall of grey-gold limestone hundreds of metres high, draped in jungle, with a ribbon of white sand at its foot and longtail boats idling in green water. Krabi province owns the most dramatic stretch of Thailand's Andaman coast, yet beyond the famous viewpoints it stays surprisingly unhurried — a place of fishing villages, hot springs and islands where the ferry is the day's main event.

• Getting there: Krabi International Airport, then around 30–40 minutes to Ao Nang
• Best months: November to March; the monsoon runs roughly May to October
• Getting around: longtail boats are the local buses of the coast
• Bring: reef-safe sunscreen and shoes that can climb wet limestone
• What it costs: everything from £10 bungalows to world-class resorts

Railay and Phra Nang

The Railay peninsula is attached to the mainland but sealed off by cliffs, so everything and everyone arrives by boat — typically 15 minutes from Ao Nang. East Railay is mangrove and mid-range resorts; West Railay is the sunset beach; and a ten-minute path leads to Phra Nang Cave Beach, routinely ranked among Asia's finest, where climbers pick their way up the karst behind sunbathers. Railay is also one of the world's celebrated rock-climbing destinations, with schools on the beach teaching beginners on top-roped routes. The Rayavadee resort occupies the coconut grove behind the beach if you feel like celebrating something.

Islands by longtail

The classic four-islands trip — Koh Poda, Chicken Island (Koh Kai), Tup Island and Phra Nang — can be done by shared boat or, far better, by chartering a longtail early before the flotillas arrive. Further west, the Hong Islands enclose a shallow lagoon that glows absurdly turquoise at high tide. The Phi Phi Islands, administratively part of Krabi, are the province's celebrities; day boats crowd Maya Bay and Pileh Lagoon by late morning, so either sleep on Phi Phi Don and go at dawn or admire them on the way to somewhere quieter.

That somewhere is usually Koh Lanta, a long, laid-back island in the province's south with kilometres of west-facing beach, a wooden old town on stilts, and a pace best measured in sunsets.

Inland Krabi

The coast hoards the fame, but the interior earns a day. At Wat Tham Suea — the Tiger Cave Temple — a staircase of more than 1,200 steps climbs to a clifftop Buddha with a panoramic sweep of karst country; go early, carry water. An hour south near Khlong Thom, the Emerald Pool (Sa Morakot) sits in lowland rainforest, a naturally warm, glass-clear swimming hole, with the hot spring cascades of Namtok Ron nearby for a jungle soak.

Ao Nang makes the most convenient base, with its long promenade of restaurants and boat ticket booths; Klong Muang and Tubkaek beaches, 20 minutes north, swap the bustle for quiet resorts and sunset views over the Hong Islands.

Tip: Tide matters more than weather here. Phra Nang and the Hong lagoon are at their best around high tide, while low tide strands longtails far from the sand — check a tide table when you plan your boat days.