Down in Ao Nang for a week with my niece, who has booked a two day beginners climbing course on Railay starting at 8.30 tomorrow morning. Went to the boat booths on the beach this afternoon to check the times and they are not selling tickets because of the swell. The man shrugged and said "maybe tomorrow".
She has paid for the course already. Is there another way round, or do we just turn up at the beach at 7 and hope? I know Railay has no road, that is the whole problem.
Ao Nammao. There's a pier a short ride east of Ao Nang where boats go across to the other side of Railay, the east side, and it's tucked in out of the worst of the swell. A friend used it in September when the beach boats stopped. White songthaew or a Grab gets you there.
Also message the climbing school tonight. They deal with this every wet season and some of them will tell you exactly which pier and which time works, or move the start if nobody can cross.
School replied at 10pm, bless them, said Ao Nammao and get the 7.30 if possible. Off we go. Will report back.
Made it. Grab to Ao Nammao took about fifteen minutes, there was a little booth, we waited maybe twenty minutes for enough people and crossed in a calm bit of water to Railay East. Wet to the knee getting off as everyone warned. Niece has climbed her first wall and is now insufferable.
#6October 25, 2026, 9:11 am Lovely outcome, Hazel, and Udon's answer is the one I would have given. Ao Nammao to Railay East is the standard wet season fallback, because the pier is more sheltered than the open beach at Ao Nang.
A few things for anyone who lands on this thread in the same spot. The longtails from the beach leave once enough passengers have bought tickets, so in the low season you can wait a while even on a calm day; going early helps. From Railay East to the climbing walls and the west side is a short walk through the middle of the peninsula, so arriving on the "wrong" side costs you ten minutes on foot, nothing more. And the last boats back stop in the evening, so check the time with the booth when you cross, or you are into a charter or a night on Railay.
The one thing I will say firmly: if the boatman will not go, do not go looking for one who will. Boats do capsize off this coast in rough weather. I have just written up how all the pieces around Krabi fit, the trucks, the airport bus and the boats, in getting around Krabi, and the joined up island tickets are in ferries to the Thai islands.
Day two of the course went from the beach at Ao Nang after all, sea had flattened right out. So it really does change day to day. Good to have the back door though.
