To start off, we booked our airfares really late. We wanted to leave on thurs morning and guess what! We only booked our flights on mon night! Talk about last minute :p We realised that flying the whole return trip on Tigerair/Airasia gave us really bad timings and was not necessarily the cheapest!
For example: Tigerair was a 10am flight out of Sg and 1150am flight out of Krabi, all for $165. Airasia was a 3pm flight out of Sg and 1130am flight out of Krabi, all for $140. So we took the combination of both; fly to Krabi on Tigerair and back to Sg on Airasia and this cost us SG$135 return! That's not too bad given that we booked our tickets so late right?
Tip #1: Always compare budget airfares/timings. Do consider booking one-way trips especially since budget airlines like to have cheap promotions on one-way airfares!
Anyway, we reached Krabi airport and needed to get to Aonang. There's two options: airport bus or private car.
Airport Bus
Cost: 150 baht per pax
Info: Depart only when the bus is full
Private Car
Cost: 600 baht for one destination
Info: Can sit up to 9 pax in a very nice big mini van
Travelling with D meant that we only had 2 persons which makes renting the private car very costly. Being Singaporeans, we decided to casually ask another Singaporean couple if they'll be interested in sharing the cost of the car with us. And thankfully, they were heading to Aonang too!
Here's the thing. The driver will ask you where you're going and they found out that we're all heading to Aonang but to 2 different destinations because of 2 different hotels. Even though the hotels were about 2km apart from each other they count it as 2 destinations -.- The driver asked for an additional 200 baht and we gave it to them. Afterall, with 4 people, it worked out to be 200 baht per pax. For the added luxury, convenience and comfort for just 50baht more, it's still quite worth it.
The private car is a very nice big luxurious mini van. It honestly felt very good to charter your own private car because you feel like kings and queens in it! The driver was very friendly and nice too, pointing out good to visit places along the way and even played Maroon 5 for us during the ride. The whole journey took us about 30min to reach Aonang.
Tip #2: Opt for the private car! If you're short of passengers, just casually ask another couple, there's no harm in asking.
So D and I decided to treat ourselves to a nicer resort so we booked Vogue Resort and Spa. It was very good and I'll highly recommend it for the comfort, big rooms, convenience to food stores, 7-11 and to the important Aonang beach! We took the middle option of Deluxe room and paid SG$116 for 2 nights via Expedia.
Day 1
We were very hungry and not sure what to eat since it was our first day in Krabi. Since our hotel was located along the main street (where MacDonalds and Starbucks is) of Aonang, it made sense to explore the stretch of shops while walking towards the beach. The shops tout for business and we were convinced when this Indian guy told us 'special discount, food at 100baht only'.
Tip #3: Do not eat at Rasoi Restaurant.
Portions were tiny, service was so slow, and more importantly, the food sucked! We were the only customers in the restaurant and they took 20 minutes to serve us our food? The green curry we ordered was bland, watery and had so few pieces of chicken that we had to literally dig for chicken underneath all the spices/vegetables.
This was the toufu with cashew nut that we ordered. It was pathetic and oily. The toufu was sliced so thinly and if I were to join them all up together, it probably formed one piece of taupok in Singapore. Rasoi restaurant was quite pricey compared to the others in Krabi. For 2 rice, 1 green curry chicken, 1 toufu with cashew nut, and 1 can of lemon tea = 360 baht.
Something D and I realised was that many of the restaurants at Aonang are a Indian restaurant serving both Thai and Indian cuisine. Also, another thing is that most of the Thai in Krabi are actually Muslim. So it's very difficult to find the famous Thai Basil Minced Pork!
Tip #4: Opt for pure Thai restaurants, not fusion.
After lunch, it was 3pm. Technically, D and I can still purchase tickets to the nearby Railay Beach. But because we were tired from the flight, we decided to head back to the hotel to rest. We woke up in time to catch the sunset at Aonang and wow, it was so beautiful. The photo below is unfiltered by the way ;)
Tip #5: Catch the sunset at Aonang.
Tip #6: Eat the local pancake in Aonang. Banana + Nutella is the best!
We saw many street stalls selling the famous Krabi pancake. Honestly, all the stalls taste about the same so just buy from any. After comparing the prices, the banana + nutella pancake should cost you around 40-50 baht. While there are many flavors to try from, I strongly recommend to go for the banana + nutella one. They are generous with the banana slices on top of this crispy bread which tastes quite like roti prata.
Day 2
There are many boat tours in Aonang offering you trips to Phi Phi Islands, Hong Islands, etc. However, most of the tours start at 830am which is too early for D and I. What's the point of coming for a holiday if we have to wake up as early as if we're going for work? Instead, we woke up at 10am and headed out for lunch.
Decided to try this local restaurant (not Indian-fusion) and it was decent and cheap. We ordered basil beef, moring glory, green curry chicken, 2 rice and 1 coconut shake (damn good!) all for 260 baht!
In my opinion, it's not a must-eat in Aonang because there are better options around. D and I felt that portions were small although it is cheap. But if you do come here, just go for their fruit shakes!
Headed to purchase longtail boat tickets to the nearby Railay beach. It cost 100 baht for one-way (8am-6pm) so a return trip will cost 200 baht per person. For boat rides after 6pm, it cost 150 baht for one-way. But be warned that the ride will only get choppier at night due to high tide!
Tip #7: Take a longtail boat ride as it is one of the local highlights in Krabi! I suggest to take it to nearby beaches only. Take the speed boat to further islands to save time :)
When you buy the return tickets, you'll be given two tickets. Red for going there, and blue for returning back to Aonang. Do keep them properly! Just approach the boat man, pass him your ticket, and he'll tell you to wait until the boat has 6 persons at minimum. We waited about 15 mins for the boat to fill up, and the journey took about 15 min to get to Railay Beach. In my opinion, Railay has nicer sand than Aonang and is perfect for a more private suntanning in my opinion.
From pancakes to drinks, everything at Railay Beach is more expensive. We had a pineapple shake and a coconut from a hotel resort and this cost us 240 baht! The banana + nutella pancake also cost 60 baht.
The good thing is that the hotel staff can't really tell who is from their resort. So D and I happily jumped into one of the pools there and nobody stopped us. The guard even turned on the jacuzzi for us to use haha.
D and I discussed about staying at Railay Beach in the future. Yes, the resorts there do look nicer and closer to a 'honeymoon getaway' in our opinion. That's because you see Starbucks and Macdonalds at Aonang which is really quite a turnoff for those who are looking for an authentic getaway from the city. But everything at Railay Beach is pricier and it is more inconvenient to get to the airport whereby you have to take a longtail boat to Aonang and then transfer to land transport.
After heading back to Aonang, we searched for dinner. This time, we chanced upon this restaurant called Massaman. It is located on the same side as Macdonalds and a 3 min walk away from Macdonalds in the opposite direction from the beach.
Tip #7: Eat at Massaman! Authentic, big portions, and cheap!
1 small singha beer (60 baht), 1 coconut shake, basil pork, dry beef curry, tom yam chicken, 2 rice = 420 baht.
It is really not expensive considering their huge portions and taking into account that I ordered beer! Each dish was only 90 baht and was good for 2-4 persons to share. Actually the 3 dishes we ordered felt more suitable for 3 persons but we finished it anyway cause it was so good! Good thing about eating at Massaman is that you can tailor the level of spiciness, the staff have very good service and understand english. It is also one of the few non-halal restaurants in the Aonang area.
Tip #8: Hire transport back to airport
During our private car hire from the airport, the driver asked if we'll like to hire the car for transport to airport on our day of departure. D and I figured that we might as well do it now to save us the hassle so we managed to negotiate to 500 baht. A pity that we don't have more people otherwise it'll be so cheap!
This is the end of my very long entry on Krabi. Hope you enjoyed it and that it was useful for you! :)
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