Longtail boat ferry to Railay Beach East.

Longtail boat ferry to Railay Beach East.
Simple and Classic.

Longtail boat ferry to Railay East

Longtail transfer bus pick up.

All five of us were staying at the SeaBass hotel in Krabi town which is just out side the center and 150 meters back from the Krabi River. We booked the longtail transfer from Krabi to Railay Beach with Krabi Tourist services and were picked up by a minivan at reception.

Picturesque Krabi River

We drove down to the old pier and jumped out and boarded the large Longtail from a clean concrete line of steps. This is handy as the longtails on some islands are a pig to get into if there are no steps.

Getting on to the Longtail ferry boat

Leaving Krabi Pier

The Longtail boat driver rotated the propeller to face almost forward so we could reverse out. This isn't a very gainly move but the drive knew his work and we pulled away from the peer and were off out into the middle of the river heading for the estuary. 

Krabi is an old trading post on an old trading route that used to bring spices from the east coast of Thailand to the traders in the Indian Ocean. The old pier isn't much to look at but the deep water allowed the bigger ships in, even in low season, when the winds and seas are strong and high respectively.

12 meter mangroves of the Krabi River

The Krabi River winds it self down to the sea through an extensive and thick mangrove forest, a great place for bird watchers and nature lovers.

First glimpses of PhraNang mountains and cliffs

Still to this day, the southern side of the river is dominated by mangrove forests and this made for a magical ride out towards the sea. Only after 1-2 km you could start to see the myriad of limestone cliffs of PhrangNa.

As we turned out of the estuary, Railey beach could be seen as a thin slice of bright golden sand. As we headed towards #Railey the cliffs became taller and more impressive. Even though it was the dry season, some early rains had turned the mountainside a bright strong green, beautiful.

Views of Phranang from the Longtail Boat

Arriving at Railay West

Arriving at Railay East

We arrived at the main Railay East pier which was a very long floating pier. It was easy to get out of the longtail and walk straight onto the beach and then into the village. We hung out at Railay West for a bit but it was quite noisy there from all the boats coming in from Ao Nang. In the afternoon we went to Phranang beach (the place all the pictures are taken from) which was stunning and later in the day I climbed up to the Railay view point which was absolutely stunning.

Arriving at Railay East

PhraNang Cave Beach

Phranang Beach

Railay Viewpoint

Railay View Point

Sticker system

See below the sticker you get when you give your ticket to the bus man at the hotel. When you arrive at the pier, the sticker easily locates you so that the right Longtail to pick you up.

 Further pictures.

Railay Links and activities

Tour of Krabi by Speedboat
Seven Things To Do on a Seven Day Trip to Krabi
Krabi river tours
Railay Beach Sea Kayaking

Tigerline speedboat, Koh Phi Phi to Phuket. + Stickers explained.

Speedboat, Koh Phi Phi to Phuket.

The Tigerline speedboat drew into the #kohphiphi main pier and off loaded half a dozen tourist and their bags. We didn't get a chance to ask them how far they had come as it was our chance to board. The boat was pretty full as the speedboat left and it was quite noisy with the 3 x 250 hp's on the back, so we all settled into our traveller's 'zone out' mode. I glanced back as we left Tonsa Bay and saw the great plume of spray from the engines frame the mountains around Nui Bay cliffs.

Tigerline speedboat ferry arriving on Koh Phi Phi 

Transfer Sticker system on Phi Phi and Phuket. How it works.

Sticker used for transit

These transfer stickers get given to you when you hand in your ticket to agent at the Phi Phi pier. This sticker told the people at the Rasada Pier, Phuket, whether I had a private taxi or joined a group bus to Phuket Airport or to one of the many Phuket Beaches. So this was the onward transfer info. It made for quite a slick process when there were 20 different languages amongst us. This is the same system they use for the tours as well. 

The Phi Phi Pier 4 pm depart time was nearer 4.40 pm which was a bit confusing but when I understood the itinerary it was no wonder that the Tigerline speedboat gets delayed. The massive 3 x 250 horse power engines drives 45 people up from Li Pe island from 100 km further south from Koh PhiPhi. The #speedboat stopped in Trang, Koh Lanta, & suffers from weather, tide and issues of delays from the general public.

Settling in to our seats on the speedboat

Our esteemed Captain...a serious man.

The View of Tonsai & Nui Cliffs in the rear, framed: Koh Phi Phi

Nearing Rasada Pier Phuket

Reversing stern on, in Rasada Port, Phuket

I slept for the crossing from Phi Phi Don and in just under the hour we slowed to approach Rasada Pier the main ferry port in Phuket.

3 x 250hps !! speed.. but comes with noise.

Unloading the bags at the municipal Rasada Pier

Rasada Port with other ferries arriving.

At Rasada Pier I met my joint taxi minibus ride to Chalong at the end of a very comfortable speedboat trip.

Further articles on Koh Phi Phi Speedboats can be found here:Speedboat Ferry Phuket To Phi Phi Island

Private Speedboat transfers from Phuket to Phi Phi

Speedboat Hire On Phi Phi Island

Airport Transfer from Phuket Phi Phi

Phi Phi Pier

Boarding the speedboat ferry