Ferry times from Koh Yao Noi to Ao Nang

By shared speedboat the journey from Koh Yao Noi to Ao Nang is scheduled to take from 30 to 40 minutes depending upon which service you take.

Ferry Timetable from Koh Yao Noi to Ao Nang

Click on the Koh Yao Noi – Ao Nang link in the timetable below for more information and to buy tickets.

Koh Yao Noi Ferry Pier

Services from Koh Yao Noi to Ao Nang depart from Manoh Pier on the south coast of Koh Yao Noi.

Ao Nang Ferry Pier

Services from Koh Yao Noi to Ao Nang arrive at Nopparat Thara Pier.

About Travel to Ao Nang

Ao Nang is the most popular tourist destination in mainland Krabi Province. It’s a great place for holidaymakers to come for 1 to 2 week holidays for a number of reasons. Firstly, it’s very close (26 km) from an airport with inexpensive flight connections to Bangkok. Secondly, it’s got two swimming beaches. Thirdly, the town and beachfront area has lots of hotels, bars, and restaurants. Ao Nang is, however, less popular with independent travellers seeking more of a cultural experience.

Tourism in Ao Nang

Krabi Province as a whole receives around 6 million leisure visitors a year, and according to various estimates around 2 million of those go to Ao Nang during their visit. A similar number of people visit Koh Phi Phi each year. For a town with a population of around 15,000 the number of tourists visiting Ao Nang is significant, and the town and main beach in particular can get very busy during the Christmas period, January, and at Easter time. Only when the weather turns worse, from May to October each year, does Ao Nang really quieten down.

Hotels in Ao Nang

There are over 200 hotels, guesthouses, and resorts available in Ao Nang, most of which can be booked online. Ao Nang also has several hundred apartments and houses available for short term let which can offer great value for money although standards of the accommodation vary and as does adherence to regulations relating to fire safety.

The cheapest places to stay in Ao Nang are hostels focused on catering to younger visitors, such as Slumber Party Krabi, where a bed in a shared dormitory can cost as little as 200 THB a night. At the other end of the scale Ao Nang has several larger branded luxury beachfront resorts, for example Centara Ao Nang Beach Resort & Spa Krabi, where rooms can cost 6,000 THB or more a night which is relatively expensive but cheaper than similar properties in island locations such as Thong Nai Pan in Koh Phangan.

Nightlife in Ao Nang

Ao Nang’s nightlife is another reason why the town is popular with holiday makers. There are lots of different types of places to go out in the evening, for both food and drink.

In terms of restaurants, the range of different dining experiences and types of cuisine is extensive. Ao Nang has chain restaurants, such as Burger King, large sports bars serving Western cuisine, lots of South Asian food restaurants, and several fine dining Thai restaurants, such as Ton Ma Yom Thai Food Restaurant and The Hilltop.

For more late night entertainment Ao Nang also has lots of different types of bars, ranging from the smaller Thai style bars with hostesses similar to ones you find near the Lower Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok, to themed Western style bars with pool tables and large TV screens. Live music is also available at establishments such as the excellent Big SKA Bar located opposite the Aree Tara Ao Nang Krabi.

Beaches in Ao Nang

There are two beaches, one in Ao Nang itself and another which starts close to where the town centre beach ends.

The most popular of the two beaches is the town centre beach, known simply as Ao Nang Beach. Ao Nang Beach is 1.4 km long, not very wide, and backed by a busy shopping street. The beach itself is very nice, with white sand, and suitable for swimming. It gets crowded however, and this is exacerbated by the large number of wooden tour boat operating from the end of the beach closest to the town centre.

When Ao Nang Beach gets simply too crowded, visitors can walk a short distance (400 metres) from the western end of Ao Nang Beach to reach Noppharat Thara Beach. Noppharat Thara Beach is 1.5 km long and very wide in places. At the far eastern end of the beach is a national park area with a very cheap campsite, and several ferry piers including Nopparat Thara Pier which is the arrival point for ferry and speedboat services from Koh Yao Noi.

Places to Visit in Ao Nang

Ao Nang has a Thai boxing arena, an elephant centre, and a place where dangerous snakes are used in shows to entertain tourists. Other than that there is little in terms of visitor attractions in Ao Nang, however, there are interesting places to visit nearby in Krabi Province that you can easily reach from Ao Nang on a day trip.

Many visitors to Ao Nang will visit Railay. Railay is a peninsula immediately to the south east of Ao Nang Beach with 4 beaches and spectacular scenery. From Ao Nang beach you can see the large sea cliff separating Ao Nang from Railay. Because of the peninsula’s hilly geography you can’t reach Railay by road. The wooden boat operators on Ao Nang, however, will take visitors to Railay for 100 THB per person in a shared boat.

The other major visitor attractions in the area are the markets and riverfront area in Krabi Town (15 km by road from Ao Nang) and Tiger Cave Temple (21 km by road from Ao Nang).

Krabi Town has no beach and it’s less focused on tourism than Ao Nang. Nonetheless, there is actually more to see and do there than in Ao Nang. The town’s morning market is the largest fresh food market in Southern Thailand and it’s a great place to see what is grown and caught in the area, as well to eat in the market’s massive food court. The evening markets are also popular, particularly the food market by the river and the weekend Walking Street market.

Tiger Cave Temple, also known as Wat Tham Suea, is very popular. The temple has a hill top shrine with excellent views, a series of caves, and some spectacular buildings and statues. The temple has been developed over the years to attract tourists and donations, nonetheless, it’s still very much a temple rather simply a tourist destination.