By shared speedboat the journey from Koh Yao Yai to Ao Nang is scheduled to take from 40 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes depending upon which service you take.
Ferry Timetable from Koh Yao Yai to Ao Nang
Click on the Koh Yao Yai – Ao Nang link in the timetable below for more information and to buy tickets.
| Koh Yao Yai - Ao Nang ฿ 650–720 40m – 1h 30m | |
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| Koh Yao Yai - Railay ฿ 650–840 1h – 1h 30m | |
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| Koh Yao Yai - Railay ฿ 1,955 40m | |
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| Koh Yao Noi - Ao Nang ฿ 13,200 40m | |
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Koh Yao Noi Ferry Pier
Most of the shared speedboat services from Koh Yao Yai to Ao Nang depart from Klong Hia Pier.
Ao Nang Ferry Pier
Most of the shared speedboat services from Koh Yao Yai to Ao Nang terminate at Nopparat Thara Pier.
About Travel to Ao Nang
Ao Nang is a coastal town located 18 km by road from Krabi Town, the provincial capital, which attracts around 2 million leisure visitors a year. Ao Nang has a very well developed tourist infrastructure and convenient transport links which, in combination with two great beaches, makes it an ideal destination for visitors on short vacations in Thailand.
Tourist Attractions in Ao Nang
Ao Nang is a small town with around 15,000 permanent residents which is very much focused on catering to tourists as the principal industry. Pretty much everything in Ao Nang has been developed with tourists in mind and the town has no significant cultural attractions. What it does have, however, is lots of bars and restaurants, several man made tourist attractions such as a Muay Thai stadium and an elephant centre, and two good swimming beaches.
Krabi Province as a whole, however, has plenty of points of interest for visitors which can be easily reached on day trips from Ao Nang. Some of the attractions in the area, such as those in Krabi Town or Railay, are accessible via inexpensive local transport. Others, such as the nearby islands, can only be reached by taking more expensive organised tours.
Accommodation and Food in Ao Nang
The range of places to stay and places to eat in Ao Nang is extensive, and this is a major reason for the town’s popularity as a tourist destination.
Ao Nang has over 200 hotels, guesthouses, hostels, and resorts to choose from, alongside several hundred other short term letting accommodation available online. Overall, accommodation in Ao Nang is better value for money than most of the popular island destinations elsewhere in Thailand. Backpacker accommodation in shared dormitories in hostels in Ao Nang. such as Slumber Party Krabi and KOKO Party Hostel 18 – 40, costs as little as 200 THB a night. The best resorts in Ao Nang are also relatively cheap compared to some of Thailand’s other beach side destinations. Rooms at the luxurious Centara Ao Nang Beach Resort & Spa Krabi start from as little as 6,000 THB a night.
The range of restaurants and other eateries in Ao Nang is equally extensive with almost every type of cuisine widely available, except for inexpensive local Thai food. Ao Nang has Western fast food outlets such as Burger King, several Western style sports bars on the sea front road, a notably good range of Indian restaurants, several Thai fine dining establishments, and a wide range of other types of restaurants and cafes.
View to the south on Ao Nang BeachDay Trips from Ao Nang
There are lots of different day long excursions you can take from Ao Nang. Boat trips around Phang Nga Bay are popular as are speedboat trips to Koh Phi Phi Leh to visit Maya Bay and Phi Ley Bay. The most popular places to visit, however, are all much closer to Ao Nang and much less costly to visit. The three most popular places to visit on day trips from Ao Nang are Railay, Krabi Town, and Tiger Cave Temple.
Railay
Railay is a peninsula which is very close to Ao Nang. You can see the sea cliffs separating Railay from the rest of Krabi Province from Ao Nang Beach. Reaching Railay, however, involves either a long walk along very steep jungle paths or a boat trip because the peninsula is inaccessible by road due to the hilly terrain. The trip from Ao Nang to Railay costs only 100 THB a person each way in a shared wooden boat departing directly from the beach, and lots of people staying in Ao Nang visit Railay as a consequence.
Railay has 4 beaches, 3 of which you can easily walk between. As well as having a pleasant island-like atmosphere, the geography of the peninsula is spectacular including cliffs which are popular with climbers. The main beach in Railay is also nicer than Ao Nang Beach or the other long beach near Ao Nang, Noppharat Thara Beach.
Krabi Town
You can travel from Ao Nang to Krabi Town for only 50 THB a person in one of the frequent white shared taxi services which cruise along the beach road in Ao Nang looking for passengers. The journey takes only 30 minutes.
Krabi Town is much less developed as a tourist destination than Ao Nang. The town has no beach so it’s not so popular with tourists as a place to stay overnight. Krabi Town is, however, picturesque with lots of points of interest for visitors. The focal point of the town is the riverside area which has been transformed into a park, with a popular food night market located in the park close to the river.
Beyond the riverside area, Krabi Town is also notable for other lively markets. In particular the town’s morning market, Maharaj Market, is a fascinating place to visit. Maharaj Market is the largest fresh food market in Southern Thailand and probably the best place to go to see the full range of the produce grown or caught in the south of Thailand, as well as to taste lots of different authentic local dishes in the market’s busy food hall.
Tiger Cave Temple
Located 8 km by road to the north of Krabi Town, Tiger Cave Temple is the only one of the three popular day trip destinations for which you need to hire a taxi, or perhaps rent a motorbike, to visit. To reduce the cost, one option would be to travel to Krabi Town by shared taxi and then to take a taxi from there.
Tiger Cave Temple, known locally as Wat Tham Suea, is an unusual functioning Buddhist temple that attracts lots of visitors. The first thing that’s unusual about the temple is that it has a hill top shrine which you need to climb over 1,200 steps to reach. The view from the shrine is stunning and its the main reason most visitors come to the temple.
Another unusual feature of Wat Tham Suea is the series of caves at the temple. The caves have been used for centuries as mediation retreats by Buddhist monks and they feature a series of shrines. The name of the temple comes from a legend that a tiger once lived in these caves.