Fossil Shell Beach (Thai Su-san Hoi, literally "Seashell Graveyard"). Some 7 km west of Ao Nang, this mildly traplike tourist attraction has slates of compressed 40 million year old shellfish, which bear not a small resemblance to concrete. There's also a small grubby museum and a huge slew of gift shops. Entry is a steep 200 baht for foreigners - but only 20 baht for Thais. This Tourist Trap is simply not worth the 200 Baht you have to pay as tourists unless maybe if you are a geology student. As the official Krabi tourism website (rather honestly) states "most are either engrossed to [sic] this or totally indifferent".
Nopparat Thara Beach. Picturesque beach at the western tip of Ao Nang, zoned as a national park. During low tide you can walk up to some of the nearby craggy limestone islands. However ask the locals if it is 'jellyfish season' before plunging in if you are the only one getting ready to take a dip.
Rai Lay Beach. A nice beach near Ao Nang, which can only be reached via a longtail boat. It is actually part of the mainland, but is cut-off by the limestone hills. The beach is cleaner than the one at Ao Nang and Nopparat Thara, and there are some caves worth exploring. There are also hotels and resorts on the beach.
In the off season, it can be a drama to get here!
The longtails want B800, so they wait for the required number of passengers.
There are two companies who do this, one at the left end of the beach (facing the water) and the other some several hundred metres to the right. If you do not get a return day ticket you will have to return with the other company (the Writer could not quite work this one out, but sat a couple of hours with the other company until enough fares arrived).
In the off season, from May, there are few tourists and you may have to wait a long time to get the required number of passengers, or pay the B800 yourself! The Writer waited some two hours in each direction as at the end of May.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Ao Nang
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Ao Nang - updated May 2024
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Ao Nang Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
