Krabi Travel Forum

Hi i need your help me and my friends will go to ChiangMai from March 15-17 then leave Chiangmai on the 17th to go to Phuket airport. We want to know where is the best place to stay for a 3N/4D (March 17-20). We are confused if we will stay in one of the beaches in Phuket or in Krabi or in PhiPhi Island. What we want is a not so expensive hotel (about 3star) but a decent one and is near the beach that is not so crowded and the water is clear and the sand is powdery white and it has wide shoreline. I'm suggesting that we stay in Loh Dalum Bay area because i've read in some websites that it has good hotels and it has good view. One website describes Loh Dalum Bay as breathtakingly beautiful - almost totally enclosed, it has very shallow water that get gets warmed by the sun to almost the temperature of a warm bath! However, my other friend wants to stay in Krabi bec. she's thinking that staying in Loh Dalum maybe too quiet. My other friend wants to stay somewhere in Phang-Nga Bay. My other friend wants to stay in Patong Beach bec. she thinks it has a nice beach. Since we can't decide where to stay I need your advice.

We don't intend to just stay on the beach. Definitely we will go to James Bond Island, Maya Bay, Phi Phi Lei. We want to snorkel and at the same time go kayaking or canoeing. If we stay in PhiPhi Island like in Loh dalum are there tours there we can get easily if we want to go island hopping and stop for some snorkelling? Or it is better to stay in one of the Krabi beaches because it has nicer beach and we can already snorkel there anytime without getting a snorkel tour?

Do you suggest that we just stay in Krabi and just take an island tour to see the PhiPhi Island and nearby surroundings to snorkel and kayak or the other way around...we stay in PhiPhi Island and take a tour going to Krabi beaches to snorkel and kayak/canoe?

Sorry if i have so many questions. I would really appreciate any feedback that can help us decide where to stay so we can maximize our vacation.

Hi

I haven't been to Krabi but i have been to Phi Phi island and Phuket. In Phuket we stayed on Patong beach and really didn't like it. It was overun with tourist, everything was more expensive, the beach's sand area is large which is good but when we were there the water looked brown from all the grease. I think i might be a little fusy with beachs though because we have so many in Australia.
We loved Phi Phi island, night life isn't great there though. Snorkeling and diving is the best there though. I would recommend Phi Phi over Phuket.
Maybe Krabi would be best for all of you though. A happy medium

Have a good time!

Krabi is not bad but if you are looking for white powder beaches you need to go a lot further south. Krabi was nice and fun but the beaches were disappointing. You can get to some decent beaches on the islands near Krabi such as Chicken Isl but Krabi itself sits in an estauary which makes the water cloudier, not to mention that during low tide there is virtually 100's of feet of beach exposed. Patong isn't bad but the have a tendancy to be a bit more crowded than what we liked, even thought the waters are usually nice, warm and calm unless you go during a full moon, then the water is a bit rougher. Patong is busier as well many more clubs and business catering to the single and single guy crowd. Phi phi has great beaches and you can hire boats for snorkeling tours, not sure about the night life on PP. Hope that helped