Krabi viewpoints, from the easiest to the hardest

Most of Krabi's viewpoints are on limestone, and limestone means steps, ropes or a steep forest path. None of them is a stroll, and the hardest are serious enough that people have been hurt or have died on them. The difference between them is less the height than the footing, the heat and how far you are from help.

Below, six places in order of effort, from the easiest to the hardest, then a word on Khao Phanom Bencha, the highest summit in the province, which is a different kind of undertaking. For each one: how you get there, what the climb is like, when to go, and who should not try it.

The short answer

If you want a view without a real climb, take a longtail to Khao Khanap Nam in Krabi Town, or climb the staircase on Koh Hong during a Hong Islands day. If you are fit and the day is dry, the Phi Phi viewpoint and the Tiger Cave Temple are long staircases, hard in the heat but not technical. The Railay viewpoint is short but steep, on ropes and mud, and Dragon Crest is a proper hike that takes most of a day.

Whatever you choose, the same three rules apply: go early, carry water, and do not climb on wet rock or mud.

The six viewpoints at a glance

From the easiest to the hardest. The effort is the one our sources describe; your own will depend on the heat, your knees and the day.

Easy: Khao Khanap Nam and the Koh Hong staircase

Khao Khanap Nam. Two limestone towers, each around 100 metres high, face each other across the Krabi River, and they are the image that stands for Krabi Town. You see them best from the water: a longtail leaves from the Chao Fah pier or the riverside near the Black Crab monument, and a staircase climbs from the landing to a cave with stalactites. Agree the price of the boat before you leave, since it is usually per boat and negotiable. It suits anyone who can manage stairs, and it fits easily into a stay in Krabi Town.

The Koh Hong viewpoint. A metal staircase of about 400 steps (one count gives 419) climbs to the top of Koh Hong, with a view in every direction over the Hong Islands. You can only reach it during a stop on the island, and not every tour leaves time for it: one of the Hong Islands days we list offers the viewpoint or kayaking, which reads as one or the other. There is no shade on the way up or at the top, so take water and a hat, and skip it if stairs or heat are a problem for you.

Khao Khanap Nam by longtail, from Krabi Town

Hong Islands by speedboat: the viewpoint or the kayak

Moderate: the Phi Phi viewpoint

On Phi Phi Don, a stepped trail climbs from Ton Sai village to three numbered viewpoints. Viewpoint 2, above Ton Sai and Loh Dalum, is the one most people mean by the Phi Phi viewpoint; travel guides put it about 30 to 45 minutes from the village. Viewpoint 3 is further up and quieter, because most people turn back after the second.

The catch is getting there. The day tours we list do not climb it: you need to be on Phi Phi Don, which in practice means a night on the island. The fee is paid in cash on the trail, and the amounts quoted differ from one source to another, so carry small notes. The platform at Viewpoint 2 is small and crowded at sunset; guides describe the early morning as much calmer, and cooler for the climb.

Phi Phi from Krabi: a day tour or a night on the island

Hard: the Tiger Cave Temple staircase

Wat Tham Suea, northeast of Krabi Town, is a working monastery with a staircase of well over a thousand steps to a summit shrine. Sources disagree on the exact number, from 1,237 to 1,272. Entry is free; the temple asks for covered shoulders and knees. Macaques live along the lower steps: keep food and bottles out of sight.

It is not technical, but it is steep and in the open, and the heat is the real difficulty. Two people died during the climb in March 2026. Start at first light or in the late afternoon, avoid the hours between 10am and 3pm, and turn back if you feel unwell. Travel writers give half an hour to an hour for the climb.

Tiger Cave Temple: the climb, the rules, the monks

Hard and technical: the Railay viewpoint

On the Railay peninsula, a trail leaves the walkway from Railay East towards Phra Nang Beach and goes straight up a wall of red mud, with ropes. Above the first section it splits: one way to the viewpoint over Railay, the other down a near-vertical wall to the Sa Phra Nang lagoon. The climb is short, but it is the most technical of the six, and accidents happen: in March 2018 a visitor who fell on the way down to the lagoon broke a leg, and the rescue took about five hours.

Go only in dry weather, in shoes with grip and with your hands free. Skip it with young children, if you are unsure on steep ground, after rain, in the rainy season or after dark. If the first section felt hard, stop at the viewpoint and leave the lagoon.

Before you try the Railay viewpoint trail

The hardest: Dragon Crest

Dragon Crest, Khao Ngorn Nak in Thai, starts at the end of the road at Tubkaek. The trail runs about 3.7 km to the top and back down the same way, gaining close to 500 metres through forest, with roots, worn wooden steps and ropes on the steep parts. Guides allow 4 to 6 hours there and back. You sign in at the ranger post on the way up and out on the way down, and the last entry is early, around 2pm by guides' accounts: check it at the post.

Start early, carry about two litres of water each, and be down well before dark. In heavy rain the trail turns into a stream, and the summit is exposed to lightning. Guides advise against it for children under about ten and for anyone with heart trouble or weak knees. The rock overhang in the famous photos has been fenced off, according to two recent guides.

Dragon Crest: the hike, the ranger post and the rain

Khao Phanom Bencha, and when to go

Khao Phanom Bencha, north of Krabi Town, is the highest point in the province, at 1,397 metres. It is not on the list above because it is not a casual day out: both guides we read say you need a ranger guide to climb it, arranged with the national park. One local site reports that rockslides after heavy rain blocked the trail, without a date. Ask the park before you plan anything.

For all the others, the dry season, from about November to April, is the time: in the southwest monsoon, from about May to October, mud, wet rock and storms make every trail harder, and the Railay and Dragon Crest trails become a bad idea. Whatever the month, climb in the early morning, when it is cooler and quieter, and keep out of the sun in the middle of the day.

The best time to visit Krabi, month by month

Where to watch the sunset in Krabi