The Web's Best Guide to Thai Rock Climbing
Introduction
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Click here for deep water soloing. |
| Click here for bouldering |
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Rock climbing in southern Thailand offers routes of world
class quality for both beginners and expert climbers. Climbers
of all abilities will have an unbelievable time! |
The rock climbing, from single- to multi-pitch
routes, is mostly right off the beach. Climbers can also climb
on islands scattered throughout Phra Nang bay which are not included
in any guide book.
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After a day of climbing, you can stroll
to your resort pool or the beach for a dip, then perhaps get a
relaxation or sports massage. We at Andaman Adventures offer expert
guidance to select the most appropriate destinations, crags and routes for your ability.
Image: King Climbers
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Why ?
Railay has become significantly more expensive as it
becomes more family-oriented. Tonsai now suffers from serious environmental problems. Railay and Tonsai are close to 100% occupancy
rates during high season, resulting in high prices and pollution. Mid-
and low price-range resorts are being replaced by luxury resorts,
resulting in very bad value for money, both for accommodation and food. |
We recommend that when climbers climb Railay/Tonsai,
they take a short boat-ride and stay in Ao Nang. Railay/Tonsai still has the most amazing climbing in Thailand and should
not be missed, the problems there are to do with the accommodation and
restaurants, not the crags, which are as superb as ever.
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The last few years have seen some amazing new development in climbing
in Thailand.
In addition to the unmissable climbing on Railay/Tonsai, three places have emerged as prime destinations
for climbers and non-climbers alike: Koh
Lao Liang, Koh
Yao Noi and Koh
Phi Phi
Image: King Climbers |
Beginners
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Whilst superb for experienced climbers, Koh Yao Noi and Koh Lao Liang aren't the best places to learn to climb, as they don't have many easy routes. Koh Phi Phi has lots of great easy routes, making it ideal for beginners, but is not a great destination anymore. Click here for the reasons why. Unless you want to party hard and don't mind lots of night-time noise, we reccommend you learn to climb on Railay, which is a good and economical place to do so.
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During high season lots of other people will be doing the same thing. Unfortunately most of the Railay climbing shops take their beginners to the same place, the 1-2-3 crag. In high season this is inundated with over a dozen guides all shouting at different customers. Nobody knows who's shouting at who, so guides can't communicate with their learners. It's still safe, but not a quality learning experience. 1-2-3 is the easiest crag to get to, so that's where almost everybody goes.
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If you book with us, we'll subcontract your order to Ao Nang's Mister Climber shop. They have been in operation for three years now and are still trying hard, so will take you to other, less crowded crags than 1-2-3. You can book direct on +66 836910009, or through this site - we charge the same rates as Mr Climber does direct, and the same as all the other shops too, see the Railay-Tonsai climbing page for prices. |
Too many climbers are disappointed by being part of a large group sharing the services of a single guide. It is not unusual here for 6 climbers to share a single guide and rope. We at Andaman Adventures promise to maintain a maximum customer to guide ratio of 3:1. No other company in Thailand, to our knowledge, promises this.
Experienced Climbers
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If you can lead and have your own gear, you don't need any help in high season - if you're coming solo, its easy to find a partner (but be careful who you choose, as your partner poses the greatest danger to your safety).
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| If you're coming in low season you may find it difficult to find a partner on Railay/Tonsai or Phi Phi. Lao Liang will be closed, and you'll almost certainly not be able to find a partner on Koh Yao Noi. Contact us for a guide price - if all you need is showing round, rather than a rope-gun, we can give you an especially good price. |
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Rock Climbing Destination Guides
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For climbing information on the southern Thailand destinations, click on the destinations in the map below. |
Stop Press - We at Andaman Adventures are currently developing the 200 sq km of mainland north of Ao Nang as a new climbing destination. The potential is phenomenal - there are dozens of prime, pristine and unexplored crags. Up till now, climbers have gone straight to Railay/Tonsai, bypassing the Krabi mainland crags. Now that Railay is so busy in high season, it makes sense to start developing the mainland climbing. |
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We are currently developing three new crags, as follows:
New Ao Nang crags
- Spirit Mountain (will rival Railay's Thaiwand Wall and Koh Yao Noi's Mitt Wall as the best crag in Thailand)
- Bedroom Wall (stupendous views, amazing caverns and maybe Thailand's most impressive stalagmite)
- Bon Voyage Wall (hard tufa-based routes)
If you are interested in helping with route-setting on these or other brand-new crags, on a no-fee basis, please contact us. |
Rock Climbing Route Database
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We have added all the climbing routes in southern Thailand into a routes database. |
| Click on a destination to see a crags and route database for that destination. |
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Destination - General Guides
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This section gives non-climbing, general information about the climbing destinations. |
| Click on a destination for general information about that destination. |
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Resorts
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We can offer you excellent rates on Railay/Tonsai resorts, but we don't recommend you stay there, due to the bad value, food poisoning and pollution. We recommend that you stay in nearby Ao Nang instead, which offers way better hygiene and value for money.
We can also offer competitive rates on Koh Yao Noi, Koh Phi Phi and especially on Koh Lao Liang, where we believe we currently offer the web's cheapest prices. |
During low season it's not necessary to book in advance. In high season you can still find somewhere to stay without booking, but all the best places will be full. You may have to trek around for hours with a full pack to find a room, which will often be one of the least desirable and worst value ones at the destination.
We don't only offer expensive rooms, we also have budget rooms available. |
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We can often book a room for you cheaper than you can do it yourself, and we guarantee that it will never be more expensive. If you book through us and later find you could have booked cheaper elsewhere, we'll refund the difference. We earn our income from the commissions that hotels pay us, not from our customers, so our advice and booking services are free to you. In addition to being able to book you rooms in most destinations, we can also take care of all of your transport, day-trip and transfer needs. |
Safety
Click here for our safety advice
12-Night Package
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"Hi, I'm Fon. I'm the Marketing Director of the company and a keen climber. In addition to offering guiding and equipment rental services at these climbing destinations, we combine them into a two-week climbing holiday itinerary, ensuring that you get not just the best rock climbing holiday in one area of Thailand, but the best rock climbing holiday throughout the whole of Thailand.
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No other Thai company offers such a multiple-destination climbing holiday itinerary. Why climb just one bit of Thailand, when with us you can climb the best sites in the entire country ? Click here for a 2-week holiday itinerary."
We've kept the price way down by choosing budget resorts and assuming that you can lead and that you have all your own gear. |
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Climb Thailand - Magazine Articles
Click here for our Thailand climbing e-zine.
Click here for a base jumping article. Click here for an article on climbing the Thaiwand Wall, Railay, possibly the finest tropical crag in the world. Click here for a magazine article on Thailand rock climbing safety and accidents. The bravest climbers in Thailand are the Thai guys who scale rock-faces with primitive equipment to harvest birds' nests. Click here for an article on the bird's nest collector climbers of Thailand's Andaman coast. Click here for a magazine article about a rock-climbing sea safari trip to Koh Yao Noi.
Rock Climbing Thailand Photo Gallery
Image: King Climbers
Andaman Adventures - island-hopping, climbing, diving, fishing and kayaking trips to Thailand's best beach destinations: Ko (Koh) Lao Liang Island, Ao Nang, Railay, Tonsai, Koh Yao Noi
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Thailand Climbing - Hotel Reservations
Click here for hotel reservations in Thailand
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