Welcome to Tonsai Beach

We made it to Tonsai Beach! Hurrah! Our taxi arrived and was the expected price. We made it to the pier and found the correct ferry, Ao Nang Princess, easily. Passengers on our ferry were headed to Ao Nang, Railay, or Krabi and everyone was given stickers to identify for the crew where they were going. When we checked in and said we were going to Tonsai Beach, the service representatives changed our destination and sticker from Ao Nang to Railay. We were told we could walk from Railay to Tonsai instead of taking a longboat from Ao Nang to Tonsai, thus saving us money. It seemed sensible. We just went with it.

We were told to arrive to the ferry early, so we arrived around 7:45 am. But it really didn’t seem necessary when the ferry left later than its intended 8:30 am departure. Despite leaving a bit late, we made good time. On the way across the Andaman Sea we saw several other boats as well as many islands with jungle vegetation and cliff shores. It was quite beautiful. There was some confusion about which port we were stopping at first. As it turned out, we stopped in Railay East Bay first. At this stop all the Krabi passengers were shuttled onto a speedboat to continue on to Krabi. Railay passengers (including us) were herded onto a longboat to get through the shallow bay to the shore. The ferry then continued on with the remaining passengers to Ao Nang. Our longboat pulled up to a floating dock and we alighted into Railay East with all our baggage.

The Phuket Rassada Pier with one of multiple ferries

Inside of our ferry

We were allowed to walk along the outside deck of the ferry at our own risk 

Some of the beautiful cliff scenery on the way across the Andaman Sea

More little uninhabited rock islands

Disembarking the ferry to the longboat

Our longboat approaching Railay East

Floating dock at Railay East

We and our fellow passengers then began the confusing process of figuring out where we were and how to get to our destinations. Most people had already booked a resort in either Railay East or West. One other couple was staying in Tonsai. We walked with them along a paved path less than 1 km from Railay East to Railay West. From previous research I knew we could walk to from Railay West Beach to Tonsai Beach when it was low tide. Well, it wasn’t low tide. The couple we were with negotiated with a longboat on this beach to reach Tonsai for just 100 baht (or $3 USD) per couple. We waded out to the longboat and then when we alighted waded out again onto Tonsai Beach. Yay! The beach is sandwiched between beautiful cliffs with stunning stalactite formations and verdant jungle vegetation. With the sun shining brightly the colors were quite pretty.

We then began the hot, sweaty process of finding a cheap bungalow to stay in. All the way up the gravel road there was litter and ditches of gray water. Definitely not as nice or well kept as Railay. We followed the road to a gap in a large cement wall which we walked thru and were greeted with the jungle town of Tonsai. The first thing we noticed with Basecamp Tonsai, which we knew was a main climbing outfitter in the area. Past Basecamp the road forked with one path following the wall and another path heading uphill deeper into the jungle. We headed uphill because I had heard that bungalows were cheaper the further you got from town. As we headed uphill the price of bungalows went from 500 baht per night to 200 baht per night as we got further. Surprisingly there were no discounts for longer stays; just paying per night was expected. 

Brandon stayed with the bags while I scoped out a few places and ended up securing a bungalow for 200 baht (less than $6 USD) per night. The bungalow was wood and on stilts on the hillside. You could see the ground far below thru the slats of the wood floor. But, there were no gaping holes in the bungalow like we saw in other bungalows. The room consisted of a bed with mosquito netting, a wall mount fan, and a small wooden table leaving minimal walking space. A cement bathroom was attached with a toilet, shower head, and tap with a bucket underneath to act as a sink. When taking a shower, water just ran across the slanted bathroom floor to a hole in the floor. This bungalow had a door between the main room and bathroom rather than just a curtain, which was nice. It seemed that our bungalow was pretty standard. Electricity is only available on Tonsai from about 6 pm to 6 am, so we could not use the fan til later.

Thai man showing us a bungalow with a monkey on his back

Our small hillside bungalow with mosquito netting around the bed

We then headed back downhill to find some food and check out the climbing shop. We stopped at Mama’s Chicken for lunch on the way down. I had read good things about Mama’s Chicken on several blogs. There we met and talked with Emile and Ellen, a Belgian couple, as we ate a delicious chicken sandwich and green coconut curry vegetable soup with rice. Delicious.

Emile and Ellen joined us as we checked out some mini marts on the way to Basecamp. At Basecamp we scouted out prices for guided climbing, deep water solo, climbing books, and ropes. After converting our Yosemite climbing scale into the French scale that is used in Tonsai and that Emile and Ellen were familiar with we realized we were all at around a similar level of climbing. We discussed climbing together as we all noticed it would be cheaper to climb independently rather than with a guide. Emile and Ellen would buy the climbing book and we would buy the rope, since we want one anyway for climbing around Chiang Mai later. Before actually buying anything we decided to check out the routes first and make sure there were some that looked do-able for our skill level.

Emile and Ellen went on the beach toward Railay to check out climbing there and we went along the road with the wall toward another climbing area. As a sidenote, we later learned the wall was put up by someone in Bangkok who had bought a large portion of land on Tonsai Beach and wanted to build an upscale resort separate from the more rustic town. Construction is stalled at this point which we hear is because of protests from the Tonsai locals, but who knows for sure. Along the way the road turned to cement and then back to gravel as we got closer to the opposite end of the beach and climbing area. There were many more restaurants, bungalows, and mini marts along the way. Tide was low so we were able walk out to the climbing areas. We were looking for Eagle wall as that was supposed to have some easier climbs. Along the way we saw some climbers doing a harder stalactite climb and with questioning they directed us toward Eagle wall. We came across another beach area and took a path into the jungle to find the wall in a clearing. During our trek we saw what we would call “real jungle”. It looked like a set out of Jurassic World. Seriously. Sans dinosaurs of course. Eerily beautiful.

We were less enthused about the climbing. Eagle Wall (assuming it really was Eagle Wall, it might have actually been the Lord of the Flies Wall) was not very tall and did not have interesting features. And, we were being eaten alive by mosquitoes. Walls with more interesting features were of a more intimidating grade and often had rope loops to clip into rather than metal bolts, which seemed precarious to us. We walked back on the beach with less certainty of independent climbing and found a place to sit and enjoy the breeze.

The wall which has graffiti artwork and feisty remarks

Real life (Jurassic Park-esque) Jungle 

When it looked like a huge storm was approaching, we returned to our bungalow. Sure enough, the downpour came and we enjoyed it from our bungalow porch. When the rain stopped, we showered and played some Hanabi contentedly until we noticed we had ants in our bed. Gross. They were climbing along to bungalow wall through the worn mosquito netting and onto the bed. We moved the bed away from any walls removed the ants and re-secured the netting.  We consoled ourselves by heading back to Mama’s Chicken for dinner. Again, we were not disappointed. Brandon had chicken Pad Thai and I had a Thai pancake which turned out to be like a crepe filled with cheese, onion, and tomato.

Waiting out the rain on our bungalow porch

Pad Thai and Thai Pancake

We then headed down to Basecamp to meet up with Emile and Ellen and compare notes. Emile and Ellen were more enthusiastic and confident about what they had seen than us. We suggested doing deep water solo the next day instead of jumping into buying a rope and book. This would give us a chance to see what the rating system was like and better determine our skill level in the area. Plus between the climbing we had seen and the ants in our bed we were not sure that we would be staying in Tonsai for long. They willingly agreed and we signed up for the deep water solo excursion the next day.

We returned to our bungalow crossing our fingers that we would not find ants in the bed. Thankfully we did not. The electricity was on and fans were working, so we happily fell asleep. Until the fan went off at 2 am and Brandon discovered he was being bitten by ants at least twice in the night. Not cool. Very exhausting.

We decided we had to find a new bungalow, but we had to leave for deep water solo in the morning and did not have time to deal with it beforehand. We hoped deep water solo was going to make for a good day and turn around our Tonsai experience!

***Note this was written about events on October 25th. We did not have internet access to post this on the actual date.