UKH

Hi guys,

Just following on from this thread which is closed: https://www.ukhillwalking.com/forums/rock_talk/where_to_stay_in_krabitonsai_fo...

I'm back from my trip and quite a few places have closed on Tonsai (lot of ruins on the main street up from the beach). I stayed at Dream Valley and Tonsai bay resort and can recommend both. I don't recommend the Villas though - the deluxe types rooms in both are better. 

As for climbing, you can rent pretty much everything out there - draws, ropes, harnesses, and believe it or not, pads!

As for meeting climbing there, it should be pretty easy. You can meet up for climbers by the tonsai beach cafe every morning, and by basecamp shop every morning. 

As for food, there are a few mini shops on Tonsai which sell pretty much everything you could want such as food, toiletries and other stuff. You can have laundry done at Tonsai for 60 baht a kilo (shop nearest to tonsai beach resort) - it's next to the rock shop.

Note that you have to get a long boat to and from Tonsai beach as it's not connected to krabi town centre. The boat is 100 baht each way. 

If you want to do DWS the price was 1500 baht each if I remember correctly. And they only take you if there are between 4 and 8 people. They had to cancel a few trips due to not being enough people. 

Walking to Railay is possible over the jungle path all day. There is a higher path which avoids the water entirely, and a lower easier path which you can use at low tide. If you go at high tide then you'll have to end up wading through water at the railay end. 

Touristic nature of Tonsai/Railay/Krabi . All three are very touristy with Tonsai being the least, to Krabi being crazy touristic. Prices are also Crazy in all these areas due to it being touristic. A pack of peanuts (20g) was 60 baht in Krabi, but I took a local bus from Krabi to Krabi town (where the locals shop), and the same bag of peanuts there was 10baht! Same brand everything! So avoid the touristic places if you don't want to get ripped off. As for the bus, there are bus stops there but it's very confusing. To get to Krabi town you actually have to get the bus on the side going down towards the beach. It loops around and going into krabi that way.

Whilst my memory is fresh if anyone has any questions do let me know.

Btw, I didn't enjoy my experience so won't be back. I found the place far too touristy and the quality of the rock and climbing conditions weren't great. Tonsai is a climbing place for people who like the beach. In terms of quality of climbing, you can do far better in Europe I feel (El Chorro, Majorca, Sardinia, Kalymnos etc). It's a very far away place to go to climbing and not have good conditions. Also, it's a very very expensive place - food, accommodation, everything! Not worth the hassle imo!

Oh and on a final note, I talked to the locals and some tourists who come back every year and they told me that Tonsai was way less touristy and busy than pre covid. So numbers are picking up, but still quieter than before. Also, you can basically turn up and get accommodation anywhere. Lots of choice, lots of availability. Only place you might struggle is tinidee and tonsai bay resort - rest were taking walkins. 

In reply to climbingnoob

I’ve got my own room for 150 baht per night - you got to go hunting about for the ones that aren’t online. Yes the conditions aren’t ideal but it’s still pretty magical, some of the tidal crags are less polished, North Wall in Ao Nang mainland is incredible. Totally agree that European sport climbing is hard to beat, but the overall experience is totally different and incomparable imo. 
 

In reply to climbingnoob:

While there is a lot of very relevant and helpful advice in this thread i'd just note a few corrections (just came back from a month here in Dec/Jan so info should be in date). He's listed basically the two most expensive options for accommodation, as others have said there are massively cheaper options. With that in mind im not sure how how he thinks everything else is expensive either, meals are more expensive by about 10bht compared to mainland (25p) which makes sense as everything is brought in via boat. Snacks are expensive but with restaurant meals for the same price why are you buying peanuts?

As for the climbing, yes everything below about 6c is pretty polished but above that i didnt notice to much, and some of the longer multipitch routes (Lord of the Ties, Heart of Darkness, Ao Nang Tower) are some of the best sport multipitch i've ever climbed.

With that in mind if you do want to just climb Laos and the Philippines are probably a better destination but the Tonsai Vibe cannot be matched.

In reply to acrkirby:

Where in the Philippines do you recommend? 

In reply to climbingnoob:

I was just there too. I would also agree that its blazing hot and very humid, seems more so than other parts of Thailand and it doesnt seem to let up in the evening either. Tonsai bay resort went for around 1500b /night but if you got a late deal it could be had for 700b. It's the only place that has electricity all day if you need that.

As a solo (and timid) climber I thought it was tricky to meet other climbers, I managed but it wasn't a walk in the park. 

The best place to eat was legacy. It seemed to be the only place that cooked from fresh, cheap too. 

If you want to try granite sport climbing and bouldering head to koh tao. Very easy to meet climbers there I found. They also had a Friday climbers meet up. 

In reply to climbingnoob:

I loved tonsai years ago, but one of the main reasons I've not been back is that it used to have a persistent problem with sickness and disease, including yellow fever, much worse than anywhere else in Thailand.  Did you get sick while there or hear of stories of others getting sick?  Thinking about going back next winter with my young daughter but probably not if still a high risk of getting sick. 

Also how was the WIFI in the rooms, could you get a decent stable connection?

In reply to climbercool:

Last time I was there (about 6 years ago) they had built a huge wall that closed off the beach front and all land immediately behind it. Is the wall still there? Is Tonsai Bay Resort the new construction that has been put up within this wall?  

In reply to climbercool:

Nearly every climber I met got sick whilst there. Pretty contagious too, groups of friends would go down together inside a day. They were up and about after 2 days and climbing after 3. 

I didn't get sick but that's because I was sick a few weeks prior. I think it just regular travelers s and d. But as climbers only go to tonsai they thinks it's specific too the place. 

I don't think Thailand has yellow fever??

I'f you need reliable internet for work then your better off getting a SIM card with unlimited data at the airport. they are pretty cheap. Can't depend on WiFi there as there isnt 24hour electricity. 

In reply to Inhambane:

thanks for reply, hearing that I think I will give Tonsai a miss, really don't want to risk getting sick during a holiday and it sounds like tonsai still has a problem.

Yes I misremembered, it was dengue not yellow fever I was thinking of. 

In reply to climbercool:

Got to watch out for Tonsailitis 

In reply to climbingnoob:>

This was very much my experience when I visited Tonsai a few years ago. Not that great for climbing, and rather polluted; it felt spoilt. 

I also found it hard to meet other climbers and I’m not particularly shy. 

Glad it’s not just me who found it a bit underwhelming!

In reply to climbercool:

Hi,

sorry for the delay replying. I don’t frequent this forum. I fortunately did not get sick at all. I took huel with me and lived off that. I also took a once a day boat trip to krabi to eat at a restaurant called plantarian. I didn’t eat anything on tonsai due to my strict dietary restrictions. 
 

i did talk to a few people who got food poisoning but no one I encountered was properly ill with yellow fever and the like. 
 

wifi is excellent at tonsai bay resort (rooms and villas) It’s a bit patchy at dream valley though. Don’t know about other places. 
 

I hope you enjoy your trip out there more than I did if you go. 
 

best wishes

In reply to climbercool:

Wall is still there and an eyesore. New resort is called tinidee. 
 

edit: wanted to add for the benefit of others, in jan when i went there was an abundance of accommodation and you can pretty much turn up and find somewhere to stay. Yes there are lots of cheap places from the 100 baht to 1500baht a day range. I chose the two good ones as I wanted a bit of luxury. There are options for everyone’s budgets. New which people might not know is that base camp now have accommodation too. Few jungle villas i think they call it. Dream valley had a lot of spare rooms. Tonsai is pretty busy though so if you want to stay there book in advance. Rest of places had lots of places.

Also, note you’ll probably get a better price if you book in person out there. That’s whay I did for dream valley. The same room’s price was higher online when I checked whilst out there.

In reply to climbingnoob:

I can’t imagine there are any places almost on the equator surrounded by tropical rainforest that produce good climbing conditions!