Diving & Snorkeling
Krabi offers a great opportunity for diving due to its numerous natural marine resources including over a hundred offshore islands. Dive shops around Rai Le and Ao Nang provide dive trips as well as rent diving and snorkeling gear such as mask/snorkel/fin.
The advantage of diving from Ao Nang is the nearby sites in the Poda Island group, where water visibility is better than that of the mainland, but not as good as Phi Phi. There are 15 dive sites off of Ao Nang, all reachable with a 20 to 60-minute boat ride. For experienced divers there is a 50-meter long cave at 5-12 meters depth at Yawabon Island behind Poda. The water visibility is at its best from November to April. Some Ao Nang dive shops close during low season, May to October, while some (Ao Nang Divers for instance) remain open all year long. Two local dives in the Poda/Yawasam group cost approximately 1,900 baht. Four-day PADI open water courses have risen to 10,000 baht. For more information contact either Seafan, Aquavision, Poseidon, Phra Nang, Stingray, Ao Nang Divers (in Krabi Seaview), or Coral Diving (Krabi Resort). Unlike Phi Phi, scuba dive operators in Ao Nang close from May to October.
Dive Site - Directly off Ao Nang Bay there are two islands. Koh Podah Nai and Nok, most of the diving is concentrated around these. All the local diving, which is relatively shallow, can be reached in an average of 45 min by Longtail boat or in around 20 min by the larger dive boats.
Rock Climbing
Apart from marine sports, Krabi is also an ideal place for rock climbing. Lines of sheer limestone cliffs along Tham Phranang and Rai Le beaches have challenged thousands of climbers from all over the world every year. The levels of difficulty of the various routes vary, so even the most inexperienced climbers can experiment. Equipment, instruction and guides are available at most lodgings.
