Life can get pretty hectic sometimes. Luckily, I can now recommend to you a great travel destination where you can completely relax, unwind and ponder life while the waves roll in like music to your ears: Krabi, Thailand.

The trip started off a bit rough; looking for inexpensive flights, we stumbled across HK Express‘ direct flight to Krabi International Airport, but with departure and return times of 3AM, it ended up causing a bit of a headache for us upon landing. In Krabi, water transportation doesn’t start running until 6AM. We spent several hours on a pitch black dock a bit paranoid waiting for any life to stir and the sun to come up.

While the secluded nature of the resort was an initial problem, once we made it to our lodgings, it was incredible. Unlike the other islands we visited on our trip, our resort was quite remote. Krabi is an international destination and can get very hectic on the bigger islands, which is a bit counter intuitive when you’re trying to get away from everything. The beaches were pristine, the resort only consisted of us, the workers, a few European tourists, monkeys and tiny sand bubbler crabs making their weird food pellets all across the beach.

If you’re into nature porn, Krabi itself is a sight to behold. It looks like a photoshopped desktop background, an idealized utopia. Even now, looking back on my pictures, I find it difficult to believe it was real. All around you, there are emerald green waters and bright sapphire skies. The longboats that roar by in the distance feel like the only connection back to civilization – as if Krabi was custom created for your own bespoke enjoyment. The surrounding waters are peppered with small little islands as far as the eyes can see; even the smallest islands have their own private beaches to enjoy. Speaking of porn, for some reason, there’s an island there with two very large penis shrines (see photos). Why?!

While in Krabi, you should definitely do one of the many island tours offered. The islands deemed “worth visiting” all seem to fall into just a few categories. Some we visited because they looked loosely like other things (ex., Chicken Island). Some have good snorkeling or dive spots and the rest have have incredible beaches but also hordes of tourists. The two things are definitely correlated.

I learned Thai people are incredibly nice and friendly. Everyone we met was all smiles and looked incredibly happy. The more parts of Southeast Asia I see, the more I realize angry and stressed people are in the minority, yet we all seem to think we need to work harder or make more money to be happy, especially in places like Hong Kong – I don’t get it.

One comment I would make is that the trip is not particularly indicative of Thailand as a country or culture, save for its beautiful scenery. If you’re looking to get a more authentic Thai cultural experience, even Krabi town seems to be out of the question, as it’s mostly populated by tourists. Next time, I’ll want to head to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and some of the temples and smaller villages around the area, to soak that up, but this time around, Krabi was perfect.

Krabi is the perfect vacation destination when less is more.

Extra Info & Links

– The Resort: Centara Grand Krabi

– The “4 Islands” Tour: Koh Poda, Koh Gai (Chicken Island), Koh Tub and Koh Mor