While we were in Ao Nang in the Krabi province in Southern Thailand, we decided to join an excursion to Hong Island in search of some beautiful white sand beaches that Thailand is supposedly famous for. Hong Island is a small island in the Andaman Sea off the coast of Krabi province. The island is part of the Than Bok Khorani National Park and is only open for day visitors with no overnight visits allowed.

The first stop, Pakbia Island, was pretty but nothing to write home about. We went for a quick swim and took a few pictures but didn’t stay here long.

The second location, Laolading Island, had a very small beautiful beach with some of the softest white sand I have ever experienced. However, as this was also where all the tour groups stop for lunch, it was incredibly crowded.

Our next destination was Hong Lagoon where our boat made its way through the narrow passage to the lagoon, made a quick turn of the lagoon to allow us to take pictures before we made our way to the beach on Hong Island. The beach at Hong Island did not disappoint as it had a long white sand beach next to a beautiful crescent shaped beach surrounded by limestone cliffs. We spent almost 2 hours at this location and thoroughly enjoyed our time here swimming and relaxing on the beach.

How to Get There: We were picked up directly from our hotel at around 8:30am in an air conditioned minivan with about 10 other tourists. It was about a 40 minute drive from Ao Nang to the pier where we boarded the speedboat. The speedboat fit about 20 or so people and was a short scenic ride to the first of 4 stops.

You may want to consider booking a private long-tail boat to take you to Hong Island as you can arrange with your boat driver to avoid the peak tour boat times and get more of a private deserted island feel. Remember to pack your own lunch and water if you do this option as there are no restaurants or stores to purchase food and drinks on these islands. This option will also require you to pay the park entrance fees separately (about 400 baht).

Price: We paid about 1,000 baht per person (including park fees) for our Hong Island day tour by speedboat. We purchased the tour from one of the stands along the main road in Ao Nang. Don’t forget to negotiate! Our tour package included lunch which was a rice and green curry with a delicious fried chicken, along with pineapple and fruit punch.