Hong Islands, Krabi, Thailand

These are a small group of spectacular Islands in the Andaman sea.

The Hong group of Islands are located west-northwest of Krabi and is about 50 minutes long tail boat ride or about 30 minutes by speedboats from Krabi’s Aonang beach.

Hong literally means “room or chamber” in thai language and is called so as the Hong lagoon is completely covered by limestone cliffs, with a narrow passage as the entrance. The lagoon is best accessed at low tide by kayak. The long tail boats and speedboats can pass through this narrow entrance to the lagoon during mid-tide. The water around the Island is crystal clear and full of colourful fishes, perfect for snorkeling. There are a few sharp coral outcrops sticking out of the sand which can be dangerous.

The Islands that make up the Hong Islands group are:-

Daeng Island – These rock cliffs are red in colour and “Daeng” means red in thai language. Daeng Island does not have a beach and is about half way between Aonang beach and Hong island.

Hong Island Lagoon - an amazing lagoon with small cliff passage as entrance with cliffs covering all around. The lagoon is surrounded by mangroves as well.

Pakbia Island - This is a small but beautiful white sand beach with a rocky outcrop on one side. Another good place for snorkeling.

Lading Island – This has big rock formations and caves. The beach is quite small. Most of the time, this will be the stop for lunch.

Hong Island Bay - beautiful white sand beach and the bay is sheltered from the sea. The water is very calm, turquoise in colour and clear with good visibility for snorkelling.

The Trip started from the Ao nang beach, in the morning. A long tail boat picked us up (about 20 passengers) and sailed towards Hong islands. They stopped near the Daeng island for us to take some photos as there is no stop at this island. Then we went straight to the Hong Lagoon. Through a narrow cliff passage we entered and navigate around for some time within the lagoon surrounded by tall limestone cliffs.

Then sailed towards the first stop at the Pakbia, a very small island with a nice stretch of white sandy beach. Pakbia has toilet facilities. From Pakbia, we went to Lading island. one of the noticeable thing in this island is the coconut trees. There was another smaller beach on the other side, and one will be able to walk to it through a narrow path. There were a few caves as well. Lunch was served here. And I helplessly watched some strict vegetarian Indians surviving only with the fruits that was given as dessert. In fact, the lunch was very nice thai food, with green curry chicken.

After a bit of rest, we went to our last stop, the Hong island bay. One of the most amazing places, it is a must go place, for swimming and snorkeling. There is a temporary landing jetty, where you can jump off the boat and walk to the beach. With fine white sandy beach and turquoise waters that almost looked like a lake (the waves were so insignificant) it was like heaven on earth. The group almost spend the entire afternoon there. No one wanted to leave the bay. If you have only one day to spend in Krabi, then go to visit Hong islands.