Krabi kayak at Ao Thalane

Fab afternoon kayaking around the mangroves with our guide Din who gave us information about the area. This headed into sunset when on an island we had a fantastic view of the sunset before we headed off for a BBQ at a local restaurant. There was so much food that was simplistic but delicious. The pick up and drop off at our hotel were included in the price and I would highly recommend it. Change of scenery, nature and beauty all around.

Din was a great guide. He was prompt for our hotel pick up and pointed out interesting things along the route to the kayak launch. He was also our kayak guide and we enjoyed the balance between quietly paddling and pointing things out. The sticky rice and fruit snacks before and after the paddle were delicious. We really enjoyed our morning.

We had an incredible kayaking experience through the mangroves at Ao Thalane - easily one of the highlights of our trip. Everything was brilliantly organised, and our guide, Lek, was absolutely fantastic. Lek collected us on time, made everything easy, and immediately made us feel welcome and relaxed. Throughout the trip he was friendly, knowledgeable, and clearly passionate about the area. He pointed out wildlife, explained the mangrove ecosystem, and made the whole experience feel special rather than just another tour. Kayaking through the mangroves themselves was stunning. The scenery is beautiful and peaceful, with dramatic limestone cliffs, winding channels, and incredible natural surroundings. The whole trip felt very good value for money and was perfectly paced. Lek made sure our party of one adult, a 14 year old and an 11 year old was comfortable and enjoying themselves from collection to drop-off. If you’re in the Krabi/Ao Nang area, this is absolutely worth doing. A fantastic sunset adventure with a brilliant guide in one of the most beautiful places we visited. Highly recommended.

My wife and I really enjoyed this kayak tour! We were staying on Railay Beach and took a longtail boat to meet our guide at Ao Nam Mao pier. Our guide was on time and easy to find. The drive to the kayak point (including picking up other guests) was a bit long, but I found it to be a nice scenic drive. The kayak location is absolutely beautiful and we were lucky to be there at high tide so we could explore more of the area. Our guide, Lek, was friendly and helpful and made sure everyone was having a good time no matter their kayak level. He also took some great photos of us and the other people in our group and pointed out things of interest as we paddled. As a beginner who has only kayaked a few times, I didn't find the kayaking too difficult, though you will have to paddle around some vines, rocks, and other obstacles. We were given life jackets and felt very safe the whole time. The 2 hours of kayaking was a perfect amount. This tour company is extremely professional and well run and I was impressed with how fast they would answer questions on WhatsApp. I requested some photos from the day and they were able to get them from my guide. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone interested in a scenic kayak experience!

We had a great kayak experience with this kayak outfit, especially with Lek. There were some things I didn't understand so hopefully this will help other tourists. We were staying at the J Holiday Inn in Krabi town. We were picked up around 8:00 am. I mistakenly thought the kayak tour began at 8:30 but there was a fairly long drive to get to the mangroves. I had also mistakenly thought that the person picking us up was just the taxi driver but it turned out it was Lek who was also the person who took us out on the kayak. When we arrived at the water we had coffee/tea and waited a while for the tides to increase (I think that is what was happening). After a while we got into the water and then did a beautiful kayak through the mangroves. The scenery was stunning and we even saw a few monkeys in the nearby mangroves. Lek was fantastic - friendly, informative, he offered to take photos of us. I think our kayak tour was around two hours. When we returned to shore we were given watermelon and hung out around before getting back into taxis for our return trip. We paid an extra 100 Thai baht for the transport which included round-trip transport. I was glad I chose this kayak trip because we only had a total of 10 people in our group vs what seemed like very large groups on other tours. Lek was great.

The actual kayaking for 2 hrs was nice but this tour seemed disorganized and the guide made a sexist remark at the beginning about how strong men need to sit in the back of the kayak so the ladies can just sit and take photos. I am a solo female traveler. The guide wouldn't let me kayak alone and tried to charge me an extra 300 baht for a "helper," which is not listed in the tour description. He also barely said anything interesting about the sights from the water. I would skip this one. Seems overpriced.

We booked the 8:30am half day tour and chose to drive to the meetup location ourselves. The tour operator told us to meet there at 9:30am. We checked in with our guide at 9:28am, who said we’d start in 15-20 minutes. But he just disappeared until 10:20am. There were lots of other tour groups, all with the same company “For Friends Kayak.” It seemed like they were trying to stagger the start times of all the different groups to avoid crowding on the route, but we wished there’d been more communication about this. The names I saw in the previous reviews were other guides working at the same pier, so it’s all the same. Once in the mangroves, there’s a fair bit of intermixing of participants between groups (+and independent kayakers). We were on the water for a total of 2 hours, then had some watermelon at the pier afterward. Our guide was friendly and did a good job of taking us slightly different routes than the bigger clusters of other kayakers!

A breath of fresh air away from manic Krabi. Picked up on time from Ao Nang, a total of 7 of us for this 2 hour kayak trip. It was great having a small group. The scenery is awesome, it was a really relaxing paddle through the national park. The facilities at the pier are basic, but water & fruit were provided. I would have hated to have missed this trip.

Take the early bird option to beat the crowds. We departed at 8:30 am, had the water and waterway to ourselves. Our guide, Chin, was pleasant. Saw families of monkeys, monitors and sea life. Five stars for sure.

The kayaking experience was amazing. The only down side was the long drive to location (via pickup of other guests). A little unorganised to get started (one guide did it all for a group of 8), but once we got started, it was wonderful. 8km of paddling through very calm waters. Followed by a local meal.