Kayaking around Railay beach

We stayed another day because we thought Tonsai was so fun. Our last day we rented a kayak and paddled around the bay, visiting a few of the beaches: Railay east, Princess beach, and ending with Tonsai beach.

When the tide is low, Tonsai beach exposes quite a bit of rock. We'd seen kayakers the day before who had to carry the kayak the last 100 meters. Not wanting to suffer the same fate, we went out early leaving an hour or two to spare before the tide went out.

The wind was very strong. It made for more enjoyable weather, but as we paddled out, the wind became a force worth respecting. We were paddling upwind the whole time, and it tired us faster than usual.

We originally wanted to go all the way around Koh Rang Nok, a double-island at the edge of the bay, but near the second island the stronger gusts made it clear we shouldn't round the corner unless we really wanted a battle. Getting blown out to sea in a kayak was not on the agenda for the day.

We turned back and hugged the island to keep from the outward blowing gusts and stopped at Princess beach to rest for a while. On our second leg, we went through the middle of the islands, then slowly let the wind blow us back toward Tonsai beach.

Luckily the wind had not changed directions, so the same force that wore us out in the morning allowed us to idle our way back to safety on the way home. Nice! We sat in the kayak admiring the cliffs from afar, as well as the occasional basketball-sized jellyfish that floated past us. It was the only sea life we saw, but neither one of us had ever seen such a large kind before so they were fun to look at.