UKC

I'm going to be in Ton Sai from mid Jan until mid Feb and am aware it will be busy... Is affordable accommodation easy to find, and do you need to book ahead?

Would be very grateful for some advice / recommendations. Cheers.

We stayed in Dream Valley Resort. Not the cheapest but it was the nicest we came across with vacancies when we just turned up. They have a few different standards of room which you pay accordingly for and they charge more for A/C which you don't need.

In reply to Lhod:

Loads of options, but yes, it will be very busy at that time. You may have to just take whatever is available when you arrive. My advice would be to spend a couple of weeks there, then spend a week or two split between Chong Pli (aka Spirit Mountain) and Koh Yao Noi - both within an hour of Tonsai. Tonsai is still a great place to be but the climbing on Koh Yao is amazing - unspoilt, not polished and a fun moped ride through jungle to get there.

if you do get to Tonsai and find everywhere is full, give one of the resorts your number and ask them to call you when something becomes available, then head over to Chong Pli for a while.

In reply to 1234None:

Great, thank you for that. Very useful info.

We are planning to get to Tonsai, see how it is and potentially move on somewhere else depending on how we find it. We have booked a week on Koh Lao Liang which I've heard nothing but good things about, and I also want to check out spirit mountain (which you mentioned), sounds amazing. What sort of grade range does spirit mountain have?

Where is Koh Yao Noi? I'm guessing it's an island from the name?

Do you know the name of any basic accommodation at Tonsai? I will try to ring and book ahead if possible.

In reply to Lhod:

Pah Sook bungalows (right under the Nest and Wild Kingdom crags) is basic and pretty cheap. Not sure if that's the right spelling though! Mambo is right on the beach, handy for the partying. Not far to stagger back to your bungalow but also pretty noisy! I don't stay in Tonsai when I'm over there nowadays, so don't know whether the other places I used to stay are still there.

Koh Laoliang is amazing. Very chilled...an absolute paradise even for non-climbers. Be sure to go and check out the other island - one of the best beaches I have ever seen.

Spirit Mountain has everything from Fr 5 to Fr8a+. Some real quality pitches in the low-mid 7s. There are bungalows right under the crag that were priced about 400 THB per night last time we stayed there. Nice, quiet place to stay and a real contrast to Tonsai. It can be done in a day from Tonsai if you go over to Ao Nang in the morning and rent mopeds for the day to get there. I think there are directions in the guidebook but if you need help drop me an email. There are a few other crags within easy reach of Ao Nang too that aren't in the guides yet too.

Koh Yao Noi is an island located between Krabi and Phuket. From Ao Nang take a taxi or rent a moped to get to Ao Thalane. Fairly easy with a map. if you take mopeds the guys on the boat will help you lift them onto the boat, so you can take them across with you. When you land in Tha Kao, if you come off the pier and take the road going straight ahead, after about 50m there's a small climbing shop on the left. The guys there have guidebooks and will give you info on the climbing, assuming they're awake For me, Koh Yao Noi is the highlight of S Thai climbing these days. Amazing climbing, plus a really unspoilt (so far!) island to explore. So much fun on rest days just cruising around on mopeds exploring.

In reply to Lhod:
Book in advance it is desirable at this time, because almost everything will be occupied soon. Familiar rested there last year, hotel name can not remember, u can see here http://tripvariator.co.uk . If you need - I'll ask him that question in a few days and will write here

In reply to Lhod:

There are some decent bungalow type huts at tons aim mr wee's climbing school is the best place to go, and stay away from mints free curry at Viking bar, unless your into to offal!

In reply to Lhod:

I was in the area mid-november but stayed at Railay East and would recommend that instead. The main resort area of Tonsai is undergoing a LOT of building work, they are destroying the main forest area near the beach and it is very noisy with the building and vehicles constantly ferrying building materials back and forth. The beach also was full of rubbish, generally looked like a bit of a dump. It's such a shame because you can see what it potentially used to look/feel like before.

If you stay at Railay somewhere it's an easy walk to Tonsai through a bit of a jungle path that you need to use when the tide is too high to cross via the beach (watch out for the monitor lizard, it's friendly but I wouldn't want to trip over it!) We stayed in some basic bungalows on Railay East at the end of the bay above the "Reggae" Bar. You'll know the one because if you get near they'll ask you if you want to smoke and there are (what feels like) a million steps up to them. They were nice enough for the price and far away enough from the bars and restaurants for it not to be too noisy at night. The other benefit to stying on Railay instead is that if you're getting a longtail boat somewhere it's usually easier/quicker and sometimes cheaper as there are more people around.

If you want any more info send me a message.