Thailand / Krabi
Railay Beach
Railay Beach is a 340 m-long beach facing south on the Andaman Sea, 5.3 km south-east of Ban Ao Nang (Krabi, Thailand). The sea averages 30.3 °C in May, its warmest month, and 28.3 °C in January; it stays at 21 °C or above all year.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Reference
Railay (Thai: ไร่เลย์, pronounced [râj lēː]), also known as Rai Leh, is a small peninsula between the city of Krabi and Ao Nang in Thailand. It is accessible only by boat due to high limestone cliffs cutting off mainland access.
Wikidata item Q664877 · classified as human settlement and geographical feature.
Month by month
October at Railay Beach
Beach-day index 7.1/10 · Thailand median 7.2
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 28.3 °C | 28.8 °C | 29.4 °C | 30.2 °C | 30.3 °C | 30.0 °C | 29.8 °C | 29.6 °C | 29.2 °C | 29.0 °C | 28.9 °C | 28.6 °C |
| High °C | 29° | 30° | 31° | 32° | 31° | 29° | 29° | 29° | 29° | 29° | 29° | 28° |
| Low °C | 20° | 20° | 21° | 23° | 23° | 23° | 23° | 22° | 22° | 22° | 22° | 21° |
| Rain mm | 137 | 32 | 115 | 115 | 212 | 215 | 212 | 220 | 270 | 289 | 334 | 232 |
| Cloud % | 64 | 53 | 56 | 72 | 88 | 88 | 90 | 89 | 91 | 89 | 85 | 78 |
| Wind m/s | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.6 |
| Daylight h | 11.7 | 11.9 | 12.1 | 12.3 | 12.5 | 12.6 | 12.6 | 12.4 | 12.2 | 12.0 | 11.8 | 11.7 |
| Record high/low | 34°/18° | 35°/18° | 41°/18° | 42°/20° | 42°/21° | 37°/22° | 37°/21° | 38°/21° | 35°/21° | 37°/21° | 36°/18° | 34°/18° |
| Beach index | 8.3 | 9.2 | 8.4 | 7.8 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 7.3 | 7.1 | 7.1 | 7.1 | 7.4 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in February; February scores 9.2/10 with highs of 30 °C, sea at 28.8 °C and 32 mm of rain.
That matches the median for beaches in Thailand in the same month.
Across the year the sea averages 29.3 °C, warmer than 99% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
November is the wettest month (334 mm) and February the driest (32 mm); the yearly total is about 2,380 mm.
Daylight runs from 11.7 hours in December to 12.6 hours in June; in mid-February the sun rises at 06:42 and sets at 18:34 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces south (190°). Open water fills about 64% of the horizon close by, which makes it an exposed spot with water on most sides.
The sun sets over the sea in every month; in mid-June it goes down at 18:42 local time on a bearing of 294°.
Sunrise is over the sea in August–April.
The opposite shore is only about 500 m away to the south, which keeps the water sheltered from big waves.
The sea floor is still within the shallow coastal margin 1 km out; 3 km offshore the depth is about 11 m. Behind the beach the ground is about 52 m above sea level 500 m inland and 214 m at 1.5 km, so the beach is backed by steep slopes or cliffs.
Within 1 km, the land is 84% tree cover, 7% built-up land and 4% grassland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a largely natural setting. Water makes up 59% of that circle.
- Tree 84%
- Built 7%
- Grass 4%
- Wetland 3%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
Rainfall reaches 334 mm in November and stays above 250 mm in September, October and November.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Photos
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 44Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 7Public toilets
- –Showers
- –Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 32Hotels & guesthouses
- 1Grocery shops
- 1Water-sports spots
- 2Pharmacies & clinics
- 7Cash machines
- 5Viewpoints
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 28 restaurants, 5 cafés and 11 bars. Accommodation: 32 hotels and guesthouses.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Around the beach
Viewpoints
- Kein Durchgang 540 m W
- Höhle 570 m W
Nature
- Hua Thong Waterfall nature reserve 270 m N
- ถ้ำพระนางใน cave entrance 510 m N
- ถ้ำพระนางน้อย cave entrance 530 m S
- Lhak Chui (Bat) Cave cave entrance 540 m W
- ถ้ำค้างคาว cave entrance 570 m W
- ถ้ำพระนางใหญ่ cave entrance 590 m S
Islands in view
- เกาะรังใน 710 m SW
- เกาะรังนก 870 m SW
- เกาะรังไข่ 980 m S
- Ko Nang 2.0 km NW
Diving & boat hire
- Rim Lay Pie 360 m NW
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Krabi International Airport Krabi | KBV | 18.9 km | north-east |
| Phuket International Airport Phuket | HKT | 58.8 km | west |
| Trang Airport Trang | TST | 102 km | south-east |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: ferry terminal อ่าวไร่เลย์ (330 m).
1 town or village of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 8K residents); within 30 km there are 5 (about 57.1K).
When people look it up
The EN Wikipedia article was read 28,982 times in the 12 months to August 2026. Interest peaks in January (3,566 views), 2.4× the quietest month.
Map
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Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 15.3 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature r18543716; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Water body, status and length: Wikidata (CC0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2A_47NMJ_20230307_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 165K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.