Thailand

Rock Climbing at Railay Beach

Rock Climbing is one of the most popular activities in Krabi, Thailand. The rocks here are incredible from afar, but the closer you get the more you understand their monstrosity.

The limestone cliffs at Railay Beach are part of the world’s largest coral reef. It stretches from China down through Papua New Guinea. When it comes to rock climbing at Railay, there are over 700 routes ranging from beginner to expert. Since I am no expert myself, I found a 1/2 day rock climbing course at Railay that I could handle.

The night before the climb

Being a completely inexperienced climber… apart from a few days in middle school and my recent visit to Rock Spot Climbing in Lincoln, RI, I chose to do a half-day introductory course with Real Rocks Rock Climbing School.

I hesitantly booked my climb through the night before. Let’s just say I did not get the best rest that night. I had gone cliff jumping less than 24 hours prior (more on that here) and my shoulder was aching from a rough shoulder-first fall. I also had witnessed a few climbers earlier in the week maneuvering the giant limestone walls and knew what I was getting myself into.

In addition to the shoulder pain, my fear of heights was creeping in. I have always been afraid of heights but lately I have really wanted to shake the fear. After Trapeze class at TSNY Boston about a month ago, I figured rock climbing was the logical next step.

The morning of the climb

I woke up at around 7:30 am to check out and head to the lobby of Bhu Nga Thani for a rather incredible breakfast buffet and a’la carte menu. (This girl never misses a meal… especially not when it’s free). After chowing down by my lonesome, I made the short walk over to the Real Rocks Rock Climbing School on East Railay Beach.

Getting ready to climb

Upon arrival, a friendly girl helped me get fitted for shoes and a harness. She explained how the shoes should fit and made sure my harness was properly tightened.

Afterward, I waited outside for the rest of my classmates. At Real Rocks Rock Climbing School the instructors are certified and have ample experience in climbing. The class size is generally 4-6 people to ensure adequate instruction and attention.

Warning: There are many rock climbing schools to choose from at Railay Beach, so please do your research to ensure a safe climb.

We each grabbed water and walked our way over to the rock climbing wall where we would spend the morning learning to climb.

Our instructor, Max, was a native Thai climber who has been climbing for the majority of his life. Lucky for us, most of the rock climbing schools were closed that day due to a CPR lesson for instructors. Score! This meant the walls were way less crowded than normal giving us plenty of space and extra time to climb.

Learning the ”ropes”

Max began the course by teaching us how to make the “Figure-8” knot. I felt like I was learning origami back in Mrs. Schol’s art class. Knots are not my thing. Apparently they were not anyone else’s thing in my group either. I somehow made the “most confident” knots according to Max and was elected the first to belay.

Max went up the cliff as the lead and I used my belaying lesson to bring him back down the wall. After Max was on the ground, he looked at me, and I knew exactly what his eyes were saying- my turn!

I put one foot on the wall, yelled out “climbing” and started my ascent. This first climb was relatively similar to the indoor climbing I have done. Apart from the sticks and rocks and fear of hidden insects, I succeeded to not look down and not give up. Max was proud and my whole group cheered as I reached the top.

Moving onto the hard stuff

Once my two feet were back on the ground, I let go a deep sigh of relief as Max pointed me over to my next task. I was going to belay him as he climbed 30 meters in the air. Yes, 30 meters. 30 meters is about 98 feet… and he wanted me to climb next…

So, Max set the leads with great success, on his way down I did get lifted off the ground for a moment or two and needed some help from my new friends to bring Max back down to earth. He was always shouting out safety advisories or funny jokes to keep us alert and light-hearted.

I watched one of the more avid climbers in my group make it all the way to the top of the 30 meter climb in awe.

Once it was my turn, I tried to pretend I was indoors again or just crawling on the ground or something… it didn’t work that well. Max could tell I was shaking and screamed at me to “enjoy the view” and “take it all in”. To which I said, “Are you kidding me?!”. As I got higher and higher I did begin to relax more.

I made it so high that I could see beyond the bay into the bay past West Railay. The calm only lasted a moment before I wanted to start panicking again. I snapped some photos wishing so badly I had a GoPro and soon enough Max belayed me down. By far, my favorite part.

Finishing up

By 2 pm I had drunk all my water and was ready to call it quits.

The 1/2 day rock climbing course with Real Rocks Climbing School at East Railay Beach is totally worth every penny. I loved spending my day rock climbing at Railay and learning more about this treasured coastline. If you are in Railay, this is a must-do.