Best Time to Visit Krabi

Dry season: December to March

February is your best bet. It's the driest month, with only 6 rainy days, and the sea is calm enough for long-tail boats to run smoothly. Long-tail boats are the slim wooden boats with a loud engine on a long pole. You'll get blue-sky days at Railay, Phra Nang beach and the four-island boat trips.

January and March are fair, not perfect. Both still get rain on about 12 days, but showers tend to pass quickly. Dec looks wetter in the data and is a bit mixed. Still, the Christmas and New Year weeks are the busiest and priciest of the year, so expect full beaches and full guesthouses around Ao Nang. If you hate crowds, aim for late January or early March instead.

Hot and showery: April

April is the awkward month. It's the hottest, with highs and lows of 31°C and 27°C, and it's already rated Poor, with rain on 20 days. March is also 31°C at the top end, so it ties April for the highest daytime heat. April's afternoons feel sticky and heavy, then a storm rolls in. Songkran, the Thai New Year water festival, runs from 13 to 15 April. Expect water fights in Krabi Town and Ao Nang. It's fun, and you'll get soaked, so keep your phone in a dry bag.

Rainy season: May to November

Here the sea gets rough and the sky stays grey. September is the wettest month, with 330 mm, and October has the most rainy days at 29. Sun is down to about 1.3 hours a day in September. Some island boat trips get cancelled, and a few smaller resorts on Koh Lanta close for the low season.

It isn't all bad. Prices drop, and Krabi Town's night market and Tiger Cave Temple (Wat Tham Suea) still work in a drizzle, though the 1,200 steps up are slippery. Rain often falls in short, heavy bursts, so mornings can be fine. Surfing and kayaking through the mangroves near Ao Thalane suit people who don't mind getting wet.

November is when things start to turn. Loy Krathong, usually in November, sees small floating lanterns set on the water. Check the date, since it follows the lunar calendar.

If you want beach days, go in February. If you want cheap rooms and don't mind rain, pick June or July.