From KBV, you will need to hire a longtail boat from either Krabi Town or Ao Nang. (Click here for directions to Ao Nang.)
From Krabi Town the journey is around 30 minutes and boats arrive on the east side beach. You will have to negotiate a price with the boatman, but if there are other travelers, you can expect to pay about 150 baht.
From Ao Nang the journey is around 15 minutes (100 baht) and boats arrive either on West Railay Beach or on Phranang Beach.
It is also possible to visit Railay on a day trip from anywhere on the mainland; indeed many people stay in Ao Nang, which has cheaper accommodation, but spend the daytime in Railay. The beautiful beach at Phranang Bay is also the last stop on the “four island” tour that you can book from any travel agent in Ao Nang.
Once you arrive in Railay Beach, you will find more upscale hotels & resorts on West Railay Beach (also called Sunset Beach). My favorites are Railay Bay Resort and Spa and it’s sister hotel Railay Princess Resort.
Railay Princess Resort & SpaRailay Bay Resort & SpaRailay Bay Resort private villa
If you’re looking for a luxury stay for your wedding or honeymoon, or you’re just straight up ballin’, the nicest resort on the peninsula is Rayavadee.
But if you are looking for less expensive accommodation or bungalows, I recommend you go to the East Beach to negotiate a room. The hotel we stayed at in the video I made above is the Anyavee Railay Resort, and for a great deal for the price, I highly recommend Diamond Cave Resort & Spa as I have stayed there half a dozen times.
About Tonsai Beach
Next door to Railay beach is Tonsai, a much more budget area for the backpacker and climber crowd (though the options here may be disappearing pretty soon as I’ve heard the whole beach has recently been bought out by one of the big fancy resorts).
Tonsai has a shallow beach with slow gradients out of sea which is profoundly affected by the tide (it was hit pretty hard in the 2004 tsunami). Tonsai isn’t very swimmable, but has very cheap bungalows and attracts the climbing crowd. Be warned though, most of that beach only gets 12 hours of electric power per day.
Here’s another gorgeous video that captures Railay Bay, Krabi, and the beautiful beaches of Southern Thailand (this one much higher production value than mine!)