Hiking to the Railay Beach Lagoon
Even though Railay is technically a peninsula, it feels like an island because the limestone cliffs completely isolate the area from any roads. The lack of cars, bikes, and general infrastructure gives the place a distinctive summer camp vibe.


Although you could spend your whole time in Railay kayaking (and we nearly did), there is also an incredibly interesting hike here to a lagoon. If you want to feel like you’re in an Indiana Jones film and you don’t mind climbing up and down some rather sketchy-looking ropes, it is well worth a few hours of your afternoon.

Despite being known by travelers as a “hidden” lagoon, the Princess Lagoon is actually marked on the local map with an L. The start of the hike is located on the well-trodden path between Railay East Beach and Phra Nang Beach.

When you see the sign warning you not to climb up the (clearly marked, well-used, obviously intended for tourists) path to the lookout point, you are in the right place. Use at your own risk, use responsibly, etc.

The first section of your hike will take you to a stunning lookout, from which you can see most of the Railay peninsula.

From here, you can continue downward into the jungle to get to the lagoon.

You will eventually reach a rather intimidating-looking drop-off that offers your first glimpse of the Princess Lagoon. On our visit, every hiker (including us) paused here to decide if they really wanted to attempt this descent. I will say that it’s not as bad as it looks, especially if you’ve done any kind of rock climbing or rappelling. And if you trust the ropes. But, I do recommend that you bring good footwear. We saw one couple proceed in flip flops and that didn’t look fun.

Down we go!


And here it is: the hidden lagoon!

I’m not sure if it’s because of the perceived riskiness of the hike, or because we were there during covid (or both), but on our visit, we got the lagoon to ourselves for at least 30 minutes before any other hikers showed up.
Be warned that the lagoon is home to many bats. So… the lagoon is beautiful, but it is not clean. Don’t drink the water. Don’t get it in your mouth. Bring sufficient filtered water with you and don’t drink from the lagoon.