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View all Krabi toursCrystal Lake Kayaking Through Klong Root's Emerald Water in Krabi
Paddle a quiet spring-fed waterway lined with jungle, vines and waterlilies, with clear emerald water, resident kingfishers and a freshwater swim stop.
Highlights
- Spring-fed channel, clear to the bottom and cool year-round
- Kayak only: too shallow and narrow for any motor
- Freshwater swim stop, genuinely cold after the sea
- Runs when wind and swell cancel the island boats
- Kingfishers, monitor lizards, waterlilies and hanging vines
Crystal Lake Kayaking Through Klong Root's Emerald Water: Key Facts
| Price | From $33 per person |
|---|---|
| Duration | 2.5 hours |
| Languages | English |
| Tour type | Mini Tour |
| Booking | Direct with the local operator — no OTA markup |
Choose from 6 available options
Morning Session: 8:30 AM | Ao Nang pick-up & drop-off
Afternoon Session | Ao Nang pick-up & drop-off
Morning Session: 8:15 AM | Krabi Town, Klong Muang, AoNamMao
Afternoon Session | KrabiTown, KlongMuang, AoNamMao
Morning Session: 8:15 AM | Krabi Town, Klong Muang, Ao Nam Mao
Afternoon Session | Krabi Town, Klong Muang, Ao Nam Mao
Full description
Two and a half hours paddling Klong Root, a spring-fed channel inland from Ao Nang that most visitors never hear about.
The water comes up out of the limestone, which is why it is that particular clear emerald and why it stays cool when everything on the coast is warm. You can see the bottom the whole way along. The channel is narrow with jungle closing overhead, waterlilies across the surface and vines hanging down to the waterline, and because it is freshwater and inland there is no swell, no salt and no engine noise.
The kayak is the only way through. The channel is too shallow and too narrow for anything with a motor, so the loudest thing on the water is your own paddle.
There is a swim stop halfway. Freshwater springs run cold enough to be a genuine shock after the Andaman, which is the point of stopping there rather than at the end.
Kingfishers work the channel edges and are the bird you will actually see rather than the one in the brochure; monitor lizards sun themselves on the banks.
This is the trip for a day when the sea is closed. Klong Root is inland freshwater, so wind and swell do not touch it, and from May to October it runs on days when every island boat in Ao Nang is cancelled. It is also the right choice with young children, who do not need to swim to enjoy it.
Your place is held with the operator before your booking is final. The price covers the kayak and paddle, life jacket and dry bag, an English-speaking local guide, the entrance fee, drinking water, and photos taken by your guide.
Two and a half hours. Minimum one day's notice.
Tour Itinerary
The schedule below is a suggested plan and can be adjusted to suit your preferences.
Meet at Klong Root
Check in at the lake entrance, fit life jackets and cover paddling basics.
Paddle the jungle channel
Kayak the narrow spring-fed waterway between walls of forest.
Swim stop
Leave the kayaks at the open basin for a swim in the cool clear water.
Return paddle
Paddle back to the entrance with time for photos on the way.
Detailed Itinerary
Meet your guide at the Klong Root entrance around 09:00, when the water is at its stillest and the light comes through the canopy at a low angle. Life jackets and a short paddling lesson take about twenty minutes, and no experience is needed since the water is flat and there is no current to fight.
The channel narrows almost immediately and for the next hour you are inside a green tunnel, with waterlilies at the edges and the bottom clearly visible below the hull. Your guide keeps the pace slow, stopping to point out kingfishers, monitors basking on branches and the small fish that shoal around the spring vents.
By about 10:20 you reach the wider basin, tie up and swim in water that is genuinely cold by Thai standards. The return paddle starts around 11:00 and gets you back to the entrance by late morning.
Includes
- Kayak and paddle
- Life jacket and dry bag
- English-speaking local guide
- Entrance fee
- Drinking water
- Photos taken by your guide
- Insurance
Excludes
- Hotel transfers unless added at booking
- Meals
- Towels
- Gratuities
- Personal expenses
Important information
Meeting point
Klong Root Crystal Lake entrance, Nong Thale, Krabi
Weather
This runs outdoors, so the operator can call it off for rain, wind or sea conditions, and that decision is usually made on the day. If they cancel, you choose: another date, or your money back in full. We do not keep a booking fee on a tour that did not run.
Know before you go
- Free cancellation available up to 24 hours before the activity starts
About this activity
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Traveler Reviews
Although the day started off rainy, the sun came out just in time for a fabulous kayak trip! Everything was very well organised- swimming vests are available upon request and even a waterproof bag was provided for all valuable items. The kayaking over the crystal clear water leads into a mangrove forest with lots of fish. We even saw two snakes and squirrels. The time for swimming was also perfect and the surroundings are unreal! We can highly recommend booking lunch in addition- we sat on the lake for lunch and it’s the best view!
an awesome experience with my two teen sons today. absolutely recommend. our tour guide whos name i did not catch was awesome, so kind and friendly. would do again in a heartbeat! was somewhat quieter in afternoon which was nice
Very fun experience! Staff/ guide are very lovely. The views were gorgeous. We got a video taken underwater, and fresh fruit at the end of the trip. They also brought us to a pineapple farm on the way back. We went at 8:30am and got back around 12, still have the whole day afterwards, 10/10 would recommend.
Klong Root is a completely different Krabi from the islands, still and green and quiet apart from birds. The water really is that emerald colour and you can see straight down to the sunken branches. Two and a half hours was enough and the paddling is genuinely easy.
We saw a kingfisher three times and a water monitor sunning itself on a log. Our guide paddled alongside pointing things out we would have floated straight past. The freshwater swim stop at the end was cold and perfect.
Ideal if you want something calm between big island days. No current, no waves, and my ten year old paddled her own half of the kayak with no trouble. Bring insect repellent for the shaded stretches.
Lovely peaceful paddle and very good value at this price. It is short, so do not treat it as a half day, and there were three other groups on the water when we went at eleven. Going early would fix that.
The waterlilies and the vines hanging into the water make it feel like a film set. Swimming in the spring where the water comes up from below is startlingly cold after the heat. A quiet highlight of our week in Krabi.