Emerald Pool, Blue Pool and Hot spring, Krabi

I joined a half-day tour.  It costs 800B.

I called them on their mobile at 10pm the night before and it was all settled within minutes.  Accommodating and straight-forward.

They picked me up from my hotel (how convenient) the next morning at 8.30am and we went on to other hotels to pick up other people who joined.

Brutally frank:

It takes approx 1 hr to drive to Emerald Pool (remember to use the lavatory before boarding your ride).

The entrance fees (if you were to visit the Emerald and Blue Pools on your own) are 200B for a foreign adult and 100B for a foreign child.  In my case the entrance fees for all attractions (including hotspring) are already included in the tour price.

From the entrance of the nature park, you walk 800m (10-15 mins) along a wide, flat jungle path to reach the Emerald Pool.  No lockers, no changing rooms. Come with your swim gear already underneath.  Alternatively, you can be dexterous with your towel like me! Keep an eye on your belongings.

From the Emerald Pool, walk another 600m to come to the Blue Pool.  Initially, from the Emerald Pool, you walk on a raised, wooden path like this:

Then, the wooden path stops and you walk on a narrow dirt path like this, which is muddy and slippery in spots.

No swimming at the Blue Pool.  Nevertheless, the colours at the Blue Pool are amazing and make up for the yucky (for hardcore urbanites like me) dirt track.

The tour allows you approx 50 mins to swim/ explore the area on your own.

Hot spring

From the Emerald Pool, it’s a 15 mins drive to the hot spring.

From the entrance, walk 5-10 mins to reach a footbath.  Walk another 50m to come to the hot spring.

The hot spring is simply a couple of pools in nature with flowing hot spring water.  It is quite small and can get crowded, hence not a lot of personal space and you have to make room as people squeeze past you to get in and out of the pools.

No lockers, no changing rooms. You change out and step gingerly on the rocks to get into the pools.  It’s a bit of a dilemma: you want your belongings near you so you can keep an eye on them.  But too near to the pools and someone may accidentally kick them and your money and electronics tumble into the pools.

The hot spring water flows into a river which is cool and where you can take a dip to cool off.  That is not recommended though as it is positively disgusting.  I mean, the water is the colour of mud and as there are dead leaves etc floating around.

The hot spring is not as scalding as the onsens in Japan. It feels warm and just right.  For an onsen addict, it was so comfortable and I just completely relaxed.

After I got out of the hot spring, I saw this sign:

Oops! Isn’t fluoride bad for your body? And lead??? I know the amount is miniscule but…..

The tour allows you approx 40 mins to enjoy yourself and then it’s the end of tour and they send you back to your hotel.