Ton Sai!!

The next day we headed from Krabi to Ton Sai. At first, I thought Ton Sai was an island but the only way to access it was from a long tail boat around the corner. So we jumped on the boat heading towards Ton Sai and the Phra Nang Peninsula. This place is world famous for rock climbing and deep water solo. This is why I'm here people. The boat ride out was amazing. We pull into the beach of Ton Sai and surrounded by jacked up limestone covered in these icicle forms all over the place. The islands looking outside of Ton Sai literally pop straight up out of the water and create these magnificent pieces of land. Ton Sai is the mecca-center for rock climbers. Complete opposite of the east part of Thailand where the rocks are soft and round like play-do.

Ton Sai consisted of one main road that starts at the beach, does a big U-turn around the bay and back to the other side of the beach. Inside is much more tropical, hot, full of monkeys and loud bugs. All of the homestays were at this part. Originally, back in the day, houses were supposed to be built on the beach, but instead they wanted to build old people homes. Problem was the old people couldn't get to the beach because of how hard it is to get here. So this failed and now its full of bars. Its rad though because there is a beach next to us at Phra Nang, which is much more touristy and populated. Ton Sai was perfect for this.

On arrival we walked up the street (dirt and mud holes) in search for a bungalow to stay in. First place we found, we go. Super basic bungalow, paper thin walls, insect nets around each bed and a shower. Bungalows are really cool to look at but I think there better on the outside that what you get on the inside, but really you never hang out there. After hanging out for a while, we went in search for a deep water solo class. Not long after we found a place, booked it and was ready to go climbing the next day at 9:00 a.m.! At this point I'm pretty pumped.

That night was pretty mellow as far as going out. But we were all excited like a bunch of little kids waiting to go to Disneyland.

9:00 a.m. crept up fast. We all got up, grabbed some breakfast and arrived at the shop. Pumped up and ready to go. We each grabbed rock climbing shoes, got briefed and headed to the boat. Our group had about 10 people on it. Small enough to talk to everyone but not crowded enough when climbing.

The deep water solo wasn't actually on Ton Sai. The long tail boat drove us straight out towards these two islands called Ko Poda and Ko Yawabun. All limestone islands just like Ton Sai. We pulled up and it was exactly what the pictures looked like. Massive lava walls that drip these icicle rock formations into the water. The pictures I took doesn't even describe how big these rocks were. Our boat caption stopped for our first climb. He jumped in the water with his kayak and emptied a bowl full of chock at the starting point. The start is always the hardest. He attached a ladder at the bottom so you could start where the rock formations begin. Like I said, climbing up the ladder was the hardest. If you can get past that your good to go for a little bit.

The fist climb was pretty easy. Everyone got up to the top, or as high as you want because you have to jump when your done. This climb looked like a staircase going straight up. Except the stair cases were shooting up instead of a 45 degree angle. But lots of things to grab and was a good start. The jump into the water was probably 10-12 meters high. Right next to this spot was a way more difficult area to climb. Rock pinnacles pop out and the grips were much harder. At the bottom was another man made ladder so you can get out of the water, chock-up and continue climbing. This climb was really hard. First attempt I only got around the pinnacle but couldn't reach this tiny hole for grip. Next try I got past the that point and got a little higher but pretty much got rocked after that. So hard. it was 6B climb. Not bad for a novice. This other guy on the boat was a monkey and killed the climb. He was upside down at one spot hanging like a sleeping bat! After a couple of hours of climbing we got on the boat to get some lunch. We went around the corner to this tiny beach oasis. Unreal. Maybe 100 feet wide and caves inside to climb and explore. Our guide showed us this rock climbing wall that was more than a 30 degree angle. He climbed it effortlessly and with style. So bummed I didn't get it on camera. After eating we got back on the boat for one last climb. At this point everyone was pretty tired but when we got to this next spot I had one last kick of energy. It was the exact spot my friend told me about. He showed me video of this place and I really wanted to climb it. It starts out with this slab of limestone that pours into the ocean but is about 5-6 feet above the water. The guide jumps up there like a monkey and climbed right up to the top in a 5-10 minutes. Huge jump from the top (70 feet)

I was the second person in to try this climb. Everyone else looked really intimidated by the wall (I was too) but still wanted to try it. The first part was real hard. I had to wrap my hand around this slab and just keep climbing. I kept on going up and up and each time I looked down my knees got more and more buckled. It got to the point where I could climb higher but it was too high of a jump. So I jumped in and got defeated. Next try, I got higher and decided to go left rather than right. This was towards this huge pinnacle and a really hard climb. I got over to this pinnacle but my footwork wasn't good enough and the guide kept telling me what to do but it just never worked. I had to jump backwards into the water.

Ton Sai and deep water solo is amazing. I instantly got addicted and will be doing this again. I know for a fact that my brother would die for this place. That being said I'll be back here with him.