I keep talking about my April trip to the South of Thailand. For three very active days on Koh Lipe, we got tired from the sand, burning sun, salt, sweat, and a trip to a shady forest seemed like the best continuation. And we decided to hike in Khao Phanom Bencha National Park in Krabi, a Thai province, we both knew well. I personally visited it for the first time in 2011, and many times after that. It can be said that I have traveled every rural road in the vicinity of the charming resort town Ao Nang. In fact, I did just that in the 2010s: I used to drive a motorbike to each beach to see for myself what was there - was it white sand there or mangroves with monkeys, or maybe a fishing village.

Krabi (green) and Koh Lipe (orange) on the Google.Maps - follow the link to see Khao Phanom Bencha National Park's location

But some roads still remained without my attention. For example, the one that leads to Huay To Waterfall within Khao Phanom Bencha National Park. This is not the most spectacular waterfall and you should pay a national park fee there in addition so I had ignored the place... At some point, a long-stay traveler gets allergy to fees for national parks in Thailand, many of which are based on the scheme "putting up a booth at any tiniest nature attraction and taking a bunch of money from foreigners."

But let's put the skepticism aside and enjoy the views. Maybe, the waterfall isn't largest there but nature is quite lovely.

I took all the images in the post with a Nikkor 24mm f/2.8D and Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 on April 13, 2023 in Khao Phanom Bencha National Park, Krabi, Thailand.

Accommodation in Krabi

But let's go in order. On the night of April 13, we reached Ao Nang, a seaside resort in the province of Krabi.

Krabi is a gem of Thailand but hotels cost less there than in Ko Lipe, for example.

We rented a room near the beach at a hotel called P.K. Mansion with not that great ranking on booking.com - 7.3 only (which isn't that bad actually).

• PK Mansion on the Google maps

I always read reviews to learn, fist of all, if they have bedbugs 😁 I have paranoia about them. Although I never encountered them in Krabi and never heard someone else had them. No, P. K. Mansion had no bed bugs - I checked the mattresses. A lovely hotel with lovely staff, 600 baht (17 USD) for a room, not far from the beach and everything you need in Ao Nang. An amazing choice as a budget option with large and clean rooms, AC, big bathroom, even a small balcony with plastic chairs. There was no problem with wifi - good internet connection.

Renting a Motorbike in Ao Nang, Krabi

To reach the national park, we rented a motorbike for a day at Noui Motorbike Rental (on Google maps) for 200 baht.

We made a video of the motorbike to document all the existed scratches to be on the safe side - this is what many rentals recommend by themselves to their customers.

But I had known this place. I rent scooters in Noui Motorbike Rental every time I was in Krabi and I never had an issue with them. Once, a friend of mine damaged the rented scooter in 2015, and they asked to pay several hundreds of bahts only - this was the price of the broken detail, we checked. After that, I got confident about this agency.

I was surprised to discover that reviews for the agency on Google.Maps were not that great. I think this is because of their competitors' understanding of online marketing - I mean they wrote to Noui Motorbike Rental fake bad reviews.

From reviews on Google.Maps

How do you like the message "rent from the rental place right opposite with nice people and new bikes". 😁

From reviews on Google.Maps

Huay To Waterfall, Practical Info

It was a picturesque 35-km route, it took a bit less than hour for us. It was the Songkran holiday, the longest in Thailand, during which it is customary to splash water on each other. This did not bypass us either: along the way, the children poured water over our motorbike and ourselves from small buckets and water guns.

An entrance fee for Huay To Waterfall / Khao Phanom Bencha National Park is only 100 baht for foreigners, 20 for Thais; plus extra 20 baht for a motorbike... (What's next, a fee for flip flops? 😁).

Not 200-250 or 500, since the waterfall is not the most spectacular attraction in Krabi. But as a nature trail, as another opportunity to see how local jungle looks like, Khao Phanom Bencha National Park is a very good place to visit.

The map of the waterfall and vicinity (Khao Phanom Bencha National Park), click the link to see an enlarged version (2880px width).

Unlike most visitors, we didn't end our hike at the waterfall and walked to the view point (the very top of the map above). This is just 368 meters above the sea, 248 meters above the entrance to the park but the trail is very steep. You don't need to be a rock-climber to make it but better to have enough water with you.

I drank almost a liter during the hike.

At the entrance to the national park they sell small bottles of water for 10 baht (as well as coffee for those who wish), so no problem with water.

In some places, on the most difficult sections, there is a rope along the path.

Another popular question about nature destinations in Thailand: should I wear sneakers or flip-flops would be ok?

Personally, I don't like flip-flops as unhealthy shoes from my point of view. But it's ok to wear them on the route. I wore a double strap slide sandals (almost flip-flops), and it was fine.

Walk to Huay To Waterfall and Beyond

This is the very bottom of the national park, near the entrance. A beautiful thickets including huge trees. Tropical cicadas break the silence into pieces with their non-stop construction-like crackling and ringing.

The waterfall consists of several small cascades, each of which ends in a small bath. We visited the place in April, it was the peak of the hot season so the water stream could be described as a brook.

But the rock is of a considerable size. You feel like a hero, overcoming the next rise, especially because most people prefer staying at the lowest level of the waterfall.

At last, we reached the level where no people were present, and it was the time to enjoy water for us.

The panoramas are nice too. A limestone rock with the wooded top, classic for Krabi, and palm plantation next to it. In the foreground, there are the giant trees of the national park.

An enormous fern reminiscent of the dinosaur age.

A bizarre tree trunk resembling a woman's dress.

Mysterious fruits,

and a mysterious impulse to put these fruits in your ears.

A wonderful feeling of discovery.

In the dry season, almost nothing blooms here; birds are not visible in the afternoon. But we met reptiles and fish there.

This one pretended to be part of the bark and froze on a tree in a shady forest. The built-in flash helped a lot to take the image.

We thought about visiting another section of the park but decided to save energy for the next day.

Climbing down...

Having returned to the level 1 of the waterfall, I took off the T-shirt, squeezed it, and a jet of sweat ran out of it. Since I was already soaking wet, I climbed into the pond to freshen up and rinse my T-shirt. It was very helpful.

More stories from Thailand are ahead! Check out the previous ones on my personal pinmapple map.