I’ve been climbing for more than 10 years now, and recently I finally got the chance to try something that’s been on my mind for a long time: Deep Water Soloing (DWS)! For those who don’t already know, it’s climbing without ropes, relying only on the water below for protection.
Deep Water Soloing is still relatively rare to find among guided climbing tours around the world – at least compared to top-rope or lead climbing. So I was happy to find a DWS tour at Basecamp Tonsai in Krabi, Thailand.
It’s already a bit of an adventure to get there: first, you need to reach Ao Nang in southern Thailand. From Bangkok, the easiest way is to fly to Krabi International Airport, then take a 25–45 minute bus or taxi (e.g. Grab) to Ao Nang Beach. The next step is to take a longtail boat to Tonsai Beach (or to Railay first, depending on where your accommodation is). You can book them at several offices along Ao Nang Beach from 8 AM to 6 PM – and apparently later for a higher price though. The price depends on how many people are on the same trip—usually around 100 baht if the boat is full. Just be aware that the boats don’t always run—when I arrived, the tides were too strong, so most of them stopped for safety reasons. With no real alternative that day, I managed to find one who was willing to make the 15-minute, somewhat shaky and wet trip to the beautiful Tonsai Beach!
There, I stayed at Tonsai Bay Resort, which is a bit pricey but offers good, air-conditioned rooms. For a cheaper but more basic option, the bungalows behind the resorts seemed like a reasonable alternative and popular among backpackers. In both cases, the Basecamp Tonsai is very close by and can be reached via a short walk – which is true for all things in that area as there are no streets and cars.
At the Basecamp, you can put your name on the list for the DWS tour the next day (price as of March 2026: 1500 baht). They need a minimum number of participants, but you can also go ahead and pay a bit more if not enough people sign up. Luckily, the required number was already reached by the time I added my name. So everything was set for the next day!
We met at the Basecamp around 11AM, grabbed some gear and lunch (they also had climbing shoes if you didn’t bring your own), and then walked down to the beach where a longtail boat was already waiting for us. From there, it was a short ride along the coast to the climbing spots.
There were basically two routes to try: one on a fairly vertical wall and another one that was more overhanging. The difficulty felt somewhere around 5c — not super easy, but definitely manageable if you have some climbing experience. The height was probably in the range of 10 to 15 meters, which honestly feels a lot higher when you know there’s no rope and you’re going to drop straight into the water.
Even when not climbing, it was just really fun to watch everyone else giving it a go! After a few rounds of climbing, we headed by boat to a small, really beautiful beach where we had lunch and did a bit of casual bouldering on the rocks nearby. Nothing too serious, just messing around and enjoying the setting.
All in all, the whole trip lasted a bit over four hours and felt like a perfect mix of adventure, climbing, and just hanging out in an incredible place.