Emerald Pool Krabi (Sa Morakot) and the Blue Pool

The site is a short walk through forest with three pools along it, and one ticket covers all of them. From the gate and parking lot, two routes lead to the Emerald Pool. The direct path is about 800 m on a wide trail, 10 to 15 minutes on foot. The nature trail is a 1.4 km loop on a raised boardwalk through the forest, past streams and smaller pools, and it takes about 20 minutes. I'd walk in on the boardwalk and out on the direct path, since the boardwalk is quieter and the better walk.

The pool is in Khlong Thom district, 55 to 60 km from Krabi Town, about an hour by car, and about 70 km from Ao Nang, roughly 1.5 hours. There's no practical public transport out here, so you have four ways to go.

The time of day matters more than the month. Be at the gate at 08:30. The tour vans start arriving from about 10:00, and by midday the pool is full, with weekends busier still because local families and school groups come too. If you can't make the morning, the last hour or two before 16:30 is the next best, though the Blue Pool path has closed by then.

For the month, November to April brings the clearest water and the Blue Pool open, and the Phuket weather station that Krabi follows records only 24 mm of rain in February and 50 mm in January. From May to October the rain builds, to about 350 mm in September and 336 mm in October, and guides describe the water as muddier. The pool still makes a good rainy-season day, because it's under the trees and unaffected by the swell that cancels the island boats, but expect the Blue Pool to be closed.

Swimwear, a towel, water shoes or sandals with grip for the slippery limestone, and insect repellent for the forest paths. Bring cash for the gate and parking. Several guides report that you can't take food into the sanctuary and have to leave it at the entrance, so eat before or after, and buy drinks at the café by the pool. A dry bag for your phone helps, and I'd leave valuables in the car or the tour van.

Khlong Thom has two hot springs, and they're often confused because both get called Krabi Hot Springs. Tours almost always mean the first one, and my Krabi hot springs guide compares them side by side.

Most Krabi agencies sell the Emerald Pool as a jungle tour, and the shape is the same everywhere. A van collects you around 08:00, you soak at the hot spring waterfall and swim at the Emerald Pool, lunch is a Thai set meal, and the full-day version ends at Tiger Cave Temple, with its climb of about 1,260 steps, before you're back around 17:30. A half-day version skips the temple and is back around 15:30. Some add the Blue Pool walk when it's open.

The prices aren't as far apart as they look, because many cheap tours leave the entry fees out. One Ao Nang operator lists ฿849 for the half day and ฿949 for the full day, then collects ฿400 for the Emerald Pool, ฿200 for the hot spring and ฿50 for Tiger Cave on top. Tours that include the fees cost more on paper and about the same in the end. I'd pick the full day if you want Tiger Cave without a separate trip, and a private car if you want the pool at 08:30, since group tours rarely arrive before the crowds.

Yes, if you go early or pair it with the hot springs. At 08:30 it's a clear green pool in the forest with a good boardwalk walk, and on a rainy day when the boats aren't running it's one of the best things to do in the province. At midday on a weekend it's a crowded swimming hole a long drive from the beach, and some visitors come away feeling it wasn't worth the trip. If you only have two or three days in Krabi and the sea is calm, I'd spend them on Railay and the islands and save the Emerald Pool for a wet day or a longer stay.