Tonsai Climbing Partners

Hello! I will be headed to Tonsai and the surrounding area March 5 through April 15 and am looking for people to climb with and possibly split lodging costs with. It my first time there and any beta would be much appreciated!

You'll easily find some one to climb with, just head down to the beach or ask around at breakfast......

No shortage of people to climb with there....

1.Take the longtail boat from Ao Nang beach directly to Tonsai NOT fom krabi.
2. If you can stay at Pasook resort, they're the shit. If you plan on staying for a couple of weeks pay per week and you may get a discount
3. If mamas has a huge line, go to boatmans which is in the alley to the left of sunset bar. Their food is excellent and you won't have to wait an hour to eat
4. If the classic routes are busy, go to other crags that are further away. The keep is one of the best crags but most people don't go because "it's too far". GO! Don't let the approach intimidate you, it's worth it!
5. If you feel solid leading 5.12 you have to do a multipitch on the thaiwan wall called 'lord of the Thais'. One of the best 5.12s I've ever climbed!
6. Two fries eggs on top of most meals is WINNING!

I think that' covers about everything crucial. Have a blast, that place is a special paradise!

Oh and one last thing, take care of your toes... Tonsai is known for fucking toes up. Last thing you want is to be fighting infection

I personally thought the place was a dump. Over- priced, smell of raw sewage, very average food. Not the mention the obnoxiously noisy long tail boats that run from sun-up to sun-down.

Things I enjoyed - deep water soloing with "Hot Rock". Definately go with them, they have a yacht. Climb at "The Keep" if technical 6c -7a routes intrest you.

Jason

Some of what Jason says in true, but don't let it deter you. Tonsai is still an incredible place.

+1 for the keep. climbed there once on christmas day when other crags were a zoo (picture) and was alone at the keep

tonsai on christmas day

some of the crags that require navigating high/low tide can also be good

finding partners will be real easy, just go hang out down by the freedom bar/beach

i would recommend deep water soloing with basecamp tonsai, have the best guides based upon my experiences

best guidebook is by wee changrua

enjoy!

thanks guys i'm planning on figuring things out in tonsai and mabe meeting some people who are dow to go climb in phuket or some other places near by. think i need a sleeping bag or just a silk liner sack? rain coat?

My two cents:

Finding partners is a breeze.

Dont worry about the sleeping bag. I slept naked on top of all the sheets with a fan on every night. a light weight liner might be nice just to keep yourself off the irregularly washed sheets at most guesthouses.

I vote for avoiding phuket. It was the worst region I stayed in my 3 months in SE asia. Mega-touristy in a really bad way. However, if you fly in there, you can ferry to koh phi phi, (climb for a few days and go scuba if youre into that) and then move on to tonsai from there

Raincoat for sure. Cheap plastic ponchos are nice too though, cause theyll cover your gear while hiking back from the crag

Escher wall is another crag that most people wont hike to. Good climbing there.

The jungle trail is not bad. its a great way to get back and forth between tonsai and railay.

Local Thai is the best food on the peninsula.

Drink lots of Chang

cheers man any deep water soloing advice can you just get to it all from tonsai? heard alot about chicken island as well

Just got back from my first trip, an amazing experience. Don't sweat finding partners, just head down to Tonsai Roof/Dum's Kitchen in the afternoon and be friendly. Loads of people all the time. With in a few days you will have partners, and have figured out all the Tonsai logistics you are concerned about now.

I did a couple DWS trips with Basecamp Tonsai, they were great. Get on the Sunset Trip if you can, they do them twice a month. Twice we also just went to the beach and negotiated with the longtail boatmen to take us out for the day. If you have a few friends it's a bit cheaper than the guided trip, but the guided trips feed you lunch and water, plus they have ladders for getting onto the wall.

GO TO KO LAO LIANG. By far the best part of my trip. It's on mountain project, and it is damn near perfect. Great rock, idyllic island, none of the downsides of Tonsai.