Climbing the 1260 Steps to Tiger Cave Temple, Krabi

Tiger Cave Temple, also known as Wat Tham Suea, is a Buddhist temple located just northeast of Krabi Town in Thailand. It’s one of the most sacred temples in Krabi Province — likely due to the legend that tigers used to roam the area and rest in the caves here.

Today, Tiger Cave Temple is famous for the supposed tiger paw prints in the cave, impressive Buddha statues, and the challenging climb to reach the summit. The climb requires you to hike 1260 winding steps up and around a limestone mountain to reach it, which makes for a fairly incredible workout.

After several days of relaxing on Thailand’s beaches, I was keen to do something active. And while I wouldn’t say the climb up to the temple is technically challenging, nor will it take you very long, it is quite hard work.

How to get to Tiger Cave Temple

Tiger Cave Temple is located just 10 minutes from Krabi Town or 30 minutes from Ao Nang. It’s a well-known destination and so arranging transportation is easy.

By motorbike: Many backpackers opt to get to Tiger Cave Temple by motorbike, which costs roughly 150-200 baht (4-6 USD) to rent for the day.

By songthaew: The songthaew doesn’t go right up to the entrance of Tiger Cave Temple, so you’ll need to walk a short distance at the end. The prices can vary, but it should be about 150 baht from Ao Nang or 50 baht from Krabi.

Private taxi: A private taxi should cost 300 baht return. Don’t be afraid to haggle to get a reasonable price!

By joining a tour: If you don’t want to navigate yourself, there are many tours to Tiger Cave Temple available from Krabi Town and Ao Nang. These are usually combined with other highlights in the region, such as the Emerald Pool, hot springs or waterfalls, making it a full-day trip. This day tour is a good option.

How long does it take to hike to Tiger Cave Temple?

Tiger Cave Temple sits at 270 metres and requires you to walk up 1260 steps to get there. There is a sign at the bottom of the stairs that says there are 1237 steps to the top, but the staircase has since been renovated and the climb is now 1260 steps. Every step matters when you’re climbing in the heat!

Depending on your fitness level, it will likely take you anywhere between 40 minutes to an hour. There are several benches on the way up to sit and take a break if needed, so you can certainly take your time.

All in all, I’d allow about 2.5 hours to give you enough time to ascend, explore the temple at the top, and descend.

Tiger Cave Temple entrance fee and costs

After spending the better part of a month in Thailand, we’d become accustomed to unexpected tourist-trap fees and anticipated that we’d have to pay to enter the temple.

However, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that entry to Tiger Cave Temple is completely free. Even the toilets inside the grounds were free!

There are donation boxes though, which go towards the upkeep of the sacred site. I happily donated some baht.

What to expect when hiking to Tiger Cave Temple — tough, but worth it

As a keen hiker, I was eager to tackle the climb to the top of Tiger Cave Temple. I’m reasonably fit, but I still found the 1260-stair climb to be a challenge — particularly in the Thai humidity. The steps differed in height and distance apart and many were quite uneven. That being said, many children and elderly people were successfully reaching the top, so I think that with the right attitude and preparation, most people can do it.

Thailand can get very hot and humid, particularly here in the south, so plan to hike Tiger Cave Temple early morning or late afternoon to avoid the midday heat. You’ll also be climbing over 90 flights of stairs, which means you’re going to sweat. Be sure to bring enough water and snacks to keep your energy levels up.

Unlike the name would suggest, there are obviously no tigers on this hike, but there are a lot of monkeys. These monkeys are seasoned pickpockets. They know that people keep food in their backpacks and will unzip, snatch and run. They successfully pinched a whole pack of biscuits from me, and given that I hadn’t had my rabies vaccinations, I wasn’t prepared to fight for them. Fortunately, they didn’t bother to climb up further than the first few hundred steps, so we were left alone after that.

As you climb, you’ll occasionally catch glimpses of the surroundings through the trees. The views are beautiful, showcasing the tropical rainforest and limestone karst mountains of the Kiriwong Valley.

Once we reached the top, we were treated to stunning 360 views of the surrounding area. The temple itself was staggering, with gold, ornate detailing and impressive Buddha statues peppered around the site. The sky was dark and stormy, and I personally think this made the temple look even better — dark and mysterious against the black sky.

While climbing up those 1260 steps was quite the challenge, Tiger Cave Temple really was a phenomenal reward.

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