Emerald Pool & Tiger Cave Temple
A spring-fed emerald pool in the jungle, with the 1,260-step Tiger Cave Temple nearby for the view.
The Emerald Pool (Sa Morakot) is a spring-fed limestone pool in Khao Phra Bang Khram Nature Reserve, 70km east of Krabi. Entry is 200 baht and a half day covers the pool, the Blue Pool and the boardwalk. Come at opening — by 10am it is a queue.
Prices and hours are our current best information, not a published rate. Confirm on the day before you travel.
A spring-fed emerald pool in the jungle, with the 1,260-step Tiger Cave Temple nearby for the view.
The pool sits at the head of a stream that runs through lowland rainforest on the edge of the Tenasserim hills. The colour comes from dissolved limestone minerals and the depth of the pool — a translucent jade that goes nearly black at the centre. A 700-metre boardwalk leads from the pool to the Blue Pool, a smaller, deeper spring that is not safe to swim in but is extraordinary to look at.
The pool is a genuine natural swimming hole — cold, clear and surrounded by rainforest. The temple's climb is brutal and the panorama is the best in Krabi.
What you’ll actually see
- The Emerald Pool itself, warm, waist-deep at the edges and 3 metres in the middle
- The Blue Pool, 700 metres along the boardwalk — an impossibly clear sapphire spring
- The rainforest boardwalk, with hornbills and gibbons if you are early
- The stream below the pool, where the water is cooler and there are fewer people
How to visit it well
- Go at 7am; the pool is empty and the light is green.
- Wear shoes for the temple climb — the steps are steep and hot.
- Combine both in one morning; they are 20 minutes apart.
Mistakes worth avoiding
- Arriving after 10am when the tour buses from Krabi and Phuket arrive
- Swimming with sunscreen on — it damages the spring and the park asks you not to
- Expecting the Blue Pool to be swimmable; it is fenced off and 200 baht fine
Is it worth it?
Worth the early start. It is the best swimming hole in southern Thailand and the Blue Pool is genuinely startling. Go at 8:30am, swim first, then walk the boardwalk. Combine it with Tiger Cave Temple on the way back.
Common questions
Be at the gate for the 8:30am opening. By 10am the pool has 200 people in it and the boardwalk is a queue.
About 70km east, roughly 1 hour 15 minutes by car through Khao Phanom.
Yes, in the main pool. The Blue Pool is fenced off — it is 2.5 metres deep with no safe exit — and swimming there carries a fine.
Yes, arguably better — the forest is at its greenest and the pool is full. The boardwalk can be slippery.
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Last updated: October 2026 · Prices and hours checked by Nattapong Srisuwan