Phang Nga Bay

Phang Nga Bay has to be on everyones "must do" list when visiting Phuket. The scenery in the bay is stunning with limestone cliffs and rocks climbing from the water, mangroves and jungle toppped pinnacles. If you had your own sailing boat you could cruise around for days. Some parts are quite remote and can be reached on multi day kayak tours, but most people visit on a day trip or half day tour, and they come in their hundreds on a daily basis. However you do it, Ao Phang Nga is undeniably beautiful, just you may need to carefully frame photos to keep the people out of the picture.

If you want the place to yourself, wake up really early, drive your car up to Phang Nga and hire a longtail boat. We drove up last Sunday, me and my wife, 2 kids and my mum. A really early start was not on the cards, but we were there by 10am at the National Park Pier. Not early enough to beat the crowds but Phang Nga Bay is still a great place to visit.







Best to let the pictures do the talking, worth a thousand words and all that. We hired our own longtail for 1200 Baht and chugged around for about 4 hours. I think we hired Thailand's slowest longtail, but no matter, it was ours and that sure beats being on a tour. It was a hot day, and we were glad we had taken some bottles of water on the boat, though we were also able to get refreshments at Koh Panyee, the floating village (half of which is now tourist restaurants). If you stop at Panyee, walk through the restaurants and souvenir stalls and you can wander around the village. You will probably get lost in the maze of narrow walkways. My mum paid a kid 20 Baht to help her find the restaurant again :)







We stopped at the very well known James Bond Island. Here you need to pay a National Park fee of 200 Baht. Lots of steps up and down along a narrow path take you to a small beach with a view of Koh Tapu, the rock that sticks up in many postcards. Don't let the photos fool you, it's pretty crowded! Lots of stalls selling jewellery and shells and tourist tat. Look the other way and it's great.



 



The main island you land on is actually called Khao Ping Gan (spell it how you like). The name refers to a leaning rock which is impressive. There are also a few little caves you can climb into. The kids enjoyed the caves. The famous little island that sticks up is called Koh Tapu. Smaller than most people expect, but very picturesque nonetheless. Now, where did I put my golden gun?

 



Actually, "James Bond Island" is the only crowded place aside from the restaurants at Koh Panyee - I think if we do this again, next time I will ask the longtail driver to land us on the other side of Panyee..and maybe we'll try to get up earlier...

Phang Nga Bay - Useful Links

• Phang Nga Bay National Park - Official Website
• Phang Nga Bay info on Phuket.com
• Phuket Hotels
• Phang Nga and Khao Lak Hotels