Phang Nga bay is one of the main attractions of Thailand and is praised for its mesmerising rocky islands and turquoise waters. The bay is located inside the National park AO Phang Nga Bay.
Visitors usually spend a half-day or all day hopping from one island to another. You can go for a private boat or yacht or a speedboat shared with other visitors. Don’t forget to take sunglasses, lots of sunscreen, hats and water shoes with you! And towels and water would be useful too.
We started our trip at Boat Lagoon Marina in Phuket.
Our plan was to see the amazing stalactites of Panak island, ride a canoe on Hong island, visit the iconic James Bond island, visit the floating village by Panyee island, spot the ancient cave drawings Khao Khian, and have some free time on an empty beach somewhere if we can find it.
1. Panak island
Panak island as well as other islands in Phang Nga bay is pretty unique: it’s made from limestone (no volcanic activity was involved in its formation), and when it rains, calcium accumulates on the rocks forming huge stalactites.
They’ve been grown here for centuries – now the growth rate is about 1cm a year, as we’ve been told. Panak island is also known for its caves: you can go inside and observe the lagoons and mangrove forest. However the tide was really high today, and the entrance to caves was flooded, so we just observed it from the outside.
2. Cave drawings Khao Khian
Khao Khian, or Writing hill, is a historical cave on an island just past Koh Panyee – you can see prehistoric drawings of animals dating back to around 3000 years!
Historians think that the in the past the travellers who passed this spot by boat used to hide here from storms but the local legend suggests that a she-giant kidnapped a handsome prince and put him here in this cave, and he started to draw these animals he saw around. Can you spot a dolphin and a dugong here?
3. Floating village Koh Panyee
Can you imagine that inside the Phang Nga bay there is a real village where people live? You can reach it only by boat, as it is surrounded by water! You might need only 30 min there is it’s tiny and not many facilities are available but it’s still is worth a visit.
Koh Panyee is a Muslim floating village that sits on the island and the stilts in water around it. It was founded a few centuries ago by Indonesian families escaping Java.
Over 1500 people live here right now, and you’ll be surprised that they have so many facilities over here: a mosque, a school, and even a floating football field, the main sight of the village!
They have souvenir shops there, a few cafes – but overall I couldn’t stop thinking about the conditions these poor people live in.
The views around the island are unbeatable though.
4. James Bond island
James Bond island is a popular nickname for Khao Phing Kan (the larger island) and Ko Ta Pu (small 20 metre high island, the name translates as crab’s eye) where The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), one of the movies out of James Bond saga, was shot.
This is a beautiful cThere’s a tiny beach area on both sides of the major island Khao Phuong Kan packed with souvenir shops, a small passage around one side of Khao Phuong Kan, a toilet and several caves.
The caves on this island are stunning too: look how one part of rock leans against the other forming a cave! There were signs of danger but some tourists were still exploring the area.
We asked our captain to come there for the second time in hope that it’ll get less crowded there but all in vain, it’s the main attraction in the Phang Nga bay and it’s always very packed (probably except for sunrise). It was pretty hard to feel the natural aesthetic of this place due to the visitors and locals trying to sell souvenirs, however we’re happy that we ticked it off.
5. Hong island
Koh Hong, or Hong island, was probably my favorite spot during the trip! Its name means ‘room island’.
Yachts and boats are not allowed inside Hong island so if you’d like to see it from the inside, you have to go in a canoe. Once you get close to the island, one of the canoes approaches you and invites you to have a ride (you pay in cash at the end of the ride).
People who can take you inside on a canoe are local fishermen. They come in the morning to put their fish nets somewhere nearby, then during the day earn extra money by accommodating visitors and in the evenings collect their catch. Our canoe captain was very friendly (as almost everyone in Phuket, to be honest) and took pride in naming the rocks resembling various animals in a few languages.
We waited a bit till a big group from a large boat had gone – and look, there were just a few more canoes apart from us here! There are lagoons and caves you can visit depending on how high the tide is – for instance, we couldn’t get through this one – you can spot the entrance to the lagoon right there, it was just all covered with water at that moment.
Lagoon traffic wasn’t heavy at all, and we barely waited to get inside. However we still got a chance to visit other spots around the island such as this rock formation with an opening at the centre. We also spotted some local wildlife such as this giant jellyfish (probably Phyllorhiza punctata but definitely pretty stingy).
6. Private beach in Phang Nga bay
Our capital took us to a tiny wild beach on – probably – Koh Pha Nak – we were there totally alone and had a wonderful swim time! Such a pinch-me moment.
We also had guest visitors (but to be honest, we were the guest visitors): many islands of the Phang Nga bay area are inhabited by monkeys. Please remember: they usually are calm and non aggressive as long as you don’t stare at them, don’t tease them and don’t show them food (you don’t want to get rabies shots, right?). I’ve also never seen so many colourful large butterflies in the wild as here.
Remember to wear your water shoes though as there are a lot of rocks in the water you might not notice. Our captain from Hartt voyages also prepared a wonderful seafood picnic for us on board.
Final thoughts on Phang Nga bay
We had the most amazing day, and I highly recommend you to come here to the Phang Nga bay if you’re in Phuket, Krabi or somewhere else close to it.
Hiring a private boat / yacht is definitely more costly than coming with a tour but we felt it was totally worth it because we controlled where and for how long we could go (and on top of that, there were water, towers, food and even a toilet which made our trip much easier). We had our trip with the Hartt voyages (this is not an ad or sponsored link, just to be clear).
You might also like my other blogs:
Ayutthaya
15 sights of Bangkok
Temples of Bangkok
Bangkok with kids
Hope you liked my new blog!
Yours,
Anna xxx
