Emerald waters, caves taken over by bats, a village on the Andaman sea and the most famous spy island in the world, are the characteristics that define the islands of the Phang Nga Bay, a wonderful place that invites you to live a unique experience.
An area with dozens and dozens of islands and islets that magically sprout in this sea of transparent waters, waters that seems to always take the color of precious stones: aquamarine, turquoise or emerald. The Bay of Phang Nga is located between Phuket, Phang Nga, and Krabi, and it is mainly a series of rock formations that make up most of the postcards and images of Thailand.
The main attraction of these islands is their limestone caves that seem to fly above the turquoise blue water, a calm and tropical landscape in which you will be able to breathe fresh air that you will undoubtedly enjoy a lot.
Known as the National Park of Ao Phang Nga, the bay has 400 square kilometers integrated by a large area at the northern end of the Strait of Malacca, in addition to 40 islands and a section of the main territory of the country, north of the island of Phuket.
Throughout the national park, you will find limestone caves and small sandy beaches. On the islands, with lots of vegetation and calm waters, you will find abundant wildlife, especially reptiles. Local fishermen still use four main canals that run through the park in a north-south direction and with multiple mangroves. It is the main mangrove forest in the country.
Magical places!
The most famous places in this bay are the James Bond and Koh Panyee islands, and both sites can be covered in excursions that depart from the north of Phuket allowing you to explore and get to know this incredible area.
James Bond Islands
James Bond Island receives a lot of tourists mostly from Phuket or Krabi, locally known as Ko Tapu or Nail Island, which became famous after the 1974 film, James Bond “The Man with the Golden Gun”, which was starring Christopher Lee and Roger Moore. After the release of the film, this island became a tourist destination, even more so than Thailand itself.
This famous island is located in the Ao Phang Nga National Park, and there you will find a steep rock monolith known as Ko Tapu, which is approximately 20 meters high. It is located about 200 meters from the coast of the pairs of islets known as Ko Khao Phingkan.
Ko Tapu is what has made this popular island an acclaimed tourist attraction, due to its presentation in the James Bond movie. This place has become a tourist destination of Thailand, for its enormous natural beauty, for the crystalline waters, for the mountains and the forests full of exotic vegetation.
Koh Panyee
In addition to being known for its natural beauty and other attractions such as its bay, it is also known for having one of the most successful soccer teams in Thailand: Panyee CF. This island is today a symbol of enthusiasm, overcoming and the spirit of teamwork.
The town is settled on the sea with its characteristic wooden houses built on pylons, and it even has a large mosque, but what mostly catches your attention is the floating football field.
To get to know Phang Nga, you will find tours of operators who organize different excursions to see the main tourist attractions of the bay, the vast majority follow the same route, so don’t worry too much about which one to pick, ou will surely pass magnificent landscapes, rock formations, hidden lakes, small beaches, and caverns.
In the tour, you will see Khao Ping Gan, one of the rocks that came out in the famous James Bond movie and that gives the name to some islands in the area.
If you are adventurous you can also hire a canoe in the park and visit some of the caves around these islands. There are even several day trips where you can spend the night on some beach and this way, you will discover hidden lakes, marshes, caves and islands that are only accessible by canoe.
The province of Phang Nga has been blessed with a wide variety of natural attractions, famous for its beautiful land, spectacular bay and the incredible islands; the national parks of Phang Nga have magnificent landscapes and different attractions. That definitely makes it a wonder you must visit.
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