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Why is Phang Nga Bay so famous?
#phangnga #jamesbondisland
Contemporary culture has made Phang Nga an icon of cinema lovers around the world. It has become the most famous island in the bay, in part due to its roles in several epic movies. James Bond Island is named after the main character of the film in which he was portrayed. This needle-shaped limestone rock protruding from the water appeared in the feature film The Man with the Golden Gun. Zatoka also appeared in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. Its distinctive appearance was used as the backdrop for the planet Kashyyyk.
Location ?
Phang Nga Bay can be found in the Strait of Malacca. This paradise of Thailand is located between the mainland of the Malay Peninsula and Phuket. The area is surrounded by beautiful views and invites tourists to explore further. Here you will discover native nature, pristine rivers and some of the most intriguing caves in the world. In fact, much of the bay is now protected so that this natural beauty will stay with us for a very long time. The protected areas are located in AO Phang Nga National Park, which is just one of the many recreational areas that you can enjoy while visiting Phang Nga Bay.
How to get here ?
Most visitors to this area arrive by plane to Krabi or Phuket International Airport. Both are easily accessible by boat to Phang Nga Bay. There are many tour operators, and the average one usually runs to James Bond Island and the gypsy village of Ko Panyee. Tours also include stops on the smaller islands as well as adventures such as kayaking in the sea and snorkeling. Visitors will have no problem booking a tour that suits their personal interests. Those who come by bus from Bangkok can go to Panga Gna. There is a boat terminal there, from which you can also rent a boat to Phang Nga Bay.
What does the bay have to offer?
The hallmark of Phang Nga Bay is, of course, Koh Tapu, or James Bond Island.
It has brought immense popularity to the bay. It was chosen by the set designers for a reason, because this place is phenomenal. A small beach sandwiched between the rocks in front of which stands a majestic nail-shaped rock. The rocks hide caves inhabited by birds.
Many say that this island is "must see",
but are you sure?
The trouble is, it's hard to enjoy your stay in a place like this with hundreds of tourists jostling their way to capture the rock at the best angle. Definitely not our fairy tale. This place is worth seeing, but it is not worth wasting time since there are so many beautiful attractions in the area.
So if your priority is to bring a photo from Bond Island from your vacation, this will be a place you cannot miss, otherwise move on :-)
Ticket for an adult is 400 baht
Floating Village - Koh Panyi
Another point loved by tourists is Koh Panyi, a famous village inhabited by Muslims. The village is built mostly on water and tied to the island.
All tours, short lunch breaks and shopping stop here. Seemingly nothing interesting happens on the spot. That's a village that sails :-). Several restaurants and stalls, plus a mosque that serves as a meeting place for the local community.
People living in the village are incredibly positive about life. They do not look for limitations in possibilities, but opportunities in limitations imposed on them by their location. We could write and write about this place, which we will do in a separate post.
You will be interested in the fact that local boys built a football field here - a floating football pitch, and they won the primary school national championship several times. So as you can see everything is possible :-)
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It is worth staying here longer than just for lunch. Dive deeper into the village and see how the inhabitants live with all their belongings floating on the waves of Phang Nga Bay.
Hong Island - we canoe in a cave!
Another place that we should not pass, and in fact pass indifferently, is the nearby island of Hong. The word "hong" in the Thai language means room. In this case it is a cave that we can only get to by sea, which looks like a cylinder inside. The place is phenomenal, there are numerous smaller caves around it, some so narrow that there is only a canoe and so low that when entering, we have to lie down completely on the bottom of the kayak.
All this makes exploring the island an amazing experience, with a bit of luck you will meet monkeys, lizards and numerous crabs there.
The area is under protection of a national park ranger, so the entrance fee is 300 baht for an adult and 100 baht for a child.
Cave of Birds or Flamingos?
So how is it with this cave after all? Local guides informed us that it was a bird cave, with an inscription at the entrance to a flamingo cave. It was hard to find anything about this cave on Ko Sawang Island. We really wanted to see a completely different place, but the boys from LongTail Boat convinced us that it is a gem that we cannot miss.
Indeed, the cave makes an electrifying impression, it is strewn with huge stalactites, inside it is light only in the next chambers it gets dark. You can't even see the entrance from the outside, while from the inside it looks like a hollow rock. As for a cave that was supposed to be inhabited by birds, we did not notice any signs of bird existence. However, we encountered a rock formation that resembled a flamingo standing on one leg, hence its name.
In the movie you will find a map with the location of this epic place. It could easily become the scenery for the next part of Star Wars or the adventures of Indiana Jones.
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Is that all?
None of these things, the bay has so much more to offer. There are a dozen or so similar caves in the area, the biggest attraction are those that can only be accessed by diving.
Within a few kilometers there are Koh YaoYai and Noi, Koh Phak Bia and the famous Koh Hong - these are amazing places, definitely less crowded, each with an amazing story about which we will tell you in the next posts!
Traveller & Blogger
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