James Bond Island (Khao Phing Kan)

James Bond Island in a Phang Nga Bay day

Khao Phing Kan

The island the boats land on, two limestone hills leaning into each other with a small beach between them, souvenir stalls and caves you can walk into at low tide.

Ko Tapu

The spire from The Man with the Golden Gun, about 20 m tall and 40 m offshore. Boats have been kept away from it since 1998, so you photograph it from the beach.

Koh Panak and Koh Hong

The sea-canoe stops, where you paddle through caves into hongs, the lagoons hidden inside the islands.

Koh Panyee

The Muslim fishing village on stilts where most tours stop for lunch.

Park fee · ฿300

Ao Phang Nga National Park charges foreign adults ฿300 and children ฿150, in cash, if your tour doesn't include it.

James Bond Island is really two rocks. Boats land on Khao Phing Kan, a pair of small limestone islands that lean into each other, which is what the Thai name means, and the spire in every photo is Ko Tapu, about 20 m tall and 40 m off the beach. Together they played the villain's hideout in The Man with the Golden Gun in 1974, and the name stuck. Boats have been kept away from Ko Tapu since 1998 to protect its eroding base, so you look at it from the shore.

Is it worth it? On its own, barely. You get 20 to 40 minutes on a small beach lined with souvenir stalls, plus a cave or two you can walk into at low tide, and at midday it's shoulder to shoulder. But nobody goes for the island alone. It's one stop on a Phang Nga Bay day tour, and paddling a sea canoe through the caves into the hidden lagoons at Koh Panak and Koh Hong, then lunch at the stilt village of Koh Panyee, are what make the day. Book a tour with canoeing.

Group tours from Phuket cost about ฿1,500 to ฿2,800 with hotel pickup, leave from east-coast piers like Ao Po and have you back around 16:30. Agencies in Ao Nang sell the same day from Krabi, and longtail captains work the bay from Phang Nga town. On top of the tour, Ao Phang Nga National Park charges foreign adults ฿300 and children ฿150, in cash. Many tours include it, so check what your price covers.

To beat the crowd, change the hour. An early private longtail from Tha Dan pier, about 5 km south of Phang Nga town, reaches the island before the Phuket boats, and a late-departure speedboat from Phuket, about ฿2,700, arrives as they leave. November to April has the calmest water and December to February is the busiest stretch. The tours keep running through the rainy season because the bay is sheltered on three sides.