James Bond Island (Khao Phing Kan)

Khao Phing Kan means "hills leaning against each other", and that's what you see as the boat pulls in, two halves of a limestone hill tilted together, with a narrow beach at their foot. The tour boats tie up at a small landing, and a path runs past souvenir stalls to the beach and the spot everyone lines up for, looking across the water at Ko Tapu, the thin spire that seems to stand on a point narrower than its top.

Ko Tapu means "nail island". It's about 20 m tall and about 40 m off the beach, and the national park has kept boats away from it since 1998 to slow the erosion at its base, so the photo is from the shore. At low tide the water drops back from the foot of the cliffs and you can walk into the shallow caves along the beach. That's the whole island, and on a busy day you'll share it with hundreds of people from other boats, which is why the timing of your tour matters more than which one you book.

James Bond Island is one stop on a day in Phang Nga Bay, and the other stops are the better part of it. Most Phuket tours leave between 07:00 and 08:30, drive you 45 minutes to an hour to a pier on Phuket's east coast, usually Ao Po, and then take 45 to 90 minutes by boat into the bay depending on the boat.

At Koh Panak and Koh Hong, guides paddle you in inflatable sea canoes through low tunnels in the rock into hongs, lagoons open to the sky inside the islands, timed to the tide. Lunch is usually at Koh Panyee, a Muslim fishing village built on stilts in the shelter of a limestone cliff, with a mosque, a school and a floating football pitch. Cover your shoulders there, because it's a community, not a resort. Most tours add a swim at a beach elsewhere in the bay and have you back at your hotel around 16:30 to 18:00.

From Phuket the choice is mostly the boat. A big boat with canoeing, about ฿1,500, is the calm, cheap option and the best with children. A speedboat, about ฿1,700, gets around the bay faster and fits in more stops, and a longtail tour, ฿1,400 to ฿1,800, is the most atmospheric and the slowest. Check whether the ฿300 park fee is in the price.

To miss the crowds, book the timing rather than the boat. A late-departure speedboat, about ฿2,700, reaches the bay as the day boats leave. John Gray's Sea Canoe runs Hong by Starlight, which picks up from 10:20, reaches James Bond Island at 13:00 and the Hong lagoons at 16:00, then serves dinner on board and finishes with a night paddle among bioluminescent plankton, back at your hotel around 21:00. It costs ฿3,950 with the fee and both meals, and it's the one I'd book.

If you'd rather add Phi Phi in the same day, some speedboats combine both. It's a long, rushed day for a short stop at each, and I'd split them.

From Krabi, James Bond Island tours leave from Nopparat Thara pier near Ao Nang and from Ao Thung pier, a 7.5-hour speedboat day with canoeing at Koh Hong and lunch at Koh Panyee. If a Krabi tour says Hong Island and doesn't mention James Bond Island or Koh Panyee, it's Krabi's own Hong Island, a different trip.

From Khao Lak, look for tours that start on the Phang Nga side rather than driving you down to Phuket. On Koh Yao Noi and Koh Yao Yai, in the middle of the bay, longtail captains run days to Koh Hong, and some go on to James Bond Island and Koh Panyee.

On your own, the bus from Phuket to Phang Nga town, about 88 km, runs roughly hourly for about ฿80 to ฿100 and takes 1.5 to 2 hours. The national park office and Tha Dan pier are about 5 km south of town, and longtail captains there and at Surakul pier take small groups around the bay for a price you agree on the spot. Leave early and you'll reach Khao Phing Kan before the Phuket boats arrive. You pay the ฿300 park fee yourself, in cash.

As a stop on a Phang Nga Bay day, yes. Ko Tapu is a genuinely strange sight, the limestone towers on the way in are some of the best scenery in southern Thailand, and the sea caves and Koh Panyee make it a full day. On its own, no. It's 20 to 45 minutes on a small, crowded beach lined with stalls, and plenty of reviews call it overcrowded.

Phi Phi or James Bond Island? Phi Phi for beaches, lagoons and snorkeling, about ฿2,500 to ฿3,000 by speedboat plus a ฿400 park fee. Phang Nga Bay for sea caves, karst towers and a calm sea, and it costs less. With time for one, pick by what you want from the day, and by the weather, since Phang Nga runs when Phi Phi is too rough.

The island was Scaramanga's hideout in The Man with the Golden Gun, Roger Moore's second Bond film, released in 1974, and it's been called James Bond Island ever since. Phang Nga Bay turns up again in Tomorrow Never Dies in 1997. Before the film, few travelers came. Now it's one of the most visited sights in the bay, part of Ao Phang Nga National Park since 1981.