About
five kilometers to the west of Phang Nga is the town
pier, where boats can be hired by the hour or the
day to view the spectacularly beautiful scenery around
Phang Nga Bay. Although home to a wide variety of
marine and coastal creatures, including the tow metre
long water monitor, most people visit the park to
marvel at and sail through and around the many looming
karst towers.
Widely available boat
tours visit all the main sites. It's possible to hire
canoes or kayaks to explore the bay, though many visitors
prefer to stay in nearby Krabi or Phuket and take
motor boat. The advantage of exploring by sea kayak
is the quietmess and tranquility, as well as the opportunities
offered to slip in and out of low caves and hidden
lagoons.
Ko Panyi is massive
karst out crop in the lee of wihich a prosperous Thai
Muslim fishing village shelters from the Southwest
Monsoon. Most visitors would agree that Ko Panyi is
one of the most interesting and applealing islands
in Phang Nga Bay. It is indeed very beautiful, and
the unusual location of the stilted Muslim fishing
village, together with the unexpected mosque and minaret,
has provided the inhabitants of Ko Panyi with an unexpected
and welcome additional source of income in the years
since the advent of tourism. Although the island has
become commercialized, the people are remarkably open
and friendly.
Other sites to visit
include Khao Khian or "Drawing Mountain",
so called for its rock murals. The island has a cave
containing presumed prehistoric murals of people and
of animals such as sharks, crocodiles and dolphins.
Then, there's Ko Khao Tapu or "Nail Mountain
Island", Khao Maju or "Poodle Mountain",
Tham Lawt or "Tunnel Cave" and Tham Nakk
or "Dragon Cave".
Ko Yao Noi and Ko Yao
Yai are two large islands which dominate the center
of Phang Nga Bay and are about equidistant between
Phuket and Krabi. Perhaps the best known of all the
islands is Ko Phing Kan, or "Learing Island",
also widely known as James Bond Island. This precipitous
karst tower was made famous in the James Bond movie
"The Man With the Golden Gun". The famed
rocky outcrop rising sheer from the waters of Phang
Nga Bay is considered by many the destination for
visitors to the park.
Nakha Noi Island, home
of the Naga Pearl Farm, is billed as 'the only South
Sea pearl farm in the world open to the public the
year round'. It's an attractive island, with good
food and a clean beach.
