Thailand
Phang Nga Bay
A forest of vertical limestone monoliths bursting from green water like dragon's teeth.
The limestone monoliths rise from green water like something geological that forgot to stop. Dozens upon dozens of them, vertical, some barely wider than a longtail boat. Phang Nga Bay is one of the most visually dramatic seascapes on earth — a forest of stone columns growing out of the Andaman Sea.
Phang Nga Bay is a 400-square-kilometre marine park between Phuket and the Thai mainland, where more than forty karst towers — some near 300 metres — rise sheer from shallow green water. Many are hollow, hiding sea caves and collapsed lagoons called hongs that kayaks slip into at low tide. Khao Phing Kan has been James Bond Island since The Man with the Golden Gun filmed there in 1974 and draws the biggest crowds, but dozens of other formations go virtually unvisited. In the bay's north, the Muslim fishing village of Koh Panyee stands entirely on stilts over the water, and wooden junks run slow overnight cruises between the towers.
Couple
Dawn kayaks through the karst — slipping into sea caves on a dropping tide and surfacing in hidden lagoons — are private, cinematic moments; an overnight junk cruise keeps you inside the bay after the day boats leave.
Friends
Sea-kayak expeditions, island-hopping by longtail and karst scenery that photographs from every angle make an easy group adventure.
Family
Calm, sheltered water suits longtail tours with children, and Koh Panyee's stilt village plus the geological drama keep young imaginations busy without exertion.
- More than forty vertical limestone towers rise straight from the emerald water — some barely wider than a canoe.
- James Bond Island draws the crowds while dozens of other karst towers go virtually unvisited.
- Sea caves passable only at low tide open into hidden lagoons enclosed by sheer rock.
- A whole fishing village — Koh Panyee — stands on stilts over the bay's northern shallows.
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Hard-clam coconut curry with tender yod peng shoots.
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A citadel overhanging the sea on undercut white cliffs, with a staircase carved into the rock.
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Sunset surf sessions where pelicans dive-bomb the lineup and howler monkeys heckle from shore.
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Wild elephants block the tarmac road while hornbills beat the air above the canopy.
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A limestone monolith hiding twelve kilometres of pitch-black caverns and underground shrines.
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Thailand's rooftop, where twin pagodas pierce cloud forest and Karen villages farm the ridgelines.