Exploring "James Bond Island"

After exploring the Muslim fishing village on Koh Panyee, we hopped back in our long tail boat to continue our tour of the beautiful Phang Nga Bay. This part of southern Thailand is dotted with spectacular limestone karst islands, and the next on our schedule was the famous Ko Khao Phing Kan, more commonly known as “James Bond Island”.

Getting to James Bond Island

The island became famous after the 1974 James Bond film “The Man with the Golden Gun” was filmed here, therefore taking on its now more commonly used name, James Bond Island.

From Koh Panyee, it was only a short boat ride to the island, and ignoring the many boats and other tourists, I could instantly see why they chose to use the island as the villain’s secret hideout in the movie. Two tall, rugged limestone karsts rise up out of the water, with a tiny beach connecting them in the middle. As we arrived at the beach, trying to find room to pull in next to the parking bay of long tailed boats, I noticed lots of sea caves in the cliffs, along with hordes of tourists inside of them.

Sea caves line the cliffs of the island

Exploring James Bond Island

We all stumbled off the boat and splashed down into the warm tropical waters, which I was pleased to see were crystal clear and free of rubbish, and we were then free to explore the island.

The parking bay for long tail boats

The central beach was completely covered in tourists and also has a line of makeshift shops selling various souvenirs. Passing quickly by them we took the short walk over to the opposite side of the beach, where we got our first view of the famous Ko Tapu, a tall limestone spire that rises up out of the water and is a draw card for tourists.

Dodging all of the people getting their photos taken of them pretending to hold up the spire, I took a few photos and then continued up the trail that follows around the cliffs of the island.

A boat makes it’s way past Ko Tapu

The rocky path climbed up and down part of the rugged limestone cliff, and came down onto another, less crowded beach on the other side. The beach itself cut in under the cliff, providing some great shelter from the sun. With less tourists we were also able to stop and stand out in the water and take in the true beauty of the island.

A less crowded beach on James Bond Island

Another view of Ko Tapu

We made our way back to where the boat was waiting for us, and with some time to spare I decided to climb up and explore some of the sea caves that are cut into the cliffs of the island. The hordes of tourists that were in there when we had arrived had now disappeared and I had the place to myself.

Inside the caves

The limestone caves have some amazing rock formations, and looking out onto the sea the formations provided “windows” to view the boats coming in and out of the small bay.

Looking out from the caves

Looking through the “windows” of the caves

The caves were interesting to explore, and after taking a few more photos I made my way back to the beach, where we hopped back into the boat to continue our journey.

Our long tail boat at James Bond Island

To be honest, Ko Khao Phing Kan is a huge tourist draw card, and it’s not somewhere to go to have a peaceful island escape. However, it is without a doubt a very beautiful place, it’s very photogenic and also, who wouldn’t want to visit the secret hideout of the villain from a James Bond movie?

Have you been to James Bond Island in Thailand? What did you think?

How to visit James Bond Island

Ko Khao Phing Kan (James Bond Island) is located in Phang Nga Bay, just off the coast of Phuket in Thailand. You need to get a long tail boat from Phuket to visit James Bond Island. The easiest way to join a tour that visits other islands around Phang Nga Bay. Private tours also available. Most hotels and guesthouses in Phuket can help you organise a tour. Here are a few to choose from if you want to book in advance.