Wandering James Bond Island with your best pistol pose!

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James Bond Island is one of those iconic Thailand destinations that you feel you must see! But it was always something I put off due to its out-of-the-way location. You’ll need a speed boat or a longtail boat to get there. The Island and the big rock that everyone delights in photographs are found in the Andaman Sea in Phang Nga Bay. It is closest to Phuket but tours also depart from Krabi.

Why Visit James Bond Island?

Well putting aside the real reason which is that Phang Nga Bay is in my mind the most wonderful boating experience in the region. Those blue waters, endless islands, and wondrous limestone rock formations are simply gorgeous.

Of course, there is only one other answer to this! It’s for your very own 007 pilgrimages. I mean who doesn’t like to think of themselves as Bond, James Bond? Or as a Bond Girl, although these days I’m frankly more of a Miss MoneyPenny! Who am I kidding? I was never a James Bond girl, but we can but dream.

Yes, this island was made famous by the James Bond movie: The Man with a Golden Gun.

How to get to James Bond Island?

We lived in Thailand for six years and had never been. It always seemed too much faff, and anyway, who wants to go where everyone else wants to go? Not me!

OK, so I did really want to go here. Just out of interest, just to take a few pics! Just to dream on…

The simplest way to visit is on an organised tour, so thank you Klook for your kind invitation, this was definitely the easiest way to visit James Bond Island.

Generally, I’m not into group tours, and you won’t catch me doing all the cheesy must-have photos of a place. Often.

Our James Bond Island Klook Tour

I wonder if James Bond Island was going to be one of those shaken, not stirred destinations, where you join a mad dash of long-tail boats to get to a destination swarming with tourists. Once there, whilst you are pleased to tick it off your Thailand Bucket List you find it, as some have described it as somewhat underwhelming.

I understand this comment in many ways, the star of the show is not James Bond Island itself. This place is touristy and full of souvenir sellers, but what is gorgeous is the stunning Phang Nga Bay setting, my previous visit to the Samet Nangshe viewpoint proved that. What I enjoyed about this tour was that James Bond Island was one of four attractions visited. I was happy to explore the region in greater depth.

Hotel Pick Up

My James Bond Island & Canoe Tour included a pick-up from my Phuket Resort. This door-to-door service is a lovely way to visit the island. The mini-bus stopped to collect other guests on the way but not in an annoying ‘let’s drive all around Phuket’ in a random pick-up sort of way! We had a nice mix of nationalities and ages on board from friends, couples, and me, the old bird on my tod.

We were soon chatting away and sharing travel tips.

Suwan Kuha Cave

The journey to James Bond Island was broken up by a stop at Suwan Kuha Cave, otherwise referred to as Monkey Cave. This ancient cave is known for its fine Buddha images and stupas. The exact age of the temple in the cave is uncertain but it is at least dated from 1858 and is notable for royal monograms from a visit in 1890 by His Majesty King Chulalongkorn (King Rama 5) and King Rama 6 who visited as Crown Prince in 1909, amongst others royal dignatories.

The fifteen-meter reclining Buddha was a reflective and calming start to our day. Outside children were enjoying feeding flocks of pigeons but beware there were some pesky monkeys on the prowl for food.

Long Tail Boat ride

From the cave, it was a short drive to board a long-tail boat. Once on board, we whizz through the calm waters, past the mangroves for a 30-minute trip. It’s a wind in our hair lovely way to enjoy the stunning Phang Nga Bay National Park scenery. The staff are a lot of fun and of course, they delight in bringing out a replica golden gun as we arrive at the island.

Khao Ta Poo (James Bond Island)

James Bond Island is part of Ao Phang Nga National Park

My advice is to be first off the boat and head to the viewpoint as quickly as possible for people-free photos. Once you reach the rock engraved with the words James Bond Island take some photos here, then follow the pathway on your left that leads to a higher vantage point for better views.

The Man with the Golden Gun

You can’t help but think of the impact of films around the globe. Thailand’s Tourism owes a lot to this. Here we all are in a remote out-of-the-way part of Thailand all gathered to look at a rock!

I’m thinking too of Leonardo Di Caprio and The Beach, which has brought millions of people to Maya Bay and Phi Phi Island. As I look around, the majority of people visiting were probably not even born when the film was released in 1974.

The Klook staff are on a roll with the entertainment and are happy to be your official photographer if you are traveling solo like I was. I’m not sure I would have been into all the poses had I had my family rolling their eyes at me. I was soon joining in holding the rock appearing through a heart-shaped hole cut in a leaf, and of course, with the golden gun pistol pose!

There were a fair amount of souvenir sellers around. It’s frantic and busy and slightly chaotic with everyone trying to get a people-free photograph. I’m not sure many will feel stirred by the emotions that you are actually at James Bond Island unless perhaps you are a mega Bond fan.

However, despite the people, it is actually quite fun, especially joining in the Bond pictures with random strangers!

You can see more on my short YouTube video below:

For more information on James Bond Island here at the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s website.

Ta Lu Island

The next stop is Ta Lu Island where we get on a floating pontoon in the middle of nowhere, well that’s not exactly true we’re in the Strait of Malacca the GPS on my phone says!

Sea Kayaking

We partner up for our sea kayaking experience. I’m happy to join with a lass from Singapore who kindly offers me the front seat of our pink blow-up Kayak. This in itself sounds like the opening line of a movie and yet I’m hopeful given the kayaks look more like inflatable sun loungers than a canoe, of a peaceful paddle.

We head off flat on our backs being paddled into the great unknown of a sea cave adventure. I’m reminded of the James Bond quote: ‘I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time”.

Let’s go adventuring!

The good news is that boat has a guide who paddles us. We just sit there and enjoy the view, and duck occasionally at the points where we are heading into areas with overhanging rocks.

Sea Caves

Our guide shows us around the sea caves, pointing out the areas of interest. He does a great job of avoiding the others in our group. These blow-up kayaks are surprisingly stable!

Photography

I do smile though when it appears he’s been to the same arts and craft school and gets out an identical naff love heart in a leaf to take our photos! Later I find a series of blurry leaf photos on my phone. I mean 10/10 for effort but I’m not quite sure where the fascination for leaf heart photos has come from in this part of the world.

Note! This may not be the tour for you if you have dodgy knees or are unsure of clambering in and out of the kayak.

Pan Yee Floating Village

Once safely back into the longtail boat, we head off to Pan Yee the floating Muslim village for lunch. This small island is made up of 200 bright shacks. The Islanders either make their money from fishing and tourism so its good that the tour outs back into the local community through our lunch.

The island is dominated by two things, one is the Mosque, and the second is a 16 x 25m floating football pitch. As a Crazy Football Mum in another life, the story of how the kids wanted to play football and organized a floating football pitch to be installed is truly heartwarming.

I have included a short YouTube video for those who are interested below..

Lunch at Pan Yee Restaurant was nothing exciting but it did give the opportunity for a wander amongst the single-story stilt houses for souvenir shopping. I find the sellers quite pushy compared with elsewhere in Thailand but I guess they know that after lunch we all get on the boats and leave, they have limited times to sell their wares.

The details

I joined the Klook tour: James Bond Island & Canoe Tour by LongTail Boat. This full-day tour from Phuket starts at 8 am

Includes: 4 attractions, transportation, entrance fees, lunch, canoe, and guide. (Kayak guide tip was extra)

For more James Bond fun catch me on

TikTok: Little Wandering Wren YouTube: Little Wandering Wren Instagram:

Final thoughts

This tour gave me the opportunity to see James Bond Island and appreciate the beauty of Phang Nga National Park. At the end of the day, I couldn’t help but think what a fabulous tour that has given us a variety of rich Thai cultural experiences. From the reclining Buddha in the cave to Sea Kayaking and exploring the limestone rock features. James Bond Island is offered as the star of the tour, and certainly it has the most beautiful setting of the four attractions visited. I was pleased that Klook had compiled additional activities.

All in all an enjoyable tour.

Disclaimer: Little Wandering Wren was an invited guest of Klook all thoughts and opinions are my own. I am not currently working as an Affiliate of Klook and I am happy to share this tour and information.

For more in Southern Thailand see:

• Wonderful Weekend Wanders: 500 Rai Floating Resort
• La Moet Boat Tour Phuket
• Live Like Locals Phuket
• Samet Nangshe viewpoint

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