Phang Nga Bay Andaman Sea

In the Andaman sea east of Phuket is Phang Nga Bay, 

to the north is Ranong and to the south east it's Krabi Province. In the tropical waters around spectacular stalactite formations popping out of the sea.The whole area has a much diversified flora and fauna and of course marvelous beaches.

The surrealistic landscape attracted several Hollywood film productions to shoot scenes in great movies like James Bond -the man with the golden colt-, the Beach with Di Caprio and other.

Phang Nga Bay and Andaman Sea

Dense green tropical fauna and turquoise pristine water 

Phang Nga Bay 

Karst Cliff 

Phang Nga Bay 

Limestone Cliff 

reflect the tropical sky in the dream like environment. Around the stalactites and in the hills are naturally formed caves which can be explored with the kayak. Naturally you can also swim or wade into the caves or hongs but be careful because when you move in on low tide the entrance could be closed up with water a bit later at high tide. 

At the entrance of Phang Nga Bay is the Muslim village on Koh Panyi built on stilts, the fishermen make more money with the tourists now as with the fish. Actually the whole area is virtually like an over-dimensional Swiss Emmenthaler cheese so many holes are in there.

Our boat moves slowly away from Phuket's Ban Rong pier and the six cylinder diesel which once drove a truck howls make us rush quickly along the mangrove forests through the canal to reach open water. We are 3 Roy from siamkayak.com, a native of Kentucky who turned into an flora specialist after some years in Thailand, Roy’s son Siva and me. The kayaks are stowed on top of the cabin. Roy goes again through the tides table we have to be back at the pier approximately by 3 pm otherwise, we will get stranded in the channel.

Phang Nga Bay Trip

Pretty islands of the Andaman Sea

From the hazy air the mighty bizarre-molded stalactites materialize, 

Phang Nga Bay James Bond 

Island Aerial Photo

Phang Nga Bay James Bond Island

they somehow shape the bay and the area southwards to Krabi, Trang and all the way down to the Malaysian border.  Somewhere left in the fog lays “James Bond” island, one of the old 007 films was partially made here. Further to the south is Phi Phi island where they did the exteriors shooting for the film ‘The Beach” with Leonardo Di Caprio, some indications of the unique landscape, a permanent playground for movie scouts.

Great kayaking

Orchid glue on Mangroves

We want to explore some of the islands with the kayak to find wild orchids, not to pick them, only to have a look. Since the exotic flowers “nest” in rock crannies usually far above or make it comfortably on the mangrove plants as parasites, also touching is not possible, however the colors and the graceful forms are unique and worth the trip.

After a deafening ride over the Andaman Sea

After a deafening ride over the flat waves, - the unmuffled diesel engine is fixed very loosely at the stern of the boat - , Thai like it the more noise the better  we swing in a turn and come to a halt, easily splashing in front of a mini atoll formed by a high rock formation. We glide into the turquoise water of and wade through the small opening just over the water surface into the rock formation, this is like an adventure fairy-tale, the upward open grotto opens up in a oval shape of approximately 50 x 30 m.

Crabs doze in the sand, shrimps run under the water surface, 

I withdraw the foot quickly as one of them comes to near, rainbow colored fishes move slowly, one could catch them with the hand to have a nice lunch. Tom Hanks was obviously at the wrong island at the wrong time in the stranded movie, or maybe only the script writer was out of date. Above, a wild horde of Fruit Bats screeches, huge, fat creatures, they have no natural enemies. Roy’s son paddles the kayak through the narrow opening above the water surface, a paradise setting. We find some Thai orchid virtually gluing on the Mangroves. Pretty small flowers, one probably wonders how they came to this place, but we are in Thailand, a standard phrase in Thailand is ..me luuu. meaning I don’t know, me neither.

We had a short swim in the splendid water and watched some long tale macaques which having fun jumping up and down on the mangroves they are not shy coming near to say hello, actually probably expecting some food.

We move back to the motor boat and the boatmen bang the 2 seated kayaks into the water.  I take the front seat, cover the cameras with the shirt from the sun and Roy take the paddle, Siva is following us in the red kayak to function as messenger to the mother boat if necessary, we better be a little organized.

Some diamond club plants are hanging down the rocky surface of the karst formation, they look like cactus but are from a other family and a good indication if you can expect orchids if they are there the pretty flowers are not far.

Uncountable schools of mini fishes swim along the limestone cliffs of moving quite orchestrated. We pass many green plants which found their niche of life on the stones. Orchid leaves are everywhere but naturally the blossoms are not there all the time since the preferred time is February to May, they only show their colors once per year. But there is an elegant way to have them visible all the time, visit the orchid nursery described later.

Consider the day trip 

as a prelude to a little intermezzo in the restaurant at the evening to get some fresh seafood into the stomach and to have a finale the next day at the nursery, don’t forget the camera. The best time at the “orchid farm” is around 5 pm since at that time the sunrays have the right angle to illuminate the precious flowers from the back to bring the colors out.

Anyway we are in a very positive mood but we have to move on since the air day indicated thunderstorm in the afternoon.  The long tail boat gains speed, we pass pristine beaches and some resorts; it’s a feast for the eyes. When we enter one more karst atoll through a narrow V a white bellow eagle materialized out from thick green jungle foliage sailing downwards from the top of the cliff. On the steep sloop many orchid leaves bending downwards, but as yet displayed no blooms. Within minutes the sky darkens into a dark blue mélange and fat drops of heavy rain bang down on us. We quickly get back to the boat and roll the blinds down to continuing another time, it’s worth it.

Exploring the Hong

A hong or room in Thai language is somehow a atoll where the coral reef is replaced by a circular karst formation which was a cave long time ago, with the time the top eroded fell down and the sun came in. Many times the hong can only be entered through a cave, since this cave is usually quite small only with a canoe or by swimming it is possible to enter. Be careful, only go with an experienced guide otherwise you might get locked when the tide comes.