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Phang Nga is a province in Southern Thailand, facing the Andaman Sea. The closest airport is in Phuket – just a few minutes south of Phang Nga and connected with a bridge.
I visited Phang Nga as part of my trip to Thailand with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) this March/April for the first time and I loved it! My previous trips to Thailand had only taken me to North Thailand and the Gulf of Thailand (Ko Tao) and so I was super happy to finally see the famous Andaman coast too!
This trip was a fully organized and sponsored blogger trip by TAT as it was the prize of being one of the winners of the TAT Newsroom Blogging Competition 2019! Thanks so much to everyone who voted for my entry! I do have no obligation to write about anything regarding the trip (as it was a prize) – but I genuinely enjoyed traveling to Phang Nga that I, of course, want to share my experience with you!
As always (no matter if self-paid or sponsored – or, in this case, won) you will always get my honest opinion and I only recommend places and activities that I enjoyed doing and that I think you will enjoy too!
So, let’s see what you can’t miss in Phang Nga – this region is 100% worth visiting! And I can already tell you that it has even more to offer than the gorgeous Phang Nga Bay and its national park!
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Go kayaking in Little Amazon River
“Little Amazon” is a River in Takuapa District in Phang Nga on which you can go on a leisurely canoeing tour.
Your Thai guide will paddle you through it, so this is not a workout 😊. Just relax and hear, see and smell the nature around here. You will see lots of monkeys – playing in the trees and fighting for food. We heard, sometimes they even enter the tourist’s boat! If you are lucky, your guide might even spot a snake somewhere in the trees and show it to you!
The whole tour takes about an hour and is an absolute “Must Do” in Phang Nga!
Explore Takuapa Old Town
Takuapa Old Town is really a hidden gem in Phang Nga!
The cute little town has beautiful chino-Portuguese buildings. You can really see the history of a trade town here – very much like in Penang (Butterworth) in Malaysia. There were also beautiful street arts and cute little gardens here – and much to my surprise – not a single another tourist! I really love exploring off-the-beaten-path destinations in Thailand!
Come here, if you want to experience a beautiful and real Thai town with a unique historic Old Town!
We stayed at Natai Beach at the Natai Beach Resort and I can warmly recommend this place!
Eat some awesome local food
It goes without saying that you can’t travel to Thailand without eating some awesome local food! Luckily, high quality Thai dishes are not expensive at all – and I have some recommendations on places that even made it to the Michelin guide!
Krua Nong (Takuapa) is one of these restaurants. If you wouldn’t know it, it just looks as any other street food restaurant in Thailand. However, their kitchen is really clean and Michelin awarded them for one of their dishes too!
By the way, if you want to check all the places that I visited during my recent trip in March/April – I used an app called Wowanders to document and rate them all for you. You can find my custom Thailand itinerary under this link (including the restaurants I visited): My Trip to Thailand (Wowanders)
Take a bay trip to James Bond Island (Koh Ta-pu / Khao Phing Kan)
This is a place you will frequently find on Instagram – it’s one of the most instagrammed spots in Phang Nga Bay.
The real name of the island is actually Koh Ta-pu, but it is better known as “James Bond island”. Koh Ta-pu was seen in the movie “The man with the golden gun” – and to make the confusion perfect, you will actually land on Khao Phing Kan – Koh Ta-pu is only the small rock that makes the backdrop of so many pictures!
Due to its popularity, it can really get crowded. I would suggest, you only take a short stop here and then you move on in Phang Nga Bay! To me, this bay belongs on every Thailand itinerary!
Paddle along the fantastic limestone formations in Koh Hong (Lek)
Only a short hop from “James Bond Island”, Koh Hong lets you explore the fantastic limestone formations even better!
Tour boats frequently stop here and a local will offer to paddle you along this natural phenomenon. There is a reason why it is often named to be among the best islands in Phang Nga province. It’s well worth spending the money on this kayaking tour in Phang Nga Bay!
Koh Hong reminded me a lot of Big and Small Lagoon in El Nido – just less crowded and more relaxing (also, because you don’t have to paddle on your own :D)
See the Sunset from Samet Nangshe Viewpoint
Samet Nangshe Viewpoint is one of the best places to watch the sunset in Phang Nga Bay!
It is actually the location of a boutique hotel that offers bungalows and tents, but the café is open to the public and you even don’t have to buy anything in order to take your snapshot on the viewpoint! (Although, their Mango shake was delicious!)
However, Samet Nangshe Boutique Hotel is one of the most breathtaking hotels in the region – so it’s worth considering to stay here!
Go on an island escape to Koh Yao Noi/Yai
The islands of Koh Yao Noi and Koh Yao Yai have so much to offer, that you shouldn’t do them on a combined tour with James Bond island and Koh Hong as some tour operators offer.
Instead, take the ferry and explore those beautiful islands for at least 2d/1n – in my opinion, these are the best islands in Phang Nga Bay!
The islands are halfway between Krabi (from where you can also get to the world-famous Phi Phi island) and Phuket and have miraculously stayed a secret insider tip so far! Getter get there now 😊
I always love staying in lesser-known areas – like Port Barton in the Philippines for example!
On Koh Yao Noi and Yai, you can explore local handicrafts and relax on pristine beaches. The islands are still very authentic although tourism infrastructure is really good already. We learned how to batik at the Women Center, made bracelets out of Pandan leaves and visited a Coconut orchard as well as a lobster farm. If you come in the right season, there are also some gorgeous rice paddies to explore!
If you choose to stay on Koh Yao Yai for the night (do it!!!), try to book a room at Santhiya Resort Koh Yao Yai – this is seriously one of the most amazing places I have ever stayed in my LIFE! The whole eco-luxury resort radiates serenity – especially for couples, this is THE place to go. I already made Markus promise that we will go there together another time (as he couldn’t join the trip)!
Want to see all the places I visited during my trip to Southern Thailand?
It is often difficult to find the practical details of all the places mentioned in a blog post. Thus, I was using a new app during this trip called Wowanders to log all the details for you.
Wowanders is a new diary app for logging the hotels, restaurants, and sights you visit on your holidays. The app automatically suggests places to add to your trip based on the photos you take. What’s really cool is that it directly identifies the spots based on the location data of your phone’s picture! You can then rate the places and add comments about them too.
And you can choose to either keep your places private or share them with your friends. You can also share your diary outside the app as a website: you can find my whole Thailand itinerary here – you don’t even need the app to see it (even though it’s really cool!)!
See my whole Southern Thailand trip on Wowanders!
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