James Bond Island

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How to Visit & What to Expect at James Bond Island

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James Bond Island, locally known as Khao Ping Kan, is located about 25 kilometres northeast of Phuket Island, in the bay of Phang Nga. This unusual limestone rock formation is one of the many places in Phang Nga that people have on their Phuket must-do list. There are some positive and negative opinions about this iconic Island, and most are justified, but it is still an amazing place to see with your own eyes.

James Bond Island Video from above

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Before the 1974 Bond movie The Man With The Golden Gun with Roger Moore and Christopher Lee (remember ‘Count Dracula’ and ‘Saruman’ in The Lord of the Rings?), few travellers knew about the Island. The movie wasn’t good, with a 45% satisfaction score on Rotten Tomatoes, but the fame has continued growing. As of today, we bet most young visitors didn’t bother watching the film, but there is a chance that the bus that takes you from your hotel to the pier will play on board.

Of course, before James Bond Island, the Island had a local name: Koh Tapu, which means ‘Nail Island’ for the pointy rock, and Koh Phi Khan for the Island surrounding it, meaning ‘Hills leaning against each other ‘.

After the movie, the popularity of this remote Island exploded. The same thing happened for ‘The Beach’ in Phi Phi Island after the DiCaprio 2000 movie (19% on Rotten Tomatoes) and the Sky Bar at Lebua Hotel in Bangkok after the movie ‘The Hangover II” (33% satisfaction because we know you would ask).

What’s Good about James Bond Island?

Let’s see what’s right and what’s not about James Bond Island. You will be better positioned to decide whether to see or skip it.

The location is out of this world! The Island is in Phang Nga Bay, and even the cruise from Phuket Island through the fantastic limestone cliffs is breathtaking.
The Island itself is very scenic. It is a natural curiosity and a great photo opportunity, so the movie producers selected it.
It’s always fun to see the real thing from a movie, even old, and to realise there is no door to the secret lair and no radar coming out of the rock!
It’s part of a beautiful day trip to the fabulous Phang Nga Bay, and it usually includes lunch at the surprising floating village of Koh Panyi.
You can buy and eat some delicious flat-dried squid (Pla Mook Haeng). That’s if you like this kind of local treat 😀

What’s Not So Good

James Bond Island is a big tourist attraction, and the place is full of vendors selling all kinds of souvenirs, just like it is everywhere around the world.
The place gets crowded in high season, with lots of long-tail boats and lots of people posing in front of the rock, you know, the silly shot similar to the Pisa Tower: “Oh look! I’m holding it! Fun times 🙂

What to Do Near James Bond Island

James Bond Island and Phang Nga Bay are some of the most popular day trips out of Phuket Island, and the tour often includes a visit to Koh Panyi, an amazing village entirely built on stilts.

Koh Panyi

Koh Panyi, a floating village built on stilts, is usually the next stop after visiting James Bond Island. I’ve been there many times, and it’s always interesting to see how life works on water. The village was founded by Muslim fishermen over 200 years ago and has a mosque, school, houses, and a famous floating football pitch. Many tours stop here for lunch and a quick look around the souvenir stalls. It can get very busy, but if you wander a little beyond the main walkway, you’ll get a better sense of daily life.