Planning · 21 October 2026 · 6 min read
Both are days among limestone islands, and both have a Koh Hong. One puts you on an island and in the water; the other shows you a bay of rock towers from a boat and a canoe.
Choose the Hong Islands if you want to be on an island and in the water: a lagoon enclosed by cliffs, a swim, a kayak, a viewpoint at the top of a long staircase, and a shorter day. Choose Phang Nga Bay if what you want is the bay of limestone towers and James Bond Island, seen from a speedboat and a canoe, and you accept a longer day spent mostly on the water.
The two days are often sold side by side, and the names do not help: each has an island called Koh Hong, and they are not the same island. What follows sets out what each day is, how to tell the two Koh Hongs apart, the four tours we list, and how to choose.
The Hong Islands. Islands off Krabi in Than Bok Khorani National Park, not the park of the four islands. Most of the day is spent on and around Koh Hong itself: you go into its lagoon, enclosed by cliffs, by boat or by kayak, and you can climb a steel staircase of about 400 steps, without shade, to a viewpoint open on every side. The routes often add neighbouring islands such as Koh Lao Lading and Koh Pakbia.
Phang Nga Bay. Further up the coast, a bay where the karst rises out of the sea in towers, James Bond Island among them. From Krabi it takes a full day by speedboat, and the day is about the bay and its rock, seen from the boat or from a canoe among the sea caves. It is not a beach day.
The difference is less in the scenery than in what you do with it. On the Hong Islands day you get off the boat, into the lagoon or up the stairs. In Phang Nga Bay, most of what you came for is seen from the water.
There are two islands called Koh Hong in the region. The one that gives the Hong Islands day its name is off Krabi, in Than Bok Khorani National Park, with the enclosed lagoon and the viewpoint. The other is in Phang Nga Bay, and it is the one some James Bond Island tours visit for its sea caves.
Listings do not always say which one they mean. One James Bond tour we list names the sea caves of Koh Hong with canoeing in Phang Nga Bay, which is very likely the bay's own Koh Hong. The other names "Hong Islands" without saying which. If the lagoon and the viewpoint are what you want, book a Hong Islands day, and on any other tour ask which Koh Hong it goes to before you pay.
The lagoon is the reason to go, and the tide shapes it: at low tide it turns shallow, so the time you arrive changes what you see of it. The two tours we list differ in the boat and in what they promise you on the island.
The park fee is usually paid in cash on the day. Sources disagree on the amount for the Hong Islands, so check at the pier. The park has no annual closure for the islands; the tours run in the rainy season but can be cancelled when the sea is rough.
The quicker crossing, so more of the day on the islands. The operator offers the viewpoint or kayaking, which reads as one or the other: check which is in the price. Its description also mentions seven hours, so do not count on a short day.
The slower boat, with kayaking written into the tour rather than offered as an alternative, and a lagoon, a mangrove forest and a panoramic view named by the operator. The one to take if paddling matters to you.
Phang Nga Bay is a full day from Krabi, further than the Hong Islands, and both tours we list do it by speedboat. Neither listing says you land on James Bond Island: one says you discover it from the boat, the other does not say. If setting foot on it matters to you, ask before you book.
We have not been able to check how the park fee works on these tours: look at what the booking page says, or ask at the pier. These days cost more than the Hong Islands tours we list; the current price is on each tour page.
The more active of the two: canoeing in the bay, the sea caves of Koh Hong, and lunch at a floating restaurant at Koh Panyee. Guided in English, and bookable as a private trip.
A smaller group than a full speedboat, James Bond Island seen from the boat, then what the listing calls the Hong Islands and Koh Yao Noi. Guided in English, Spanish or French. If bad weather cancels the trip, you are offered another date or a full refund.
Choose the Hong Islands if you want to swim, paddle into a lagoon or climb to a viewpoint, if you want the shorter day, or if you would rather not spend most of it on a speedboat. If fast crossings upset your stomach, the longtail Hong day is the only one of the four tours here without a speedboat.
Choose Phang Nga Bay if the bay of limestone towers and James Bond Island are why you came, if a canoe among sea caves appeals more than a beach, and if a long speedboat day does not put you off.
Skip both if what you want is a beach and an easy day close to Ao Nang: the four islands give you that with short crossings.
9 tours
The four islands and the Hong Islands, by shared or private boat, from Ao Nang and Railay.
6 tours
The Tiger Cave Temple and Emerald Pool, Cheow Lan Lake in Khao Sok, and James Bond Island in Phang Nga Bay.
4 tours
Half days in the Ao Thalane mangroves, and a Hong Islands day by longtail with a kayak.
Not necessarily. There are two islands called Koh Hong: one off Krabi, in Than Bok Khorani National Park, with the enclosed lagoon and the viewpoint; the other in Phang Nga Bay, with sea caves. Ask which one a tour means before you book.
Neither tour we list says so. One says you discover the island from the boat; the other does not say. Ask the operator if it matters to you.
The Hong Islands. The tours we list take about 6 to 7 hours, against about 7.5 to 8 hours for Phang Nga Bay.
Yes, on the right tour. The longtail Hong Islands tour includes kayaking, while the speedboat one offers the viewpoint or kayaking. In Phang Nga Bay, the speedboat and canoe tour goes canoeing among the sea caves.