Koh Yao and sea canoeing: the quiet middle of the bay and the caves you paddle into

The canoes here are not a sport, they are a key. Phang Nga Bay is full of limestone islands that have been hollowed out at sea level, and several of them open into interior lagoons — a Hong, which is the Thai word for room — that can only be entered through a low tunnel. A speedboat anchors outside; a canoe goes in. That is why the listings that mention Koh Hong and Panak Island almost all mention paddling in the same sentence.

$64 states it plainly: explore Hong Island’s limestone formations and caves by sea kayak or canoe, see James Bond Island where The Man with the Golden Gun was filmed, then swim and relax on the beach at Palm Beach Club on Yao Yai Island, with a buffet lunch offering Thai, halal, western and vegetarian options and breakfast earlier in the day. Eight hours, 950 reviews, 4.8. Among the canoe listings on this site it carries both the highest rating and the largest body of reviews.

$56 sells the cave itself as the headline. Its highlights list a light breakfast with coffee, tea and a dessert service, then the ice cream cave or the mangrove cave on Panak Island, then James Bond Island, then a swim at Naka Island and a buffet lunch at Panyee. Nine hours, rated 4.8 across 286 reviews. $47 covers similar ground for less: limestone formations from the boat, canoeing through caverns and mangrove ecosystems, the floating market at Koh Panyee and a beachside stop at Naka Yai.

The larger day trips fold the paddling into a longer programme. $57, the most reviewed listing on this site with 2,129 reviews, takes kayaks into the caves of Panak Island and canoes around Koh Hong to its emerald lagoons, with lunch in the stilt village at Panyee. $59 canoes through Panak’s caves and visits Hong Island’s ecosystem, with a gourmet buffet at the Panyee floating village. $65 puts canoeing at Hong Island into a ten-hour day and includes the National Park fee in the price.

The two Yao islands lie in the middle of the channel, closer to the Krabi side than to Phuket, and they are the reason a crossing can be broken into something better than a crossing. They are farmed rather than resorted, and the listings that stop there reflect that: rice fields, rubber, batik, a sandbank, a beach club.

$140 is the fullest version. Nine hours to Koh Hong, Koh Lao Lading and Koh Yao Noi, described as a serene island with lush landscapes and local charm; batik fabric making as a hands-on session; a scenic lunch amid rice fields; snorkelling at Koh Nok and time on the soft sand of Laem Haad Beach; then Koh Hong’s lagoon and the reefs at Koh Lao Lading. It is a new listing this season, so there is no review history behind it yet — worth knowing before you book, and worth remembering that free cancellation applies if you change your mind.

$99 takes the other Yao island. Its eight hours are built around Laem Haad, which the operator calls one of Thailand’s most beautiful natural sandbanks, with swimming and snorkelling in emerald lagoons below limestone cliffs, time on Hong Island with an optional walk to the panoramic viewpoint, a Thai lunch, and an optional village visit taking in monkeys, rice farming and rubber tapping. One review so far, at 3.0, which is a single opinion rather than a verdict.

And then there is the quiet way to see the Yao islands without giving up a day at all: $46 routes its three-hour speedboat to Ao Nang or Railay via Ko Yao. You do not get the batik or the sandbank, but you do get the middle of the bay from the water, which is more than the direct crossing shows you. For the record, the direct run is $32 and takes about an hour, so the Ko Yao routing costs you two extra hours and buys you the scenery.