Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Away
Agencies in Khao Lak (
Click here
) and Phuket (
Click here
) book day/overnight
tours (from around 3000/5000B) and dive trips (three-day live-aboards from around
15,000B) - this is about how much you would pay if you tried to get to the islands
on your own steam.
Ao Phang-Nga Marine National Park
Established in 1981 and covering an area of 400 sq km,
Ao Phang-Nga Marine
noted for its classic karst scenery. There are over 40 islands with huge vertical
cliffs, some with caves that are accessible at low tide and lead into hidden
hôrngs
(lagoons surrounded by solid rock walls). The bay itself is composed of large and
small tidal channels including Khlong Ko Phanyi, Khlong Phang-Nga, Khlong Bang
Toi and Khlong Bo Saen. These channels run through vast mangroves in a
north-south direction and today are used by fisherfolk and island inhabitants as
aquatic highways. These mangroves are the largest remaining primary mangrove
forests in Thailand.
In the peak season the bay can become a package-tour superhighway. But if you
explore in the early morning or stay out a bit late, you'll find a slice of beach, sea
and a limestone karst to call your own. The best way to experience the park is by
kayak.
Wildlife in Ao Pang-Nga Marine National Park
The marine limestone environment at Ao Pang-Nga favours a long list of reptiles, includ-
ing Bengal monitor lizards, flying lizards, banded sea snakes, dogface water snakes,
shore pit vipers and Malay pit vipers. Keep an eye out for a two-banded monitor
(Varanus
salvator),
which looks like a crocodile when seen swimming in the mangrove swamp and
can measure up to 2.2m in length.
Amphibians in the Ao Phang-Nga region include marsh frogs, common bush frogs and
crab-eating frogs. Avian residents of note are helmeted hornbills (the largest of Thailand's
12 hornbill species, with a body length of up to 127cm), the edible-nest swiftlets
(Aerodra-
mus fuciphagus),
white-bellied sea eagles, ospreys and Pacific reef egrets.
