5 Best Sights in Phuket and the Andaman Coast, Thailand

It's a 45-minute trip by longtail boat to Bamboo Island, but there's a superb beach and the colors of the fish and the coral are brilliant. You can sometimes spot reef sharks, too. There are several places to get food and drinks. Amenities: food and drink. Best for: swimming; snorkeling; solitude. 

Known familiarly as "James Bond island" because the 1974 film The Man with the Golden Gun was filmed here, Koh Phing Kan has fallen victim to greedy tour operators and merchants and become overrun with tourists, though it's still stunningly beautiful. Visiting the island (with a stopover often not longer than half an hour) usually involves a day trip that combines this with several other stops and lunch.

The island of Koh Panyi has a Muslim fishing village with houses built on stilts. The whole village backs onto a looming limestone cliff, giving it some protection from nature. The village is an interesting study in marine sustainability, but it does have the feel of a tourist trap—quirky floating soccer pitch aside. Restaurants here are expensive, tripling their prices for tourists.

The Mu (group) Koh Similan National Marine Park consists of the nine Similan Islands, as well as Koh Tachai and Koh Bon, which are farther north. The diving around the Similan Islands is world-class, with visibility of up to 120 feet; abundant blue, green, and purple coral; and rare marine life, such as the whale shark, the world's largest fish. In addition to sparkling, crystal-clear water, the Similan Islands also have ultrafine, powdery white-sand beaches and lush tropical forests. The National Park Service allows visitors to stay on the beaches of Koh Miang (Island 4) and Koh Similan (Island 8).

If you plan to dive, contact a dive operator in Phuket or Khao Lak; there are no dive shops on the islands, though snorkeling gear is available for rent from the ranger stations.

Phi Phi Lae, where Maya Bay is located, is a popular day trip from Phi Phi Don via longtail or speedboat. The first stop is Viking Cave, a vast cavern of limestone pillars covered with crude drawings. Most boats continue on for an afternoon in Maya Bay, aka "The Beach," (though note the government has taken to closing Maya Bay periodically to allow the area's nature to recover from mass tourism). If you don't mind thronging crowds (snorkelers practically outnumber the fish), Maya Bay is a spectacular site. If you get a really early jump on everyone, cruise into a bay and leave first tracks along the powdery sand beach; otherwise, head to Loh Samah Bay, on the opposite side of the island. Loh Samah Bay may, in fact, be the better option. Though smaller, it is as beautiful as Maya Bay but receives less attention.