Samet Nangshe Viewpoint Tours from Phuket

How do tours reach the Samet Nangshe viewpoint?

By coach, and then the last stretch up the hill by pickup truck. On the Phang Nga and Samet Nangshe day we collect you at 06:30 and you are at the top around 08:40, with time for photos over the bay before it gets hot. If you're deciding between this viewpoint day and a longtail day to the rock itself, Samet Nangshe or James Bond island compares the two.

Then the day rolls downhill, literally: Suwan Kuha cave temple and its monkeys, the Black Monk statue, a longtail through the mangroves, the sea gypsy floating village with a seafood lunch, the elephant spa (ride included), a waterfall, and the airplane beach at the end. Up to forty people; you leave Mai Khao at 17:30. On the rafting days the elephant programme is different again, as elephant bathing on the rafting and ATV tour explains. Five kilometres of rafting plus an ATV track: the rafting and ATV day says who it suits.

I like this day for first-timers in Phang Nga: you see the bay from above in the morning and from the water at midday, so by the evening you know which part of it you want to come back for. If the water side wins, is the James Bond island tour worth it tells you what the longtail day is really like. Hoping for both on one day? Samet Nangshe and James Bond island in one day says what our trips can and can't combine.

Can I stand on the glass skywalk?

Yes, on the skywalk version of the same day. Same 06:30 pickup, same arrival at about 08:40 — but instead of the open viewpoint you walk out onto a glass bridge over the edge, with the bay underneath your feet. Coffee and dessert are waiting at the top.

After that it follows the open-viewpoint day stop for stop, back after 17:30. Groups are smaller, up to thirty. If the drop under your shoes is the reason you are going, book this one; if you get vertigo, book the other.

Can I see the sunrise at Samet Nangshe?

Yes — on the Cheow Lan lake day, which leaves at six and makes Samet Nangshe its first stop, while the light is still coming up over the limestone islands. Then about an hour and a half north into Khao Sok, and a longtail across Cheow Lan lake. All five trips that stop at the viewpoint, with their times, are on Samet Nangshe at sunrise or in the afternoon. The Cheow Lan lake day, with its sunrise at Samet Nangshe and lunch on a floating restaurant, is weighed up on Cheow Lan lake day trip: is it worth it.

Careful with one name, though. The skywalk sunrise trip is a different bridge: Beyond Skywalk, above the same bay, reached at 05:45 with the sun up around 06:15. After it you pass James Bond island by longtail and are back by 13:00. The open viewpoint, its glass skywalk and Beyond Skywalk are set side by side on Samet Nangshe or Beyond Skywalk.

Which tours have lunch at the viewpoint?

Two. On the elephant beach day you feed and swim with elephants first, then eat at Samet Nangshe at 13:30 before an afternoon at Mantra Spa. The Avatar world day stops at the viewpoint at 13:00, between bathing an elephant and a bamboo raft. Taking children on it? See is the Avatar world tour suitable for children. Swimming with elephants in the sea, with no riding, is the heart of the day reviewed on elephant beach and Mantra Spa: is it worth it.

On both, the view comes with a plate in front of you rather than an alarm clock. Easy option.

• →The view plus elephants and mangroves — Phang Nga and Samet Nangshe
• →Standing on the glass — Phang Nga and the Samet Nangshe skywalk
• →First light, then a jungle lake — Cheow Lan lake
• →Lunch with the view and a spa — Elephant beach and Mantra Spa
• →A different glass bridge at sunrise — the skywalk sunrise trip

What else is on the Phang Nga day?

Quite a lot after the viewpoint. Suwan Kuha at 10:30 — a cave temple with stalactites and monkeys — then the Black Monk statue, and at 11:20 a longtail into the mangroves. The floating village of the sea gypsies sells dried seafood, pearls and souvenirs; lunch there at noon is crab, prawns, fish and squid.

The afternoon runs past fruit and rubber plantations (the guide explains what is what) to the elephant spa at 13:40, a waterfall at four, and Mai Khao beach at five, where aircraft come in low over the sand on their way into the airport. Want the bay from the water instead of from above? Our speedboat or longtail comparison covers the two boat days to James Bond island. Whether the twelve-hour Avatar world day is worth it is weighed on is the Avatar world tour worth it.

What should I know before I book?

The viewpoint is in Phang Nga, north of Phuket, so every one of these days starts with a drive. The earlier the stop, the fewer people at the rail. Temples on the same routes require shoulders and knees covered, and cover-ups can be hired for a small fee.

Children aged 4 to 9 pay the child price. Every tour in our catalogue runs with an English-speaking guide. Booking happens in the chat, and payment is agreed there after the booking is confirmed.

Which of the six would I book? For the view alone, the open-viewpoint Phang Nga day — the most stops for the price. For a special morning, Cheow Lan: first light on the bay, then a jade lake between jungle cliffs in Khao Sok national park. For a slow day with a spa at the end, the elephant beach trip. And if the glass is the whole point, the skywalk version, obviously. The Khao Lak safari and the Avatar world day are compared stop by stop on Khao Lak safari or Avatar world from Phuket. The safari on its own is weighed on is the Khao Lak safari from Phuket worth it.

Questions people ask