Whether you’re looking for hard or soft adventures, from sea kayaking to simply soaking up the sun on a sandy tropical beach, the islands of Krabi province (renowned as the setting for The Beach) and Phuket (close to where The Man with the Golden Gun was shot), are truly amazing destinations.

The symbol of Krabi, which is the oldest continually inhabited province in Thailand, is the limestone crag. Nature’s exclamation marks, these towering monoliths punctuate Krabi’s inland geography, and make for dramatic cliff faces framing seaview sunsets. For water sports aficionados, there are lots of ways to get a high tide of adrenaline flowing, from jet-skis to banana boats, and parasailing to marine fishing.

But softer tours of beauty are available in the area, too. One of the most scenic trips is visiting Phang-nga Bay, studded with limestone crags rising hundreds of meters out of the sea. Most of these tours throw in a stopover at James Bond Island, while “paddling guides” also take you in kayaks through sea caves that open up into lagoons, overflowing with placid aquamarine water that’s surrounded by limestone cliffs.