Maya Bay
Sheltered limestone-cliffed cove of white sand and turquoise water, once stripped bare, now regrown coral reef by hand.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Maya Bay in Krabi follows marine biologist Thon Thamrongnawasawat's yearslong campaign to shut the cove down entirely in 2018, and the divers who spent years hand-planting coral fragments onto the seabed below. It also reaches back to 1999, when a Hollywood crew bulldozed the dunes and hauled in non-native palms to film The Beach, damage a Thai court later made the studio pay for. Watch the waterline for shapes moving through the shallows that weren't here before the closure.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Ko Phi Phi Lee
Sheltered limestone bay of white sand and turquoise shallows, closed for years to let its reef and sharks recover.
Phi Phi Islands
Limestone cliffs ringing a turquoise cove once nearly loved to death by tourism.
Loh Samah Bay
Crystal-clear cove serving as the walking gateway to a once-overrun film-famous bay next door.
Ko Ha (Five Island)
Six limestone islets ringing a coral lagoon, laced with swim-through caves and a narrow rock chimney dive.
Yung Island
Coral-rimmed islet nicknamed Mosquito Island, hiding baby tiger sharks and cuttlefish offshore.
Ko Mai Phai
Misnamed island fringed with reef, home to lionfish, leopard sharks and hawksbill turtles.