Coral Island

This guide to Coral Island off Phuket's southeastern tip explains how a resort's name on Long Beach came to label the whole island, and follows the two very different shores that resulted: a quiet, tree-shaded crescent and a livelier stretch of speedboats and parasail rigs. It traces the reef just offshore, where parrotfish and schooling fusiliers gather close to the sand. Go on a weekday morning, before the tour boats cross from Chalong Pier, for the beach nearly to yourself.