Maya Bay Will Be Temporarily Closed On August and September

The renowned Maya Bay in the province of Krabi will be closed to tourists for August and September due to environmental rehabilitation. The Maya Bay, popularized by Leonardo DiCaprio’s “The Beach,” was opened to tourists on January 1 after a 3-year hiatus.

All tourism activities will be temporarily stopped starting August 1 to September 30 to allow the bay’s onshore and offshore ecosystems to recover since it opened for tourists on January 1.

Maya Bay is under strict environmental protection measures and tourists could only access the bay for 1 hour, from 10 am to 4 pm.  There are only 375 visitors allowed per hour on the 250-meter-long area of the beach. After 1 hour, national park authorities would take visitors off the beach and replace them with a new batch.

Only 8 boats are allowed to dock only on the pier side of the island and swimming was only allowed in some areas.

It is expected that the temporary closure of Maya Bay will become an annual routine in order to maintain the bay’s ecology. As much as 50% of Maya Bay’s coral reefs were damaged by years of uncontrolled tourism with as many as 6,000 visitors per day during the height of the bay’s popularity, leading to its abrupt closure in 2018.

As of today, hundreds of black-tipped sharks returned to the bay’s waters after the removal of trash from the beach and Coral reefs also got significantly healthier. . In 2018, there are only 6 black-tipped sharks that visited the area. 

Currently. the entrance fee to Maya Bay is 400 baht, but there are rumors that it may be doubled when the bay reopens in October. According to Thailand’s Minister of Resources and Environment Varawut Silpa-arch, a price increase is highly likely given that Maya Bay is a popular tourist destination.

SOURCE: CH7

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