Before Leonardo DiCaprio made it famous in 2000, Maya Bay was a place few tourists had ever heard of. After the film, it became one of the most sought-after beaches in Southeast Asia. And that fame nearly destroyed it.
At the peak of mass tourism, more than 100 traditional Thai longtail boats landed on its white shores daily, churning up the shallow coral reefs and driving away the sharks that had used the bay as both a feeding ground and a nursery.
Visitor numbers climbed from fewer than 1,000 to between 7,000 and 8,000 people per day at peak times. Boat propellers churned up sand and sediment, smothering the coral. Anchors struck the seafloor. Tourists walked across the reef, most of them unaware of the damage they were causing.
According to marine biologist Thon Thamrongnawasawat of Thailand’s Kasetsart University, when the bay was finally closed, only 8% of live coral cover remained — down from 70% three decades earlier. It was Thon who championed the scientific case for closing the bay.
Today, Maya Bay bears no resemblance to the images of overcrowding and decay that spread around the world a decade ago.
The Decision Nobody Wanted to Make
In June 2018, the Thai National Parks Department made a decision that sparked immediate debate: close Maya Bay indefinitely.
The bay, located on the island of Ko Phi Phi Leh within Had Nopparat Tara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park, was closed to visitors with no set reopening date. What had been planned as a closure of a few months stretched to four years, as restoration teams discovered the damage was far more extensive than anyone had estimated.
Alongside the closure, the government and scientific teams launched a coral transplantation program; Thon and a team of marine experts and volunteers have since transplanted more than 30,000 coral fragments, most of them cultivated near the island of Koh Yung.
Around half of the transplanted coral survived and has since taken root and spread on its own.
The clearest sign of Maya Bay’s recovery is the return of the blacktip reef shark. During the years of heaviest tourist pressure, these predators avoided the area, driven off by engine noise and murky water.
Today, groups of juvenile sharks can be seen patrolling the shallows near the shoreline — a strong sign that the food chain is recovering.
Beyond the sharks, other species have returned to the bay. Colorful clownfish and damselfish are back on the reefs, where sea anemones are recovering and spreading. Ghost crabs crossing the sand are another sign of reduced human foot traffic and healthier sediment.
Another marker of progress is the presence of branching coral species. These varieties, particularly sensitive to human contact, are growing steadily in areas where swimming is restricted.
The process is not finished. By 2023, live coral cover had grown from the initial 8% to somewhere between 20% and 30% — but Dr. Thon has been clear that reaching 50% coverage will take another 10 to 15 years.
He estimates that within roughly two decades, Maya Bay could recover to the condition it was in half a century ago — provided the protective measures hold.
Strict Rules for an Uncertain Future
In January 2022, Maya Bay reopened. But it was a very different place from what it once was.
The National Parks Department capped access at 4,125 visitors per day and banned swimming inside the bay to protect the recovering seafloor and coral. Boats may no longer enter the bay at all. Visitors disembark at a floating pier on the far side of the island and walk to the beach along a designated path.
Currently, Maya Bay admits 300 visitors per hour, with limits on how far into the water they can wade.
Since 2022, the bay has also closed for two months each year — August through September, during monsoon season — to give the ecosystem a recovery period free from the pressures of tourism. During that time, conservation teams monitor reef health, coral growth, and marine activity. Visitors may approach by boat to view the bay from the water, but the beach itself remains off-limits.
The story of Maya Bay demonstrates that environmental degradation is reversible — when there is both the science and the political will to act.
The results have attracted attention well beyond the Phi Phi islands. Taking note, other islands near Phuket have adopted similar conservation measures — including temporary closures — in hopes of achieving the same results.
But there is no room for complacency. The vulnerability of coral to rising ocean temperatures is a constant reminder that the work of protection is never done. The beach is no longer a mass-tourism destination. It is a reminder of what happens when human beings finally step back and let nature reclaim its own ground.
The reef is not yet where it once was. But it is alive — and given what the reef looked like in 2018, that alone is a story worth telling.
