After nearly four years of hiatus, Maya Bay (made famous by Leonardo DiCaprio’s film The Beach) will reopen to visitors on January 1, 2022, the National Parks Department of Thailand confirmed.
With its dramatic karst cliffs, fine white sand and turquoise coin-shaped bay, Maya Bay, part of Hat Nopharat Tara – Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park, even meets Hollywood standards of a tropical paradise. If you have been to Thailand, then most likely you have visited it yourself; At its peak in 2018, an estimated 6,000 people sailed to Maya Bay daily.
However, with a width of only 15 meters and a length of 250 meters, the relatively small cove has become a victim of its own popularity. Visitors left behind trash, damaged plants and sand, frightened animals, and boat anchors are believed to have destroyed up to 50% of the Mayan Bay corals. Pictures of thousands of tourists flooding the supposedly protected natural area have outraged Thai citizens, and in 2018, the park’s management abruptly closed the bay.
Maya Bay reopening date
The closure was originally supposed to last four months. But realizing that it will take much longer to restore the bay’s nature, as well as install the infrastructure needed to protect it, officials have gradually extended the freeze to four years and finally confirmed this week that the bay will open in January 2022. two months after Thailand began receiving vaccinated tourists from 63 countries.
“Maya Bay has consistently attracted the interest of tourists from all over the world. But it has also led to a deterioration in the condition (of the natural area), especially corals,” said Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Varavut Silpa-Archa in a statement relayed to CNN. “After the closure of Maya Bay for its revival and restoration, to date, it has returned to good health.”
New entry rules for Maya Bay visitors
After the entrance to Maya Bay was barricaded in 2018, it was carefully cleared of debris; trees, plants and corals were planted. Then work began to create a completely new tourist infrastructure in and around the bay. A boardwalk has been built to limit damage to sand and vegetation, and future visitors will travel to Maya Bay via a floating dock located behind karst cliffs, meaning boats will no longer be allowed to anchor in the bay itself.
And, perhaps most importantly, the park decided to limit the number of visitors to Maya Bay. Vorapot Lomlim, head of Hat Noppharat Tara – Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park, told Lonely Planet that in the future, the number of visitors will be limited to 300 people in one of seven or eight shifts per day from 10 am to 4 pm, which is the total number of daily visitors will be limited to 3000 people.
Animals return to Maya Bay
As it turned out, the freezing was beneficial to the natural environment of the Mayan Bay. Last year, the national park posted photos and a video of the bay on its Facebook page. The pictures, which depicted the pristine, unspoiled, free of people, cove could not have been more contrasting compared to those taken just a couple of years ago, and made a splash on Thai social media. In addition, animals have returned to Maya Bay. An underwater camera installed in the bay allowed scientists to count up to 100 blacktip sharks; in 2018, it was believed that there are only six.