Ko Hae (เกาะเฮ), sometimes spelled Ko He or Ko Hey and also known as Coral Island, is an island southeast of Phuket, about 5 km off-shore.
In February 2019, one traveler reports experiencing mass tourism on this island. Being on the first boat that arrived and observing the vast amounts of people being brought in during the whole day, it was noticed that most stay for 2-3 hours, so there are boats coming and going all the time. You feel more like being in a city than like in a paradise.
Get around
See
- Banana Beach. 15 minutes from Chalong Bay. The very beautiful, quiet with all facilities featuring horn bill rainforest birds and fish life.
Do
Snorkelling
Although the mass of tourists who arrive every day at Long Beach have taken their toll on the corals, there are still some nice corals to be found in the deeper waters further from shore.
Banana Beach is more exclusive, nice and quiet, and the marine life for snorkelling or diving is exceptional. Shady trees hang over the sand. About 100 m from shore on Long Beach and about 50 m at Banana Beach there are vast staghorn coral reefs.
Visibility is excellent most days. The afternoons are particularly good. There are buoyed areas to keep the boats from the swimmers so it is very safe, no injuries in over 25 years of visitors. Caution is advised for those swimming and snorkelling in the waters further from shore. There is heavy boat traffic all day.
Coral Island Club provides daily trips to Banana Beach and overnight camping. Activities include swimming, snorkeling, power snorkelling, diving, parasailing, banana boats, kayaking, fish feeding, hornbill feeding, BBQs, and camping.
Buy
Eat
Drink
Sleep
- Coral Island Resort (Take a speedboat from Chalong Bay), ☏ 66 76 281060-2, fax: 66 76 381957, ✉[email protected]. Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 12:00. Low season, 1,800-3,000 baht; high season, 2,800-3,600 baht; peak season, 3,700-4,900 baht.