Coral Island

Coral Island, also known as “Koh He” which means crowded, not coral, is a rather large island at 3.6 kilometers (2.2 mi) long and about 1 km. at its widest point. Land area is only 1.8 Sq. km. and it has a coast about 10 km. long.

Located in the Andaman Sea about 6 km. southeast of Phuket Island’s Promthep Cape, this is a popular tourist destination for day trips and even for staying the night in one of the accommodation on Coral Island. To the north, almost 4 km. away, is the larger Koh Lon Island, and the islands of Koh Racha are south by about 14 km.

The main activities taking place on Coral Island are relaxing at the beach, snorkeling, diving, parasailing, fishing off the coast and spending time in a resort bar or restaurant. If you have kids, you might go straight over to Banana Beach, located on the northeast side of the island, for snorkeling and diving. In below video you see Banana Beach, one of the amazing beaches on the north shore of Coral Island. The beach is 230 meters (252 yds.) long and roughly 16 meters (17 yds.) wide, and has fantastic views of Koh Lon and Koh Aeo, two nearby islands, as well as Phuket’s Cape Panwa and even Koh Yao Yai and Noi on a clear day.

Coral Island is a regular tourist spot, so longtail boats go all day from Phuket. Once you’re here, you can rent a kayak, ride a banana boat, or go snorkeling or diving on the coral reef. The beach is fairly clean and has bright white sand. The beach is lined with palm trees, frangipani trees, and bamboo – really an exotic spot!

There are beach chairs with and without an overhanging bamboo hut – for a fee, of course. Prices here are rather expensive, admittedly it’s a ‘tourist trap’ – but many tourists don’t mind the small fee because it’s a beautiful spot and what’s a few Thai baht when you’re on vacation? There are some excellent restaurants to eat at (try the fried chicken!) and even shops with touristy things to browse through.

Coral Island is highly recommended because it’s one of the nicest beaches available to you when you stay in Phuket.

Accommodation on the island:
– Coral Island Resort – expensive for your bungalow on the beach at prices around 5,000 Thai Baht per night. Daytime beach is loud and sometimes crowded. Parasailing boats going back and forth makes snorkeling at the beach rather hazardous.
– Coral Island Club – gets slightly better reviews than the resort above. Oceanfront bungalows. A small step up from backpacker accommodation. Located on the southeast side of the island on the beach.

Restaurants are available at the hotels mentioned above. There are no reviews of them online, so you might leave a review here or elsewhere to help others.

To reach Coral Island you can go by one of two primary ways. First you could take a speedboat from Chalong Pier which will reach the island in about ten minutes. Or you could take a long tail boat in very calm sea and reach the island in about thirty minutes. Keep in mind that waves can get dangerous anytime between May through October. You are probably safer to take a larger boat during those months.