The public can now visit the famous Maya Bay from New Year’s Day. Many tourists visited Maya Bay in Ao Nang on the first day of reopening after roughly three years of being closed to tourists. Visitors now have to apply in advance, follow a strict set of rules, and the number is limited to 4,125 per day.
Krabi Governor Puttipong Sirimart and the director of the Area Management Conservation Office 5, Mr. Yongyut Nakwiroj, lead the reopening. About 80 representatives of tour operators and guides from Bangkok, Krabi, Phuket, and Phang-nga provinces had a guided tour of the bay on Wednesday. The objective was to get them to know the rules and guidelines which visitors will have to accomplish or face fines.
Maya Bay is open for visits daily from 7 am until 6 pm, arranged in 11 shifts of 375 visitors each. Visitors are not allowed to go into the water, but they can walk and relax on the beach. People can not swim due to more than 100 black-tipped reef sharks and the rare painted spiny lobsters living in the area. If anyone breaks the no swimming rule, officers will take legal action. The main goal is to preserve rare marine animals in the bay while promoting tourism in the area.
Boats can not enter the bay area from the frontal approach. They must access the island from the opposite side, where a pier has already been built, and tourists walk a short distance to the bay itself.
