Koh Larn (Coral Island) Guide 2026: Ferries, Beaches & How to Do It Right

Pattaya's beaches are, honestly, not why anyone should come to Thailand. Then you take a forty-five minute ferry seven kilometres offshore and find water that is properly turquoise, sand that is properly white, and headlands covered in green — and the whole calculation about the region changes.

Koh Larn — officially *Koh Lan*, and marketed relentlessly as "Coral Island" — is a small island of about 4 km² off Pattaya's coast, with six beaches, a handful of villages, some genuinely good seafood and a resident population that has lived there long before tourism arrived. It is the single best thing you can do from Pattaya for under ฿500, and it is what makes a Pattaya trip worthwhile for a lot of visitors.

It is also extremely popular, and that's the tension you need to plan around. Chinese, Indian and Russian tour groups arrive by the boatload; the main beach can be shoulder to shoulder by 11 AM; and the jet-ski and banana-boat trade is loud and constant on the busiest sand. The island is genuinely beautiful *and* genuinely crowded, and which one dominates your day depends almost entirely on which beach you go to and what time you arrive.

The good news is that avoiding the crush is easy once you know how — most day-trippers go to exactly one beach and never leave it.

The public ferry leaves from Bali Hai Pier at the southern end of Pattaya Beach (the far end of Walking Street — this is one of the few reasons most visitors go near it).

The fare went up in 2026. From 10 April 2026, a flat ฿40 per person applies to all passengers departing Bali Hai Pier — an increase from the ฿30 fare that had held for sixteen years, driven by fuel costs. It remains one of the best-value boat rides in Thailand.

Typical departures from Bali Hai Pier: 7:00, 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 15:30, 17:00 and 18:30. Returns from Koh Larn's Tawaen Beach pier run roughly hourly in the early afternoon — around 13:00, 14:00, 15:00 and 16:00 — with services from Na Baan (the main village pier) running later.

Crossing time: the public ferry takes roughly 45 minutes. Chartered speedboats do it in about 15, and cost substantially more (฿1,500–3,000 for the boat, depending on size and negotiation).

Which pier you land at matters. Ferries go to either Na Baan (the main village, from which you take onward transport) or Tawaen Beach (the busiest beach directly). Check which one your ferry serves before boarding.

Critical practical warning: check the last return ferry time and treat it seriously. Missing it means either chartering a speedboat back at a painful price or staying the night. Timetables shift with season and weather, so confirm the final departure when you arrive, not from a website.

Or take an organised trip. A speedboat day trip with lunch and hotel pickup removes the pier logistics, the return-ferry anxiety and the onward-transport haggling — which for a first visit is worth a lot.

This is the part that determines your day.

Tawaen Beach — The main one, and where virtually every tour group lands. Longest stretch of sand, every facility (loungers, restaurants, showers, shops), and every watersport: jet skis, parasailing, banana boats, sea walking. It is also by far the most crowded and the loudest, and the constant jet-ski traffic makes swimming less pleasant. Fine if you want facilities and activity; avoid if you want calm.

Samae Beach — The best all-rounder for most visitors. Softer sand, clearer and calmer water than Tawaen, decent restaurants, still busy but noticeably less frantic. If you only move one beach from the default, move here.

Nual Beach (Monkey Beach) — The prettiest on the island and the quietest of the accessible ones, tucked on the southern end. Smaller, with limited facilities, which is precisely why it stays pleasant. Best swimming water.

Tien Beach — Quiet, west-facing, and the sunset beach. Reasonable facilities, far fewer people, and a good spot to end the day if you're on a late ferry.

Thong Lang Beach — Rocky, undeveloped, very few visitors. Not a swimming beach — come for solitude and views.

Ta Yai Beach — Small, quiet, minimal facilities.

Getting between them: songthaews meet the ferries and run to the main beaches for ฿20–40 per person. Motorbike taxis cost a little more. Renting a scooter (฿200–300/day) is the popular option and gives you the whole island — but the roads are steep, narrow and have genuinely dangerous sections, accidents are common, and helmet and licence rules apply. If you're not a confident rider, don't start here.

Koh Larn's crowding is highly predictable, which makes it easy to dodge.

Take the 7:00 AM ferry. This single decision transforms the day. You'll be on the island by around 8:00, with two to three hours of near-empty beaches before the tour-group boats arrive around 10:30–11:00. The water is calmest in the morning and the light is best.

Or go late. Take the 15:30 or 17:00 ferry, watch sunset from Tien Beach and stay overnight — there are guesthouses and small resorts on the island. Staying a night on Koh Larn is the island's best-kept secret: after the last day-tripper ferry leaves around 6 PM, the place empties out entirely and you get one of the more peaceful nights on the eastern seaboard.

Avoid weekends and Thai public holidays. Bangkok comes down for these and the island fills accordingly. Weekdays are dramatically better.

Best season: November to February, when the Gulf is calm and the water clearest. March–May is very hot. June–October brings monsoon swell, which can make the crossing rough and occasionally cancels services.

Skip the "Coral Island" snorkelling sales pitch. Boats will offer snorkelling stops billed around coral viewing. The reefs immediately around Koh Larn have been substantially damaged by decades of boat traffic, anchors and sunscreen, and the snorkelling is mediocre compared to Thailand's Andaman coast. If underwater time is your priority, the outer islands by catamaran — Koh Sak and Koh Phai — are clearer and quieter, and the Andaman side of the country is another league entirely.

The realistic pitch for Koh Larn is not world-class snorkelling. It's a genuinely lovely beach day, twenty minutes and ฿40 from a city that doesn't have one.

What a day costs (per person, doing it independently):

- Return ferry: ฿80

- Songthaew to your beach and back: ฿40–80

- Sun lounger and umbrella: ฿100–150 for the day

- Seafood lunch at a beach restaurant: ฿200–400

- Total: roughly ฿450–700 (about $13–20) for a full day. Very few beach days anywhere cost less.

Watersports add up fast: jet ski ฿800–1,500 per 30 minutes, parasailing ฿400–600 per flight, banana boat ฿200–300. Agree the price and duration before you get on anything, and photograph any jet ski before you ride it — damage-claim disputes are a known problem across Thai beach resorts, Pattaya included.

What to bring: cash (card acceptance is patchy), reef-safe mineral sunscreen, a hat, water, and a dry bag. There are ATMs in Na Baan village but don't rely on them.

Food: the beach restaurants are decent and reasonably priced for grilled seafood, som tam and fried rice. Na Baan village has cheaper and better local food than any of the beaches if you're willing to walk.

Respect that people live here. Koh Larn has a permanent community, a school and temples. Beachwear is for the beach — cover up in the village. Take your rubbish with you; waste management on a small island under heavy day-tripper load is a genuine problem, and the island periodically struggles with it.

Wat Khao Yai, the hilltop temple, and the island's viewpoints are worth the scooter or songthaew trip if you have a full day — the view back across the water to Pattaya's skyline is the best perspective you'll get on the whole bay.

Building out the rest of your trip? See where to stay in Pattaya and our honest take on the city.