The islands
Which Similan Islands You Can Land On
Eleven numbered islands, but only two you can walk on. Koh Miang, Koh Similan, the closed turtle islands, Koh Bon and Koh Tachai.
Check dates and availability ↗The eleven islands of Mu Ko Similan National Park
| No. | Island | Landing | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ko Huyong | Restricted | Largest beach in the group; turtle protection |
| 2 | Ko Payang | Restricted | Rocky cliff formations |
| 3 | Ko Payan | Restricted | Dive sites |
| 4 | Ko Miang | Yes — park HQ | Princess and Honeymoon beaches; only restaurant |
| 5 | Ko Ha | No | Garden of eels |
| 6 | Ko Payu | No | Coral snorkelling |
| 7 | Ko Hin Pousar | No | Elephant Head Rock dive site |
| 8 | Ko Similan | Yes | Donald Duck Bay, Sail Rock viewpoint |
| 9 | Ko Ba-ngu | No | Christmas Point; boulders and swim-throughs |
| 10 | Ko Bon | No beach | Limestone island; manta ray cleaning station |
| 11 | Ko Tachai | Closed since 15 Oct 2016 | Pinnacle dive site |
A park of eleven islands and two beaches
Mu Ko Similan was declared a national park in 1982 and covers about 140 square kilometres of which only around 26 is land. The islands are numbered one to nine from south to north, with Ko Bon and Ko Tachai added as numbers ten and eleven when the park was extended in 1998. Visitors routinely assume they will hop between several islands. In reality only two are open for going ashore — Ko Miang and Ko Similan — and the rest are snorkelling stops, dive sites, or closed outright. A standard day trip means two beaches and several in-water stops.
Ko Similan, number eight
The largest island in the group and the one every photograph comes from. Its northern bay, officially Ao Kuerk but universally called Donald Duck Bay, is a curve of pale sand backed by a huge granite boulder said to resemble the duck's head. Above it sits Sail Rock, a wedge of granite tipped like a boat's sail, reached by a short but genuinely steep scramble over boulders — figure fifteen to twenty minutes each way, in shoes rather than flip-flops, with water. The view over the bay and the Andaman is the most photographed panorama in southern Thailand.
Ko Miang, number four
Ko Miang is the park's administrative centre and the more practical of the two landing islands. It has the ranger headquarters, the park's only restaurant — historically open in the middle of the day — and toilet facilities, which is why most day trips stop here for lunch. Two beaches, Princess and Honeymoon, sit either side of a short forest trail, and there are marked walking paths through the interior where you may see the Nicobar pigeon. Since the 2018 ban, the bungalows and campground that once stood here are gone; Ko Miang is now strictly day-use.
The closed islands, and why
Islands one, two and three — Ko Huyong, Ko Payang and Ko Payan — are restricted from public access to protect nesting turtles and recovering reef. Ko Huyong has the longest beach in the archipelago, which is precisely why it is off-limits. Islands five, six, seven and nine are not formally beach destinations; they are visited from the water. Ko Hin Pousar at number seven is home to Elephant Head Rock, a maze of giant granite boulders, swim-throughs and channels dropping past forty metres, and the most celebrated dive site in the park.
Koh Bon and Koh Tachai are different animals
The two northern additions are geologically distinct from the granite Similans. Ko Bon is limestone with essentially no beach — a long ridge running from the shoreline down into deep water, and the park's best-known manta ray cleaning station, where mantas appear through the October-to-May season. Ko Tachai, further north again, has been closed to visitors indefinitely since 15 October 2016 after tourism damage; a beach rated for around seventy people was regularly taking over a thousand. The department has publicly discussed reopening it under a strict daily limit, but we have not been able to confirm any reopening is in force.