Nang Yuan Island — Local services in Surat Thani Province

The 2 stars is because it has beautiful diving spot and is great to look at from a distance. The rest of my review is from my visit there.

You can get here via long boat. I went to Sairee Beach and immediately saw signs. No need to prebook anything. It cost 300 baht for a return. Maybe I could have got it cheaper. I didn't ask. 100 baht entry on arrival.

There is a view point. The view point is stunning but try and time it wisely. I had to get in front of a boat load of tourists on a guided tour. God knows how long they had to wait to see the view. It's a very very easy hike coming from someone who cannot hike. Takes around 10 minutes to get up plus wait time. It's very squishy at the top. Try your best to move out the way for people coming down :) Like I said, the view is stunning but total chaos up there which ruins it. I also felt like I couldn't sit and enjoy it because of the queue.

I came here the day after doing my Open Water Diving PADI. I was devastated to see all the dead coral when snorkeling. So many dead sea cucumbers. All I could think was how this island doesn't have it's priorities straight. There's a HUGE sign saying how you can't put a towel down because it removes the sand from the island. But what about the coral? Why are they not putting signs up about not treading on coral or don't go into the water right after applying sun cream? If you don't know any different, you'll love the clear waters and there are lots of fish. But honestly, it wasn't nice to see. So so so much dead coral.

Other than that, you can't sit on the beach and must pay for a bed so that you don't remove the sand. Sounds more like a ploy to get people on sunbeds and pay if you ask me. Didn't try the restaurant as heard it was overpriced. I also left an hour early because there is no shade, didn't enjoy snorkelling and already completed the view point.

Anyway rant over. The little islands are BEAUTIFUL but it's just turned into a tourist spot. So busy, not much fun. Sad sad...

This is a tourist trap. They disguise certain aspects as conservation when in reality they just want your money. I am diabetic so my feet are very important to me. If I get cuts to my feet it can mean getting serious infection. I wore ocean shoes to the island because I thought there might be sharp rocks in the water when I enter. There is a sign at the beginning where you pay your money that says no ocean shoes, I explained why I would prefer to wear them but was ignored. The reply from the man at the front was ‘can’t you read’ in a very angry tone. I left my shoes at the front and walked around bare foot. I found it difficult to walk around, there was glass (from the glass bottle water you must buy as you can’t bring your own) As I wasn’t wearing any footwear I thought it best not to venture up the the view point.

I made my way into the water quite slowly. When I looked around snorkelling to my shock I saw that I was swimming in a coral graveyard. There are hardly any fish.

The sign at the entrance also star no fins yet there were droves and droves of scuba groups with fins. There is no shade unless you pay 150 baht for the old fashioned wooden deck chairs which, is not enough for the amount of people visiting the island. Either side of the beach is off limits as it’s a resort and the only place to buy refreshments and food is not ideal.

I bought one bottle of water for 30 baht, which is fine but the system they use for my to buy it is to pay one woman then walked about a wooden barrier with a piece of paper to give to another person to get the water. The two people behind the counter are standing next to each other. A waste of paper! The person then asked me if I would like a plastic straw! An utter joke.

The positive is that it’s beautiful but if you really care about the environment and wildlife conservation, give this place a miss. They’re in it...

Let me say first that this is perfect for travelers who have a very short time in Thailand and most of their vacation is spent on or around Koh Tao or neighboring islands. If you’re traveling on a budget, you can 1000% skip this excursion because there’s nothing here you can’t get from Koh Tao. 1: We took a boat from the closest possible location which is called Dusit Buncha and the round trip water taxi was 300Thb per person (1,200 for all 4 of us) 2: Entry onto the island is a private island so it’s an additional 250Thb per person to enter the island. 3: upon entry you have to surrender any plastic bottle of water which makes sense that they want less plastic on their island but if forces you to purchase expensive glass bottles SOOO make sure to pack a non plastic reusable bottle or Nalgene of some sort. 4: There’s very little shade and most of the spots for shade are not free. The restaurant has seating with shade if you can get a seat. 5: The bathrooms SMELL TERRIBLE 6: The coral is over 50% bleached white and it was really sad to see 7: You have to leave at 3pm and they force everyone out on the dock where there’s absolutely no shade and depending on what boat you arrived, it can be an hour wait.

My review history is mostly positive reviews of places and I avoid leaving negative reviews but this place was just a cash cow for a private family who is squeezing every person for as much money as possible. There’s better views and more shade with coral to snorkel around. This is something to just check off your list if you want the instagram photos but there’s nothing here that you can’t...