Maya Bay

Maya Bay is the impossibly perfect cove on Koh Phi Phi Leh that Leonardo DiCaprio's 'The Beach' made famous — a horseshoe of powder-white sand enclosed by 200-metre limestone cliffs and a lagoon so clear the boats above cast shadows on the seabed. After years of closure to let the reef recover, it reopened with strict visitor limits: the first hour after sunrise is magical, before the day-trip boats arrive. Kayaks, longtails and bigger speedboats all anchor in the bay, but you only get true silence if you come before 9 AM. Underwater, the coral is slowly returning, with reef sharks, parrotfish and the occasional sea turtle cruising the edges of the bay.