Koh Larn sits seven kilometres offshore from Pattaya's crescent shore, a 750-hectare limestone outcrop whose fringing reefs gave the island its English name. Thai naval charts from the early twentieth century recorded six named beaches along its western flank; by the 1970s, speedboat operators from Bali Hai Pier began ferrying day-trippers to Tawaen and Samae, the two widest stretches of sand. The island opened to independent travellers in 1982, when the provincial ferry service inaugurated a twice-daily crossing from South Pattaya. Today Koh Larn receives upward of three thousand visitors on peak weekends, most arriving between eight and eleven in the morning. The Bangkok to Pattaya Coral Island tour routes consolidate coach transfers from the capital with ferry crossings and beach-club access, compressing a journey that once required three separate bookings into a single itinerary. Five operators currently serve the corridor, each offering variations on the standard format: hotel pick-up in central Bangkok before dawn, arrival at Bali Hai Pier by mid-morning, a twenty-minute speedboat crossing, and four to six hours on the island before the return leg. Some packages bundle the Sanctuary of Truth — a teak pavilion under construction in North Pattaya since 1981 — as a supplementary stop. The island's six main beaches span a gradient of development. Tawaen Beach, the closest landing point to the western ferry terminal, hosts the densest concentration of sunlounger concessions and watersport kiosks; parasailing launches and banana-boat circuits operate from dawn until dusk. Samae Beach, one bay south, offers marginally quieter sand and clearer water, with visibility reaching eight to twelve metres on calm mornings. Nual Beach and Tien Beach, both accessible by hillside footpath, remain undeveloped by island standards, though vendor stalls sell grilled seafood and cold drinks from makeshift tarpaulin shelters. The eastern shore — Ta Yai, Thonglang, and Sangwan — sees fewer day-trippers; most visitors who reach these beaches arrive by rented motorbike or chartered longtail. Coral fragments and elkhorn formations cluster in the shallows between Samae and Tien, though reef health has declined measurably since baseline surveys conducted in 2008. Snorkelling remains the island's dominant activity, with mask-and-fin sets available for hire at every beach club. The island levies no entry fee; the Thai government designated Koh Larn part of Hat Chom Thian–Khao Sam Muk Forest Park in 1992, but budget constraints have so far prevented enforcement of a formal admission structure.