Level: Free shore access This spot have a free shore access: you can go snorkeling there freely and without having to book a tour or pay an entrance fee.
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Last updated on June 23, 2024
Located on the east coast of Koh Tao, Hin Wong is a picturesque bay surrounded by granite boulders, which offers some of the best snorkeling on the island. It has lots of marine life, from colorful reef fish, schools of thousands of fusiliers, and occasional visits from stingrays and small blacktip sharks.
Hin Wong is located on Koh Tao’s eastern shore. It is accessible either by road or on boat trips.
1. Access by boat. Koh Tao snorkeling tours (about 500 Bath per person in 2022) frequently stop at Hin Wong, but the location is rarely visited in the morning, when the bay is uncrowded. You can also book a taxi boat or a fishing boat and make your own private tour. In this case, make it clear to the captain that these will be snorkeling stops and not simple “visits” to see the beach.
2. Shore access. Hin Wong Bay is just a short 10 minutes drive from Sairee Beach. Take the road heading east at The Brother Restaurant. After about 2km, the road leads to a small beach surrounded by large rocks, from which you can enter the water. If you come by scooter, parking costs 20 baht for the day.
If you are on a tour, you will enter the water from the boat ladders. If you reach this spot by road, enter the water from the small beach or from the restaurant’s wooden jetty, then swim along the rocks to the right for about 300m to reach the most recommended snorkeling area (see map).
Hin Wong Bay has a depth of 6 to 15 feet/2 to 5 m depending on the area. The seabed mainly features dead coral debris, interspersed with some massive coral bommies, patches of leafy coral, and a few mushroom corals.
All the usual Koh Tao shore waters species can be seen at this location, including very common parrotfish, butterflyfish, wrasses, rabbitfish, and some blacktip groupers sheltering near the overhangs.
Bluespotted ribbontail rays are frequent visitors to Hin Wong, as well as small blacktip reef sharks.
By coming early in the morning, you will get a chance to swim surrounded by a large school of fusiliers, very often present in the bay.
The location where they are usually seen is the small area sheltered by the rocky point. Swimming in the middle of these thousands of fish is a very nice experience.
There are several bars and restaurants on the small beach.
These spots are accessible to anyone with basic snorkeling skills, and feeling comfortable in the water and with his snorkeling gear. You will enter the water from the shore (beach, pontoon, ladder, rocks) or from a boat. The water height in the sea entrance area is reasonable, but you will not necessarily be within your depth. Moderate currents can occur in the area, even when the sea conditions are good. The distance to swim to reach the most interesting snorkeling areas of the spot does not exceed 200 meters. This level only apply when the spot experiences optimal sea and/or weather conditions. It is not applicable if the sea and/or weather conditions deteriorate, in particular in the presence of rough sea, rain, strong wind, unusual current, large tides, waves and/or swell. You can find more details about the definition of our snorkeling levels on our snorkeling safety page.
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Snorkeling spots are part of a wild environment and their aspect can be significantly altered by weather, seasons, sea conditions, human impact and climate events (storms, hurricanes, seawater-warming episodes…). The consequences can be an alteration of the seabed (coral bleaching, coral destruction, and invasive seagrass), a poor underwater visibility, or a decrease of the sea life present in the area. Snorkeling Report makes every effort to ensure that all the information displayed on this website is accurate and up-to-date, but no guarantee is given that the underwater visibility and seabed aspect will be exactly as described on this page the day you will snorkel the spot. If you recently snorkeled this area and noticed some changes compared to the information contained on this page, please contact us.
The data contained in this website is for general information purposes only, and is not legal advice. It is intended to provide snorkelers with the information that will enable them to engage in safe and enjoyable snorkeling, and it is not meant as a substitute for swim level, physical condition, experience, or local knowledge. Remember that all marine activities, including snorkeling, are potentially dangerous, and that you enter the water at your own risk. You must take an individual weather, sea conditions and hazards assessment before entering the water. If snorkeling conditions are degraded, postpone your snorkeling or select an alternate site. Know and obey local laws and regulations, including regulated areas, protected species, wildlife interaction and dive flag laws.
