Koh Lan/Larn (Coral Island) is located 9km west from Pattaya and offers tourists beautiful sandy beaches, clear water, breathtaking landscape and stunning sunset. It has six popular beaches with a decidedly “touristic day-trip” flavour, offering banana boat rides, jet-skiing, parasailing, and the like. Also available from and around Ko Laan are various underwater activities such as scuba diving, snorkeling, seabed walking and submarine rides; there are also numerous restaurants, some accommodation, and a shooting range.
The island is 4 km in length and 2 km in width or 3,500 rai. 90% of the area is mountain with a variety of trees. There are approximately a thousand of residents living in the main village.

Most of Ko Lan’s beaches are on its western side. The most visited one is Tawaen Beach, where there is a small harbor. All the length of the beach is lined with small tourist shops behind which are dining halls of restaurants whose menu is based mainly on fish and seafood. Other beaches are Tonglang Beach, Tien Beach, Samae Beach and Naon Beach.

The ferry ride takes about 40 minutes. The ferries leave south Pattaya Bali Hai pier daily from 7:00 am to 6:30 pm, the one-way fare is 30 Baht. The return ferry leaves Koh Lan’s Na Ban Beach at 06.30 am to 6:00 pm.

Alternatively speedboats can be chartered just about anywhere along the main beaches, typically for 1500-2500 baht; or you can book a day trip via an agency – expect to pay 500-600 baht for minibus collection from your hotel around 09:00, ferry from Bali Hai Pier direct to one of the main beaches (taking about half an hour), lunch, soft drinks, return ferry around 16:00, and minibus back to your hotel.

The Thai navy has sunk a decommissioned warship near Koh Larn in Pattaya Bay to create a second artificial reef and marine breeding ground app. 30meters deep.

Look at this site for further information: http://www.thaiwreckdiver.com/kut.htm

Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Ko_Lan74.png