Thailand closes bay made famous by The Beach indefinitely

The turquoise bay that arguably stole the spotlight from a young Leo DiCaprio in 2000's The Beach is now closed to tourists indefinitely.

Since the movie debuted, millions of tourists have visited Maya Bay, the idyllic stretch of sand that appears in the film, and it's taken its toll.

The tiny inlet has experienced mammoth environmental damage over the years as a result of being visited by more than 200 boats, and up to 5000 tourists a day.

The order to close the beach comes from Thai authorities, who initially planned to close the beach from June 1 for a four-month period, but were compelled to stretch that out to one year due to the extent of the destruction.

READ: Philippines party island closes due to raw sewage, here's where to go instead

It's estimated more than 80 percent of the coral life around the bay has been destroyed thanks to pollution from trash, sunscreen and boats, according to The Guardian.

Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Director Songtam Suksawang also told the publication: "We have evaluated each month and found out that the ecological system was seriously destroyed from tourism of up to 5000 people daily."

"It's very difficult to remedy and rehabilitate because its beach was completely destroyed as well the plants which cover it."

The dreamy bay, with it's azure water and lush cliffs, has been a popular tourist site since the movie's release 18 years ago, sky-rocketing to one of the nation's most-visited tourist sites.

Maya Bay isn't the first tourist site close as a result of being overrun with tourists — Philippines' Boracay, a popular party island in the Southeast Asian nation, was likewise shut down after authorities labelled it a "cesspool".

Restaurants and hotels were blamed for dumping sewage into the surrounding water, forcing the president to close the island for a minimum of six months to recover.