Maya Bay

Maya Bay is the enclosed bay on Ko Phi Phi Le, the uninhabited island south of Phi Phi Don, ringed by cliffs on three sides and made famous by The Beach. It became a case study in what tourism does to a place: the department closed it in 2018 to let the coral and the beach recover, and it has run under restrictions since it reopened.

The fee, from the department’s own table. Phi Phi Le is in the zone of Hat Noppharat Thara - Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park priced at 400 baht for a foreign adult and 200 for a child, the higher of the park’s two rates. That is the park fee only. Every visit is by boat, from Phi Phi Don, Krabi or Phuket, and the boat is a separate cost.

It closes every year for part of the monsoon. The legal mechanism is the department’s own announcement, first used in 2018 when the Royal Gazette published a closure of Maya Bay and Ao Lo Samah from 1 June to 30 September. For 2026, the department’s closure announcement of 18 December 2025 shuts Maya Bay, Ao Lo Samah and Ao Loh Ko from 1 August to 30 September, so the bay was closed on 18 September 2026, and it keeps Ko Yung, in the same park, closed indefinitely. Thai news reported the same August to September window in 2023 and 2024. Check before you book a trip that promises the bay in those months. Maya Bay reopened on 1 October 2026, according to a Thaiger news report of that day and the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s newsroom (20 October 2026). The Thaiger report says swimming is still banned, boats use the pier at Loh Samah Bay, and access depends on sea conditions.

The rules since reopening. Reporting since the bay reopened has described boats being kept out of the bay itself and swimming being restricted. We have not confirmed the current version of either from an official page, so ask your operator what applies on the day rather than relying on us or on anyone’s blog.

Getting there. Every visit is by boat. The day trips that clear our bar leave from the mainland, and we list them there: from Phuket and from Krabi. No trip departing from Phi Phi Don itself had enough reviews on Klook to clear our bar when we checked, so if you are staying on the island, the longtail boats at Ton Sai pier are the usual way over.

Why it is still worth it. Early in the morning, from a boat, the cliffs do exactly what the photographs promise.

What we have not done. Been. Jesse and Stacey were on Phi Phi in March 2025, and until he writes that up this is a researched listing.