Koh Phi Phi/Things to do/ viewpoint
The Phi Phi viewpoint
The climb above the village to 186 metres, where the two bays either side of the isthmus curve away from each other, and the one walk everybody on the island does.
What we checked, 18 September 2026
Checked on 18 September 2026. The height and the view are the local authority's own description, and the pier charge comes from its published ordinance rather than from a traveller's account. The viewpoint charge, which almost everyone mentions, has no official source we could find, and the authority does not say which of the island's numbered viewpoints its page describes. We have not been.
Verified via. The Ao Nang Subdistrict Administrative Organisation, the local authority for the island, describes the viewpoint as 186 metres above sea level, reached by a walk uphill that needs some fitness, and overlooking the curves of Ao Ton Sai and Ao Lo Dalam. Its 2011 ordinance on the Phi Phi pier sets a cleaning charge of 20 baht per person, item 7 of its schedule.
Admission
No authority publishes a charge for the viewpoint, and nothing official says it is free. A charge collected at the top is widely reported and we could not confirm who levies it or how much. The one charge on Phi Phi Don with a legal instrument behind it is at the pier: a 20 baht per person cleaning charge at Ton Sai, set by the Ao Nang Subdistrict Administrative Organisation's own ordinance of 2011.
The viewpoint is a climb from the back of Ton Sai village up the ridge to about 186 metres, where Ao Ton Sai and Ao Lo Dalam, the two bays either side of the flat neck of land the village sits on, curve away from each other below you. It is the shape of the island in one look, and the reason for the photograph on every Phi Phi page including ours.
What the island’s own authority says about it. The Ao Nang Subdistrict Administrative Organisation, which governs Phi Phi, gives the height as 186 metres, says it overlooks Ao Ton Sai and Ao Lo Dalam, and warns plainly that you need to be reasonably fit, because the only way up is a long walk uphill. It suggests taking it slowly. That is sound advice.
On what it costs. A charge at the top is mentioned in nearly every account of the walk. We could not find an ordinance, a notice or any official statement setting it, which means we do not know whether it is a council charge, a landowner’s charge or something else, and we are not printing a number.
The charge we can source is at the pier. When you step off the ferry at Ton Sai, the council’s ordinance of 2011 sets a cleaning charge of 20 baht per person, item 7 of its schedule. The same ordinance bans food, drink and alcohol on the pier, fishing from it and cycling on it, and a 2020 amendment bans any boat carrying cars or motorcycles from berthing.
Timing. Early morning for the light and the lack of people, or the last hour before sunset for the colour. Midday is hot, exposed and busy.
What we have not done. Jesse and Stacey were on Phi Phi in March 2025. Until he writes about it, this listing is researched, not visited.
Best for
Sunrise or late afternoon, and the only way to understand the shape of the island
Skip if
You are counting on shade or a gentle path. It is a sustained uphill walk in the heat