Koh Phi Phi/Things to do/ nature
Maya Bay
The cliff-ringed bay on Ko Phi Phi Le from The Beach, closed in 2018 to let the reef recover, and reported closed every year since for part of the monsoon.
What we checked, 18 September 2026
Checked on 18 September 2026. The fee is the department's own. The seasonal closure for 2026 is reported by Thai news as 1 August to 30 September, the same window reported for 2023 and 2024, but the department's own pages would not load for us to confirm it, so it is attributed to reporting. On that reporting, the bay was closed on the day we checked. We have not been.
Verified via. The Department of National Parks' published fee table lists the zone of Hat Noppharat Thara - Mu Ko Phi Phi covering Phi Phi Don, Phi Phi Le and Bamboo Island at 400 baht for a foreign adult and 200 for a child. A 2018 announcement in the Royal Gazette closed Maya Bay and Ao Lo Samah to all tourism from 1 June to 30 September that year. OpenStreetMap records the bay at 7.6766, 98.7661, linked to Wikidata Q13024284, with a park ranger unit beside it.
Admission
From ฿400. The national park fee for this zone, 400 baht for a foreign adult and 200 for a child, from the Department of National Parks' own fee table. It covers Phi Phi Don, Phi Phi Le and Bamboo Island. The boat to get here is separate.
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. Thai news reported the same bays closed from 1 August to 30 September in 2023 and 2024, and again for 2026, which would mean the bay was shut on the day we checked. We could not reach the department to confirm the 2026 dates, so treat them as reported, and check before you book a trip that promises the bay in those months.
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.
Best for
Seeing the bay under the rules that now protect it, early in the day
Skip if
You are visiting in August or September, when it is reported closed, or you want to swim. Swimming has been restricted
Where it actually is
Ko Phi Phi Le, Hat Noppharat Thara - Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park, Krabi
Koh Phi Phi
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