Maya Bay is the most recognisable name in Krabi and also the place with the least obvious set of rules: you cannot swim in the bay, boats no longer enter it, and for two months a year it is closed altogether. Below: what is actually allowed, when the bay is shut, what replaces it during those weeks and what a Phi Phi day out of Krabi costs.
- When Maya Bay is closed and when it opens again
- Why swimming in the bay is not allowed
- How you get ashore if boats stay out of the bay
- What closes together with it
- What replaces Maya Bay in August and September
- What a Phi Phi day from Krabi costs and what is paid separately
Is Maya Bay open right now?
Yes — except for two months a year. Maya Bay, Loh Samah and Loh Ko on Phi Phi Leh close to visitors and to overnight stays every year from 1 August to 30 September, for natural recovery and for safety during the monsoon. The park announcement was reprinted by the Government Contact Centre 1111 and covered by Thairath, and for 2026 the same dates — closing on 1 August, reopening on 1 October — are confirmed by the operator Simba Sea Trips. Outside the closure the bay is open daily from 07:00 to 18:00, weather permitting.
The closed season is announced afresh each year, so check the dates with the park before you buy tickets: the National Parks Department has published its general closure order for 2569, and the dates for each Krabi site are worth confirming with the park or with your operator.
Why can you not swim in Maya Bay?
Since the bay reopened in 2022 you may only wade in knee-deep. There are two physical reasons: the shallows serve as a nursery for blacktip reef sharks, and the transplanted corals are still too fragile to take a crowd of swimmers. Swimming, snorkelling and going beyond the shallows inside the bay are all out — snorkelling on Phi Phi trips happens at other stops along the route.
How do you get ashore if boats stay out of the bay?
Beaching boats on Maya Bay's sand has stopped, and vessels no longer enter the bay at all. They approach from the other side of the island, into Loh Samah, and tie up at a floating pier; from there a wooden walkway runs through the jungle, five to ten minutes on foot, and comes out directly on Maya Bay. You return the same way. Worth knowing if steps and boardwalks are hard for you: there is no other way in.
How long do you get in the bay?
Entry is rationed — both by time and by the number of people in the bay at once. The exact quotas are not published in the park's rules in any open form, and the figures circulating in travel write-ups contradict one another, so printing one here would be a lie accurate to within hundreds of people. Ask your operator for the current arrangement on the day of the trip. The practical conclusion does not change: time on site is limited, and a whole day in the bay is not something you can plan — Maya Bay is always one stop on a route, never the destination.
What closes together with Maya Bay?
Loh Samah and Loh Ko, on the same dates, 1 August to 30 September. The rest of Hat Noppharat Thara — Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park works as usual during those weeks, and Phi Phi trips out of Krabi are not cancelled. Other closures in the province run on their own calendars: in Mu Ko Lanta National Park most of the small islands are closed from 16 May to 14 October, and the twin islands of Mu Ko Rok from 1 June to 30 September.
What replaces Maya Bay in August and September?
Bamboo Island (Koh Mai Phai): Phi Phi trips run as usual through those two months and put another stop in place of the closed bay. That is how the operator Simba Sea Trips describes its own practice — an operator's decision rather than a universal rule, so ask whoever sells you an August departure what exactly the route will be. Bamboo belongs to the same island zone of the park as Phi Phi Leh, which means the park fee for it is the same.
What does a Phi Phi day from Krabi cost?
From Ao Nang to Tonsai on Phi Phi Don it is 33.3 km in a straight line, and 39.9 km to Maya Bay (calculated from coordinates as a great-circle distance, not as a sailed track). That makes it a full day on the water: group departures leave early in the morning and are back in the afternoon. Two formats are sold — a seat on a shared boat, and the whole boat.
| Trip | Operator | Price | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phi Phi by speedboat: Maya Bay, Pileh Lagoon, Bamboo | Wangsai Speedboat | ฿1,500 (about $42) per adult | 8 h 30 min |
| Early bird: Phi Phi and the four islands | Koh Tour | ฿2,395 (about $66) per adult, ฿2,195 per child aged 4–11 | 10 h 30 min |
| Private speedboat charter, 10 seats | Krabi Travel The Sea | ฿14,000 (about $390) per boat | 6 h |
| Private Phi Phi charter with sunset | Boat and Beyond | ฿19,900 (about $550) per boat for up to 10 guests | 9 h 30 min |
| Private speedboat: Maya Bay and Pileh Lagoon | Wangsai Speedboat | ฿22,000 (about $610) per boat for up to 10 guests | 7 h |
Divers go to Phi Phi on their own schedule and at their own price: two dives at Phi Phi with Sawasdee Divers Krabi cost ฿4,300 (about $120) per person. Two dives with The Dive Ao Nang are listed at ฿3,500 with no unit given — whether that is per diver or per booking the page does not say, so ask when you book. Park fees for divers are counted differently from ordinary passengers, by days and by dives, and operators quote different amounts — check yours separately.
Important
the park fee is not part of the trip price and is paid in cash, in baht, to the rangers on site. For the island zone of Mu Ko Phi Phi — the National Parks Department announcement of 22.11.2550 names Phi Phi Leh, Koh Mai Phai (Bamboo), Koh Yung, Koh Bida and Koh Poda one by one — the rate is ฿400 per foreign adult and ฿200 per child, not the ฿200 of the park's general scale. In 2560 the park's advisory board confirmed that 400/200 would stay. Some operator pages still quote ฿200, so carry cash at the higher rate: there are no ATMs or exchange counters on the islands.
