Maya Bay Thailand: The Beach Is Open! (Phi Phi Leh)

The beach at Maya Bay is one of the most famous and photogenic places in Thailand, and it was the main thing responsible for bringing tourism to Phi Phi island. In fact, it’s now one of the most famous white sand beaches in the world.

Maya Bay is open again! It just reopened for tourists in 2022 after being closed by the government of Thailand for almost four years, so now is a great time to visit the Koh Phi Phi islands!

The entire beach is surrounded by tall limestone cliffs. The water is clear turquoise with baby sharks swimming around, and the sand is white as snow. Everything about it looks perfect. Yep, this is paradise!

Of course, the beauty of Maya Bay has attracted the tourist hordes, just like any of the amazing places in the world, but if you plan your visit right you can still enjoy the beach without too many people.

This travel guide will explain how to visit Maya Bay Thailand, current entrance fees at Koh Phi Phi Leh island, open / closed status, and everything else you need to know before you go!

Maya Bay Day Tour Packages

First of all, if you’re on a tight schedule or want to skip the extra steps involved in arranging your own trip to Phi Phi island and Maya Bay, GetYourGuide has prearranged day trips to Phi Phi from Phuket or similar day trips from Krabi, complete with hotel transfers, boat tickets, island tour, lunch, and same day return.

These day tours visit all of the top sights in the Koh Phi Phi islands, including Maya Bay, Pileh Lagoon, and Monkey Bay. They also have private tours or semi-private tours if you prefer that instead of a shared tour, although the prices are a bit higher unless you bring friends.

We’ve used GetYourGuide for lots of day tours and activities around the world, and they’re great! Highly recommended.

Where Is Maya Bay?

Maya Bay is part of Phi Phi Leh island, which is located in the Andaman Sea of Thailand, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of Phuket and about the same distance from Krabi.

There are six Phi Phi islands in total, with the two main islands being Phi Phi Leh and Phi Phi Don, and they’re all considered part of the Krabi province of Thailand.

The only inhabited island is Phi Phi Don, which has hotels, restaurants, and everything else you might want for a short stay.

How To Get To Maya Bay

The only way to reach the Phi Phi islands is by boat from Phuket or Krabi, and you can use either a ferry or a speedboat to get there.

There’s no airport in Koh Phi Phi, so the closest place to fly is the international airport in Phuket (HKT) or the one in Krabi (KBV). Both of these have cheap flights from Bangkok. You can shop for flights to Thailand on Skyscanner.

There are a bunch of boat companies making the trip to Phi Phi daily from either Phuket or Krabi, and they usually include free hotel pickup and drop-off. You can also do the day trip from Koh Lanta, or as far away as Khao Lak Thailand. 

Maya Bay Thailand: What To Expect

Maya Bay is accessed by landing a boat at Loh Samay Bay (on the back side of Phi Phi Leh island), and then doing a short and easy shaded walk through the jungle to get to the beach. The walk is flat and takes about 5 minutes.

In the past, boats could go inside of Maya Bay and land directly on the beach, but they don’t do that anymore. The Thai government has spent the last several years working on conservation, so the only way to get to the beach now is to walk to it from the back side of the island.