Maya Bay, Krabi
The verdict
- Best for: Travellers who want to stand in one of the most spectacular coves on earth and will accept a controlled, crowded, look and photograph visit rather than a swim and a lounger.
- Best spot: The first tour of the morning, walking the sand before the bay fills, with the cliffs rising sheer on every side and the light still soft.
- Know this: You cannot swim here and the visit is timed and busy. It is overrated as a beach day and unmissable as a sight, so go for the scenery and set your expectations honestly.
Published 9 March 2026. Last reviewed 14 April 2026
Maya Bay is the cove that launched a thousand screensavers. Tucked into the uninhabited island of Phi Phi Leh, a short, flawless crescent of white sand sits ringed almost completely by limestone cliffs, and ever since the film The Beach made it famous it has been the single most sought after shore in Thailand. The drama is entirely real. Step onto the sand and the walls rise sheer around you, the light bounces off the cliffs, and for a moment you understand exactly why the world fell for this place. As a sight, as a piece of pure natural theatre, almost nothing in the country matches it.
The honest read is that Maya Bay loved itself almost to death, and the version you visit now is a managed recovery rather than a free beach. After years of being trampled by hundreds of boats and thousands of feet a day, it was closed entirely in 2018 and reopened under strict control. Today the boats no longer enter the bay but dock behind the island and feed you in over a boardwalk, you cannot swim, a daily cap limits the crowd, and the whole stop is timed. Even with all that, at the busy hours it can still feel like a queue for a photograph. Anyone arriving with a towel and a picture of a quiet swim has misread how this place now works.
So go, but go clear eyed. Treat Maya Bay as a sight to witness rather than a beach to inhabit, take the earliest tour you can to beat the worst of the crush, photograph the cliffs and the sand, and let the swimming and the lounging happen somewhere else entirely. The conservation rules that frustrate a beach day are the reason the bay is recovering at all, and they deserve respect. For the soft swimming sand and the sunset bar that Maya Bay can no longer give you, come back to the Krabi mainland and the peninsula, where Railay and Phra Nang wait. Seen for what it is, an unforgettable cove on a tight leash, Maya Bay still earns its fame.
Where to settle in
Phi Phi Leh is an uninhabited park island with no clubs at all. For the real beach club scene, see our Krabi beach clubs directory.
The day trip tours
There is nothing to settle into on the island itself, so the experience is the tour. Speedboat and longtail day trips from Ao Nang, Krabi and Phi Phi Don bring you in, manage the timed landing and usually pair Maya Bay with snorkelling stops elsewhere. Choose an early departure to beat the crowd, and treat the boat, not the sand, as your base for the day.
Phi Phi Don, the lived in island
The inhabited neighbour, Phi Phi Don, is where the bars, the beaches you can actually swim from and the nightlife live, a short hop from Maya Bay. Many tours stop or stay there, so pair the controlled Maya Bay sight with a swim and a sunset drink on Phi Phi Don to round out the day properly.
Ao Nang clubs, back on the mainland
For the daybed, the cocktail list and the sunset fire show that no national park island can offer, the proper beach club scene is back on the Krabi mainland at Ao Nang. Make Maya Bay a morning sight and bring the day home to Ao Nang for an evening of comfort and a drink on the sand.
Maya Bay lies on Phi Phi Leh, a small uninhabited national park island south of the Krabi mainland, and you reach it only on an organised boat tour. From Ao Nang or Krabi it is a day trip of around ninety minutes to two hours each way by speedboat, while from Phi Phi Don it is a short twenty minute hop. Boats no longer enter the bay itself, instead docking behind the island at Loh Samah Bay, from where a boardwalk and a short trail bring you to the sand. There is a national park entry fee, around 400 baht for adult foreigners and 200 baht for children, which is subject to change.
Go in the dry season from November to April for the calmest sea and the smoothest crossing, and remember the bay closes every year from the first of August to the end of September for recovery. Choose the earliest tour you can to beat the worst of the crowds, bring reef safe sun cover, water and a hat, as there is little shade and no shops on the island. You cannot swim here, so follow the rangers and the marked routes, respect the conservation rules, and treat all conditions and timings as typical and never guaranteed, checking the latest park guidance before you book.
Plan your day on the coast
Pair a Maya Bay morning with a sunset club back on the mainland at Ao Nang. Tell us your date and party and we will point you to the right spot for two. No obligation, and we reply within 24 hours.
Common questions
Can you swim at Maya Bay now?
No. Under the current rules you cannot swim in Maya Bay, and visitors are kept to a short walk along the sand and at most an ankle deep paddle near the shore to protect the recovering seabed and the young sharks that use the bay. If swimming is what you want, this is the wrong beach, and you are better served by the swimming beaches of Phi Phi Don or the Krabi mainland. Rules are set by the national park and can change.
How do you visit Maya Bay and what does it cost?
Maya Bay is reached only on a boat tour, as a day trip from Ao Nang or Krabi, around ninety minutes to two hours by speedboat, or a short twenty minute hop from Phi Phi Don. Boats no longer enter the bay itself but dock behind the island at Loh Samah Bay, from where a boardwalk and a short trail lead to the beach. The national park entry fee is around 400 baht for adult foreigners and 200 baht for children, and is subject to change.
Is Maya Bay worth visiting?
It is worth it for the sheer drama of the place, a near perfect cove of white sand ringed by towering cliffs, but only if you go in with the right expectations. It is busy, tightly controlled and you cannot swim, so it is a look and photograph and move on experience rather than a beach day. Go early, accept the crowds and the rules, and the scenery still takes your breath away.
When is Maya Bay closed?
Maya Bay closes every year from the first of August to the end of September for coral and seabed recovery, with no visits allowed in that window. It also opens only in daytime hours, roughly seven in the morning to six in the evening, and a daily cap limits how many people are on the sand at once. Always check the latest national park rules before booking, as dates and limits change.
Are there beach clubs at Maya Bay?
No. Phi Phi Leh is an uninhabited national park island with no resorts, bars or beach clubs of any kind, only a visitor area with basic facilities. Everything is run as a controlled day trip. For daybeds and a sunset scene you head back to the Krabi mainland and Ao Nang, which our Krabi beach clubs directory covers in full, or to the bars of Phi Phi Don.
