Ko Phi Phi
Islands Within Hat Noppharat Thara Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park; Maya Bay Lies On Ko Phi Phi Le · Ko Phi Phi, Krabi
Ko Phi Phi is a small group of limestone islands in the Andaman Sea between Phuket and the Krabi coast, protected within a marine national park. The main island, Phi Phi Don, is shaped like two green blocks of cliff joined by a low sandy isthmus, with the twin bays of Ton Sai and Loh Dalum on either side and the car-free village of guesthouses, dive shops, restaurants and bars packed between them. A steep stair climbs to viewpoints over the isthmus, best at sunset. South across the water lies uninhabited Phi Phi Le, a ring of sheer cliffs enclosing the emerald Pileh lagoon and Maya Bay, the beach of the film The Beach, closed from 2018 to 2022 to let its reef recover and now visited in timed sessions with no swimming. Longtails and speedboats run to Bamboo and Mosquito islands, Monkey Beach and Shark Point, where blacktip reef sharks cruise the shallows. The 2004 tsunami swept across the isthmus, and the rebuilt village is lively, crowded and cramped; stay a night to see the islands before the day-trip boats arrive and after they leave.
Ton Sai Village, Ko Phi Phi Don, Ko Phi Phi, Krabi, 81210, Thailand
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: the beaches of Phi Phi Don are open at all times, but the park beaches and Maya Bay on Phi Phi Le open only in daylight, roughly 7 am to 6 pm, with Maya Bay admitting visitors in timed sessions of about an hour and closing for part of the rainy season, roughly August to September. Ferries to Phuket and Krabi leave from the morning to mid-afternoon, with no evening boats. Dive and snorkel trips leave from about 7 to 9 am. The bars on Loh Dalum run from evening until the early hours, subject to local closing rules. There is no weekly closing day. The traps that ruin a day are a Maya Bay tour booked in the closed months, arriving at the lagoon at noon with a hundred boats, boats cancelled in rough weather, missing the last ferry back, and landing with no cash for the pier and park fees. Confirm current times before relying on them.