Phi Phi Islands Guide: Ferries, Maya Bay and Where to Stay

How do you visit the Phi Phi Islands?

Base yourself on Phuket or in Krabi and take a scheduled ferry or speedboat to Tonsai Pier on Ko Phi Phi Don, the island with the hotels. Visit Phi Phi Leh and Maya Bay by tour boat. Go between December and March for calmer seas, and expect Maya Bay to close every August and September.

The islands sit inside Hat Noppharat Thara–Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park. The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Ko Phi Phi page describes two large islands, Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Leh, plus smaller ones including Ko Mai Phai (Bamboo Island) and Ko Yung. Phi Phi Don has the piers, accommodation and restaurants; Phi Phi Leh is the cliff-ringed island with Maya Bay.

Most visitors arrive from Phuket or Krabi. If you mainly want the famous bays for a day, read our verdict on whether a Phi Phi Islands tour is worth it first. This guide covers the boats, the park rules, staying overnight and the weather. Keep your boat, room and onward flight details together in My Trip.

How do you get to Phi Phi from Phuket or Krabi?

Take a scheduled ferry or speedboat. From Phuket, ferries leave Rassada Pier near Phuket Town; from Krabi, they use Khlong Jilad Pier, and some run from Nopparat Thara near Ao Nang. Most land at Tonsai Pier on Phi Phi Don. Allow up to about two hours on a standard ferry; speedboats are quicker.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand puts the ferry from Khlong Jilad (also spelt Khlong Chilat) and Nopparat Thara at about two hours, and the national park’s own visitor page gives 1.5 to 2 hours for passenger boats from Krabi or Phuket (both checked October 2026). On Phuket, The Phuket News describes Rassada Pier as the key transit point for Phi Phi and other nearby islands, and reports Marine Office inspections of life jackets and radios there.

Before you pay, check four things: the departure pier (Rassada and Chalong are different piers on Phuket), the arrival point (Tonsai Pier or a resort beach such as Laem Tong, which some Krabi routes serve), whether the hotel transfer is included, and the last return sailing if you are visiting for the day. Timetables change with the season, so reconfirm your departure time with the operator the day before.

Speedboats save time but are bumpier and more exposed to spray; larger ferries are slower and steadier. If you are prone to seasickness, choose the bigger boat, sit low and near the middle, and take medication before you board rather than once the crossing starts.

What is the difference between Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Leh?

Phi Phi Don is where you arrive, eat and sleep: it has Tonsai Pier, the village, the hotels and the main beaches. Phi Phi Leh is the smaller, cliff-ringed island with Maya Bay, Pileh Bay and Loh Samah Bay. Accommodation is on Phi Phi Don, so you see Phi Phi Leh by tour boat or chartered longtail.

TAT describes Phi Phi Don as the island with the ports, accommodation and restaurants, with Ao Ton Sai and Ao Lo Dalam as its best-known bays and Ton Sai as the centre of the nightlife. It describes Phi Phi Leh as surrounded by limestone mountains and sheer cliffs, with Ao Pi Le, Ao Maya and Ao Lo Sama among its bays.

In practice, a stay on Phi Phi Don gives you early and late time on the water, while Phi Phi Leh is something you see on a few hours’ boat trip. Bamboo Island and Ko Yung are also in the park and appear on many tour itineraries, but the park can close individual sites: in 2026 the Department of National Parks listing showed diving closed at Ko Yung and the western side of Ko Kai from 16 May. Check current notices before booking a dive or snorkel trip to a specific spot.

Is Maya Bay open, and how much is the Phi Phi national park fee?

Maya Bay reopened on 1 October 2026 after its annual closure, which runs from 1 August to 30 September. Swimming in the bay is banned. Foreign visitors pay a national park entrance fee, reported at 400 baht per adult (checked October 2026); many tours include it, so check before paying twice.

Thai PBS World reported in September 2026 that Maya Bay is shut each year from 1 August to 30 September, so coral and the beach can recover and visitors stay away during the south-west monsoon. Time Out Bangkok confirmed the 1 October 2026 reopening and that swimming remains prohibited; access still depends on sea conditions. Boats land at the pier in Loh Samah Bay, which The Nation calls the main access point for Maya Bay.

The Nation reported the entrance fee as 400 baht for foreign tourists and 40 baht for Thais, covering the whole park, and The Phuket News reported 200 baht for foreign children under the order covering Phi Phi Don, Phi Phi Leh and Bamboo Island. We found no official notice of a change when we checked in October 2026, but confirm on the park’s DNP page, which also tells visitors to keep their fee ticket because staff may check it.

Maya Bay became famous as the beach in Danny Boyle’s film The Beach (2000), shot there in 1999, and the visitor boom that followed is why it was closed from 2018 to 2022 to let the reef recover. Our sister site CelluloidScore has a review of The Beach if you want to watch it before you go.

Ferry booking listings also mention a small cash cleaning fee collected at Tonsai Pier on arrival. We could not confirm the amount with an official source, so carry some small notes and ask your operator. In marine parks, sunscreens containing oxybenzone, octinoxate, 4-MBC or butylparaben are banned, with fines of up to 100,000 baht, as Khaosod English reported in October 2025.

Is a Phi Phi day trip enough, or should you stay overnight?

A day trip is enough if you mainly want Maya Bay, Pileh Bay and a snorkel stop, and you are happy with a long, busy boat day. Stay one or two nights if you want quieter mornings, sunsets and swimming without a tour timetable, or a spare day in case rough seas cancel your boat.

Day tours from Phuket and Krabi are the simplest option. The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s trip planner notes that agents in Krabi, at Ao Nang and at Ao Chalong on Phuket sell speedboat packages, and TAT says the Phi Phi sunrise tour it features normally spends seven to eight hours on the water. That is a long day in sun and spray, so weigh seasickness and children’s stamina.

Staying on Phi Phi Don gives you a buffer: if one boat is cancelled for weather, you still have another day. It also lets you take a shorter longtail or small-group trip to Phi Phi Leh from the island instead of a full crossing from the mainland. Compare tour inclusions line by line, including the park fee, lunch, snorkel gear and boat type; our GetYourGuide vs Viator vs Klook comparison explains how the marketplaces differ.

Where should you stay on Koh Phi Phi?

Stay around Tonsai or Loh Dalum if you want the pier, restaurants and nightlife on your doorstep and can live with the noise. Choose Long Beach or the quieter north-east beaches, such as Laem Tong or Loh Bagao, for calmer nights, but expect to rely on longtail boats or resort transfers.

Tonsai and Loh Dalum are the two bays either side of the main village. TAT highlights both and calls Ton Sai the centre of the nightlife, with dozens of beach bars and restaurants. That makes the village convenient for ferries and easy for a short first stay, but light sleepers should read recent reviews for noise before booking.

Long Beach (Hat Yao) and the north-east beaches are further from Tonsai Pier, and some Krabi ferry routes list Laem Tong as a stop. Before you commit, check how you and your luggage get from the pier to the room, whether the resort arranges the boat and what it charges. If you are splitting your trip with Phuket, our things to do in Phuket guide helps you plan the mainland half.

When is the best time to visit Phi Phi?

December to March is usually the best time to visit Phi Phi, when the Andaman coast is at its driest and seas are generally calmer. May to October brings the south-west monsoon, heavier rain and rougher crossings, and Maya Bay closes in August and September. April and November are transition months.

Thai Meteorological Department averages for 1991–2020 on southern Thailand’s west coast, published in its seasonal outlooks for January–March, April–June, July–September, September–November and November–January, show February as the driest month and August and September as the wettest. The park’s own page also says its storms and wind are driven by the south-west monsoon.

These are regional averages, not a forecast: showers are possible in any month and calm spells happen in the wet season. If your dates fall between May and October, keep a spare day, choose refundable boat tickets and check the Thai Meteorological Department’s warnings before you sail.

Is it safe to take a boat to Phi Phi?

Usually, yes, but take it seriously. The UK Foreign Office warns that passenger boats in Thailand have sunk or collided, causing deaths, usually because of overloading, poor maintenance or rough seas. Wear a life jacket, skip boats that look overloaded, accept weather cancellations and swim only where flags and conditions allow.

FCDO safety advice for Thailand says people have drowned in strong riptides, that you should follow warning signs, especially red flags, and that jellyfish can come close to shore in the rainy season. It also warns that dive operators do not always observe safety and maintenance standards, so check credentials, equipment and the oxygen on board before any dive trip.

Authorities do keep boats in port when weather turns. After the 2018 Phuket boat accidents, the Tourism Authority of Thailand reported that the governor told the Marine Office not to let vessels sail if pier safety was substandard, and that the navy sent patrol boats to warn vessels of storms and order them back to port. The Phuket News has reported Phi Phi visitors stranded until a storm ban on boats was lifted.

Build a spare day before any flight home, keep your insurer’s emergency number to hand, and set up an eSIM for Thailand so cancellation messages from your boat operator reach you on the island.