Maya Bay Rules

At Maya Bay you land at a jetty in Loh Samah Bay, walk across to the beach, and look; you cannot swim in the bay, boats cannot anchor in front of it, and from 1 August to 30 September every year it is closed altogether. On top come the rules for the whole national park: a fee of 400 baht an adult and 200 baht a child, no reef-harmful sunscreen and no single-use plastic. The swimming on a Phi Phi day happens elsewhere: at Pileh Lagoon, Bamboo Island or Khai Island. The classic speedboat day gives you 50 minutes on Maya Bay and is from US$42 a person in current promotion (usually US$56) (checked October 2026).

The rules, one by one

1. You land at Loh Samah Bay, not on the beach. When Maya Bay reopened after its long closure, a new jetty was built in Loh Samah Bay, on the opposite side of Phi Phi Le, and boats taking visitors to Maya Bay have to use it. You walk from the jetty to the beach. The bay in front of the beach is kept free of anchored boats so the coral can recover.

2. No swimming in the bay. The park’s rule, restated by the park’s head in April 2026, is no swimming in front of the beach; boats may not enter or moor in the bay; in April 2026 a visitor who went in was fined 5,000 baht, and the maximum penalty is 100,000 baht. You walk the beach and the paths. Every tour here swims somewhere else on the same day.

3. Closed from 1 August to 30 September, every year. The Department of National Parks closes Maya Bay, Loh Samah Bay and Loko Bay for these two months, during the southwest monsoon, so the reef and beach can recover; the park’s head has also cited the danger to boats at the Loh Samah jetty in the monsoon swell. Tours still run in August and September and pass the bay by boat, but nobody lands. In 2026 the bay reopened on 1 October.

4. Visitor numbers are controlled. The park admits up to 375 people per round, each round one hour, between 07:00 and 18:00, so the time on the beach is fixed by your tour: 50 minutes on the classic speedboat day, an hour on the private longtail.

5. Pay the park fee, and keep the ticket. Maya Bay is in Hat Noppharat Thara - Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park: 400 baht an adult and 200 baht a child. Since 15 October 2025 the park sells entry only through the Department of National Parks’ e-ticket system, which now covers six Andaman marine parks, and officers can check tickets on Phi Phi Le and Phi Phi Don. The price guide shows which tours include it.

6. No reef-harmful sunscreen. Sunscreen containing oxybenzone, octinoxate, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor (4-MBC) or butylparaben is banned in all of Thailand’s national parks. Check the label before you pack.

7. No single-use plastic. Since 6 April 2022, plastic food containers, cups, straws, cutlery, plastic bags and foam boxes have been banned in Thailand’s national parks, with fines of up to 100,000 baht. Bring a refillable bottle.

8. Leave the monkeys alone. At Monkey Beach on Phi Phi Don, some boats watch from the water and others land briefly. Do not feed or touch the macaques.

Why the rules exist

Maya Bay became famous after the film The Beach (2000) and then took thousands of visitors a day, with boats anchored over the reef. In June 2018 the Department of National Parks closed it, and it stayed closed for three and a half years while the coral recovered and the jetty was built. The swimming ban protects that reef and the blacktip reef sharks that came back to the shallows, which you may see from the shore.

What this means for your tour

Pick a day that gives you real time on the beach and a proper swim elsewhere. On the classic speedboat day that is 50 minutes of free time on Maya Bay, a swim and snorkel off Phi Phi Le, and an hour and a half on Bamboo Island. On a private longtail you get an hour on Maya Bay and snorkelling in Loh Samah Bay. If you travel in August or September, expect to see Maya Bay only from the water.

Check the classic day's dates →

To reach the bay before most boats, look at the early bird tours.

The Loh Samah jetty and the controlled visitor numbers from the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s November 2021 report on the reopening; the annual closure of Maya Bay, Loh Samah and Ao Lo Ko from the park’s notice as reported by Thairath on 25 July 2024, with the reasons from the park head’s July 2024 statement reported by Thailand’s Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning; the 2026 reopening from TAT News’s October 2026 Andaman report; the e-ticket system from the Bangkok Post’s April 2025 report; the 2018 closure from TAT’s May 2018 notice; the park fee from the Department of National Parks’ entrance-fee schedule (updated 2 June 2023), which sets 400 baht for Ko Phi Phi Don, Ko Phi Phi Le and Ko Mai Phai; the sunscreen ban from TAT’s August 2021 notice and the plastics ban from TAT’s April 2022 notice. The swimming ban, the ban on boats mooring in the bay, the April 2026 fine and the 100,000-baht maximum from the park’s own statement (Hat Noppharat Thara - Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park) and the park head’s 11 April 2026 statement reported by MGR Online; the 375-per-round limit and one-hour rounds from the park’s statement and the Thai government Public Relations Department; the blacktip sharks from the Bangkok Post’s reporting. Time on the beach from the GetYourGuide listings. All read in October 2026.