Maya Bay

You may look at the water. Rangers make sure you do not swim in it.

How we rated it: swimming is banned in the bay and it closes every year, which takes it down one. Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0

The hang

Maya Bay is on Phi Phi Leh, where nobody stays, so every visit is a day trip from Phi Phi Don, Phuket or Krabi. Boats dock at Loh Samah Bay on the other side of the headland and walk you in on a boardwalk. Swimming inside the bay is banned, full stop, and rangers enforce it. The bay closes completely from 1 August to 30 September to let the reef recover, reopening on 1 October, and runs from 7am to 6pm the rest of the year. Entry is in the 400 baht Mu Ko Phi Phi park fee, which tours may already include.

The real intel

Status, dated 2026-08-20: Closed 1 August to 30 September; reopens 1 October 2026; 07:00 to 18:00 the rest of the year.

Best months · warmest sea: April (30.6 °C), then May and August. Coolest: December (28.9 °C). One year of data, 2025.
Best months · emptiest: No good hour on record: one guide says the flow of tourists makes it hard to enjoy even on the early boats.
Getting there: Day trip by boat from Phi Phi Don, Phuket or Krabi, docking at Loh Samah Bay and walking in on a boardwalk.
Cost reality: The 400 baht Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park fee, often included in tour prices.
The catch nobody tells you: No swimming in the bay at all, and it is closed from 1 August to 30 September. Lonely Planet says speedboat access is generally banned from August to October.

The year at Maya Bay

Warmest sea in April. Fewest wet days in January. Pick your fight.

Sea (°C)

29.4

30.1

30.6

30.5

30.1

30.3

29.5

28.9

Air (°C)

27.7

27.9

28.6

28.1

28.4

28.6

28.8

28.2

27.9

27.7

27.2

27.6

Sun (h/day)

10.6

10.9

11.1

9.9

8.3

9.2

10.3

8.7

8.5

7.8

10.5

Rain (days)

One year of data, 2025, from Open-Meteo at this beach's coordinates. A rain day is 1 mm or more. The red bar is the month to aim for in each row.

The neighbours

4 beaches within 6 km, as the gull flies.

291 mLo Sa Ma Beach35 m of beach, measured. Not rated yet.
327 mAo Ma Ya Noi Beach34 m of beach, measured. Not rated yet.
472 mHet Beach112 m of beach, measured. Not rated yet.
5.7 kmLang Long Beach35 m of beach, measured. Not rated yet.

Straight-line distances from the mapped beach shapes (OpenStreetMap). Roads are longer, and in Bali they are much longer.

The crowd

A steady flow of tourists, even on the early morning boats.

The facts · we measured

Length: 265 m
Mean width: 25.3 m
Area: 6,714 m²
Warmest sea (2025): 30.6 °C in Apr
Coldest sea (2025): 28.9 °C in Dec
Sea by month, °C: Jan 29.0 · Feb 29.4 · Mar 30.1 · Apr 30.6 · May 30.5 · Jun 30.1 · Jul 30.0 · Aug 30.3 · Sep 29.5 · Oct 29.5 · Nov 29.0 · Dec 28.9