Ko Phi Phi Le (Phi Phi Leh): The Uninhabited Island of Maya Bay, Krabi

Ko Phi Phi Le, also spelled Ko Phi Phi Leh, is the smaller and uninhabited half of Thailand's Phi Phi Islands, roughly 45 minutes by speedboat off the Krabi coast in the Andaman Sea. Nobody lives here. There are no hotels, no roads and no overnight stays, because the whole island sits inside Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park. The draw is what the island holds: Maya Bay, the cove made famous by the film The Beach, alongside the emerald water of Pileh Lagoon, the cliff cave they call Viking Cave, and the coral at Loh Samah Bay. This guide walks through every sight on the island, the park rules that shape your visit, how to reach it on a day trip from Krabi or Ao Nang, and what that day costs an Indian traveller in rupees.

Ko Phi Phi Le at a glance

What is Ko Phi Phi Le?

The Phi Phi Islands are a group of six islands. Two carry the name: Phi Phi Don, the larger island where the hotels, ferries and nightlife are, and Ko Phi Phi Le, its smaller southern neighbour, which has none of that. Phi Phi Le is a single block of limestone cliffs rising straight out of the sea, with a handful of bays cut into it and no permanent population at all.

The island entered most people's imagination through one film. Maya Bay stood in for the perfect hidden beach in The Beach (2000), and the visitors who arrived afterwards eventually loved the bay close to ruin. That is the short version of why the whole island is now a protected national park with a daily cap, a closed season and rules about where boats may land. You come here to look, snorkel and photograph, then you leave the same day. Understanding that one fact, that the island is uninhabited and protected, explains almost everything else about how a visit works.

Maya Bay

Maya Bay is the reason most day trips exist. It is a shallow, pale-sand cove on the west side of the island, wrapped on three sides by cliffs close to 100 metres high. Since the reopening, boats no longer moor inside the bay. They dock at a floating pier in Loh Samah Bay at the back of the island, and you walk a short boardwalk through to the beach. Swimming inside Maya Bay itself is restricted to protect the recovering reef, so treat it as a place to wade, walk and photograph rather than a full swim stop. The bay closes completely from 1 August to 30 September each year. For the full route, timings, boardwalk detail and the current swimming rule, see our dedicated Maya Bay guide.

Pileh Lagoon

Pileh Lagoon (often written Pi Leh) is the island's second headline sight and, for many people, the quieter favourite. It is a natural lagoon on the east side, a long pool of jade-green water enclosed by sheer limestone walls that open to the sea through one narrow gap. Because the cliffs shelter it, the water stays calm and clear even when the open sea is choppy, which makes it the main swimming and snorkelling stop on most tours. Boats anchor at the mouth and you slip in from the back of the boat. Some operators bring kayaks so you can paddle deeper into the lagoon where the walls close in. Go early. By late morning several boats share the same narrow water and the calm turns to traffic.

Viking Cave

Viking Cave, known locally as Tham Phaya Nak, is a tall cliff cavern on the island's northeast face. The name comes from old paintings on the rock inside that early visitors thought resembled Viking longboats, though they most likely depict local and foreign trading ships. The cave has a working history that continues today: licensed collectors climb flimsy bamboo scaffolding high inside it to harvest the nests of swiftlets, the raw material for birds' nest soup. Because of that trade and the fragile structure, you cannot land or go inside. Tour boats slow down and pass close so you can see the cave mouth and the scaffolding from the water, which is a two-minute stop rather than a destination in itself.

Loh Samah Bay, Monkey Beach and the Bamboo Island circuit

Loh Samah Bay sits on the south of Ko Phi Phi Le, directly behind Maya Bay, and it does double duty. It is a genuine snorkelling bay in its own right, with coral and reef fish close to the surface, and since the Maya Bay rules changed it is also the arrival point: the floating pier here is where boats now dock before the boardwalk crossing.

Two more names come up on the same ticket, and it helps to know which island they are on. Monkey Beach, a small strip where long-tailed macaques come down to the shore, is on neighbouring Phi Phi Don, not on Phi Phi Le, so it appears as an extra stop on longer tours. Bamboo Island, called Koh Mai Phai, is a separate flat coral island north of the group with some of the best shallow snorkelling in the area, and many full-day circuits from Krabi combine it with the Phi Phi Le sights. If you want the wider set of islands in this stretch of the Andaman, our blog on the islands near Phi Phi maps them out.

National park status, entry fee and rules

Everything on and around Ko Phi Phi Le is protected inside Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park, established in 1983. That protected status is the reason the island is uninhabited and the reason a day here comes with rules worth knowing before you book. The national-park entry fee is 400 THB for an adult and 200 THB for a child (about Rs 1,150 and Rs 575), usually collected separately from your tour price, so carry cash. No one may stay overnight anywhere on the island. Maya Bay closes fully from 1 August to 30 September every year to let the reef and beach recover, and there is a daily visitor cap that can shorten your time ashore in peak season. For the exact fee, what it does and does not include, and how it is charged, see the Ko Phi Phi Le entry fees page.

How to reach Ko Phi Phi Le

Ko Phi Phi Le has no pier of its own for public transport, so you reach it on a boat tour rather than by scheduled ferry. From Krabi the usual options are a shared speedboat day tour leaving from Ao Nang or the Nopparat Thara pier, which reaches the island in about 45 to 50 minutes, or a slower joined trip that stops at several islands across the day. A third route is to take the passenger ferry to Phi Phi Don first, stay or spend the day there, and hire a longtail across to the Leh sights, which suits people already based on the bigger island. A tour is almost always the simplest choice because it bundles the boat, the park stops and often lunch and snorkel gear. For pier options, departure times and fares, see how to reach Ko Phi Phi Le, and for the Phuket-side approach see the Phi Phi Island how-to-reach guide.

Best time to visit

The dry season, November to April, is the clear window. Seas are calm, visibility underwater is at its best and boats run to full schedules, which matters when Pileh Lagoon and the snorkel stops are the point of the trip. May to October is the southwest monsoon: the sea gets rougher, some speedboat departures are cancelled at short notice, and the Maya Bay closure falls inside it from 1 August to 30 September. Whatever month you pick, book the earliest departure you can. The first boats reach Maya Bay and Pileh Lagoon before the large Phuket groups arrive, and the light and the water are both better first thing. For opening hours across the year, check the Ko Phi Phi Le timings page.

Costs for Indian travellers

Ko Phi Phi Le is a day-trip cost rather than a stay cost, since you cannot sleep on the island. The figures below are indicative, in Thai baht and Indian rupees, so you can budget before you book. The park fee is paid on top of most tour prices.

Conversions use about Rs 2.86 per THB. Rates move, so check a live rate and the current park fee close to your travel date.

Plan the rest of your Krabi trip

Ko Phi Phi Le is one stop on a bigger Krabi itinerary. Pair it with Maya Bay for the full story of the island's famous cove, browse the wider places to visit in Krabi, or start planning with the Krabi travel guide and our Krabi tour packages.