Maya Bay Open or Closed? Rules, Closure Months, Sharks

10 November 202611 min read

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Maya Bay: a turquoise cove between steep limestone cliffs on Phi Phi Leh, Thailand

“Is Maya Bay open or closed?” is one of the most common questions before a Phi Phi trip from Phuket, and the honest answer is: it depends on the month, the day and the rules in force. The cove where The Beach was filmed was shut for more than three years, reopened under strict limits and now closes again every August and September. This article goes deeper than our Phi Phi island tour guide, which only summarises it: the timeline, the rules for a visit, why the bay closes each year and what researchers have reported about its blacktip reef sharks.

The trips we link are run by Simba Sea Trips, an independent local operator; we list them on this website with live availability and secure online payment. What we say about Maya Bay comes from the official and press sources listed at the end, with their dates; what we say about the trips comes from the trip pages.

Maya Bay open or closed: the short answer

Closed 1 August to 30 September, every year. The Thai National Parks page for Hat Noppharat Thara – Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park states it plainly: Maya Bay is closed to visitors between 1 August and 30 September every year.
Open the rest of the year, with limits. After the two-month break the park reopens it on 1 October. A Thai government (PRD) notice dated 3 October 2023 gave 1 October 2023 to 30 July 2024 as that season’s window, and The Thaiger reported the same reopening on 1 October 2024 after the 1 August–30 September closure, confirmed by the Department of National Parks.
We found no 2026-specific notice. The annual closure is what the Thai National Parks website states; dates are decided by the park and can change, so check the trip page for the operator’s latest note before you book.

A short timeline: from film set to protected cove

1999–2000: The Beach is filmed on Phi Phi Leh (Wikipedia). The Thaiger says tourism surged after the film and that the crowds damaged much of the marine life.
1 June 2018: the bay closes for a planned four months to protect its coral. On 2 October 2018 authorities announced it would stay closed indefinitely; the Office of National Parks director said four months had not been enough, and reports at the time put the crowds at up to 6,000 visitors a day.
1 January 2022: the bay reopens after more than three years, with a daily cap, shifts of one hour, no swimming and a pier on the far side of the island (details below). Euronews reported the same reopening on 6 January 2022.
From 2023: a yearly closure. On 2 August 2023 Thai PBS reported that the park had closed Maya Bay and Loh Samah Bay from 1 August to 30 September, citing nature’s recovery and monsoon safety.

The rules for a visit

The rules come from the Thai National Parks website and reach us through press reports, which do not always agree on the numbers. This is what we could verify, with the date of each source:

Visitor cap. Thai PBS World (31 December 2021) reported a limit of 4,125 visitors a day in 11 shifts of 375, each visit lasting one hour; Thai Rath (5 April 2023) gives the same figures. Euronews, days after the reopening, reported up to 300 tourists at a time and a limit of eight speedboats docking at once, so early figures varied.
Time on the beach. One hour per visit. Opening hours also differ by source: 07:00–18:00 in Thai Rath and Thai PBS World, 08:00–16:30 for the park’s attractions on the Thai National Parks page.
Boats do not enter the bay. They moor at the pier on the opposite side of the island, in Loh Samah Bay, and visitors walk a short distance to the beach (Thai PBS World, Thai Rath).
No swimming in the bay. Thai PBS World reported swimming banned from the reopening, and the Thai government notice of October 2023 says swimming is restricted in specified areas. Thai Rath adds that the front beach is for walking and photos, with swimming and shallow snorkelling limited to the back beach. In April 2026 The Thaiger reported, citing a park statement, that two French tourists were fined after entering the water in a no-swimming zone on 26 February 2026. The law allows penalties of up to 100,000 baht; the article does not say how much they paid.
Other rules. Thai Rath lists electronic tickets booked through the QueQ app, drones banned without permission and a ban on sunscreens containing oxybenzone, octinoxate, 4-MBC or butylparaben. The government notice adds a ban on collecting sea creatures and asks for reef-safe sunscreen.
Fees. The park’s general entrance fee for foreigners is 200 baht for adults and 100 for children (Thai National Parks, valid as of June 2026), but for Phi Phi Don, Phi Phi Leh and Mai Phai island The Thaiger reported in February 2024 a special service fee of 400 baht for foreign adults and 200 for children. Scuba divers pay 200 baht more. Our sunset trip lists national-park fees as included; for the others, check the trip page.

Limestone cliffs and turquoise water in the Phi Phi Islands, seen from the boat — Limestone cliffs and turquoise water in the Phi Phi Islands · Photo: our trip page (Bókun)

Why the bay closes in August and September

The Thai PBS report of 2 August 2023 gives two reasons: the need for nature to recover from the previous year’s tourism, and safety in the southwest monsoon, with strong wind, heavy rain and rough sea. It describes red flags at the buoys of the Loh Samah pier and the Maya Bay entrance, and three longtail boats that capsized and sank about 50 metres from the pier. For the 2024 reopening, The Thaiger reported that park staff had carried out rehabilitation work during the closure and that the buoys protecting the reefs had been maintained.

On our trips, the closure changes the route rather than cancelling the day. According to the trip pages, in August and September the sunrise trip goes to Bamboo Island and you see Maya Bay from the boat, without walking on its beach.

The sharks of Maya Bay: what the reports say

Blacktip reef sharks came back to the shallow water while the bay was closed. What do the published counts show? Not a simple trend, so here they are with their dates:

28 March 2023 (The Thaiger, citing Reuters): up to 40 sharks in the bay and about 4,000 visitors a day. In a pilot study that started in November 2021, researchers recorded fewer sharks through the end of 2022 as tourists came back. Conservationists said that keeping visitors out of the water would help the young sharks that shelter in the shallows.
31 December 2021 (Thai PBS World): the report mentions more than 100 black-tipped reef sharks living in the bay, so counts depend on the day and the method.
2 May 2024 (Pattaya Mail): a survey by marine-park officials from Trang, the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources and the Thai Sharks and Rays team counted 281 sharks on 23 April, against 126 on 22 January. The article calls the figures preliminary.
10 July 2025 (Nation Thailand, and The Thaiger, 11 July): in the Shark Watch Project survey of 2–8 July, researchers from the Marine National Park Centre in Trang counted 158 sharks on the morning of 3 July with drones and baited underwater cameras, reported as the highest figure for the project.

Do these numbers add up to a trend? We cannot say. The 2024 and 2025 reports do not explain how their counts compare, one is described as preliminary, and we found no newer figure we could open and verify. What the sources do agree on is that sharks are present in the shallows, that researchers consider the bay a refuge for young ones, and that the swimming ban is meant to protect them as much as you.

A shark swimming over a reef in clear shallow water, seen from above — A shark in shallow water, seen from above · Photo: our trip page (Bókun)

Where to see them, and Maya Bay, on our trips

Since you cannot swim in Maya Bay, where does snorkelling with sharks happen? The trip page for our sunset trip says that you snorkel at Bamboo Island and at Shark Bay, “where blacktip reef sharks are spotted”, as the operator describes it; it also lists Maya Bay among the sights, a beach picnic and the sunset over the Andaman Sea. It runs from November to April. That is the operator’s description of the trip, not a guarantee of a sighting.

If your priority is arriving at Maya Bay before the crowds, the sunrise trip leaves at about 06:00 and, in the operator’s words, reaches the bay early, before the day-trip boats. For a group of your own there is the private Phi Phi sunrise charter, for 2 to 20 guests, or all our private charters in Thailand.

Our Phi Phi trips from Phuket

How to choose around the closure

Want to walk on Maya Bay’s beach? Book between October and July, and keep in mind the one-hour limit and the no-swimming rule.
Travelling in August or September? Choose the trip for the rest of the day, not the bay: Bamboo Island, with Maya Bay seen from the boat.
Want sharks in the water? The sunset trip runs from November to April and snorkels at Shark Bay, according to its page.
Not sure how the day fits together? Our Phuket destination guide covers the area, and all our trips from Phuket are in one place.

Practical checklist

Pick-up: free around Kata, Karon, Patong, Kamala, Surin and Bangtao; other areas may cost extra (about 1,000 THB per vehicle on some trips). The operator sends the exact time the day before.
Bring: your passport number (not the passport), swimwear, a towel, a hat, a camera and cash for tips and drinks. Use reef-safe sunscreen: the authorities ask for it.
Not included: alcoholic drinks and tips for the crew.
Ages and health: adults 13+, children 4–12, infants 0–3 free; not recommended for pregnant travellers or people with heart or back problems; not wheelchair accessible.
Rules change: caps, hours and fees are set by the Thai National Parks website, so treat this as the situation on the dates of our sources.

Quick answers

Is Maya Bay open or closed? Closed every year from 1 August to 30 September; open the rest of the year, with a daily cap and a one-hour limit per visit.
Can you swim in Maya Bay? No. The reopening came with a swimming ban, and in April 2026 the press reported fines for two tourists who entered a no-swimming zone.
Do boats go into the bay? No. They moor at the pier on the other side of the island and you walk to the beach.
Are there sharks in Maya Bay? Yes: blacktip reef sharks, with counts reported in 2023, 2024 and 2025 as listed above.
What is the Maya Bay fee? A service fee of 400 baht for foreign adults and 200 for children was reported for the Phi Phi islands in February 2024; confirm the current amount.