# Maya Bay — the beach closed so the sharks could come back Canonical: https://sockmonkey.com/places/maya-bay (this is a plain-text copy of that page) Source: https://sockmonkey.com/places/maya-bay Publisher: SockMonkey.com (https://sockmonkey.com) Part of: The Field Guide - https://sockmonkey.com/places/ Cite as: SockMonkey.com - sockmonkey.com Last reviewed: 24 October 2026 - **Where:** Ko Phi Phi Le, Krabi province, Thailand (Andaman Sea) - **Coordinates:** 7.6775° N, 98.7656° E - **Park:** Hat Noppharat Thara–, Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park - **Closed:** From 1 June 2018;, reopened January 2022 - **Swimming:** Not allowed, in the bay - **Sharks:** Up to 118 at once, (park survey, 2026) - **Annual closure:** 1 August to 30 September, (check the park) ## The short answer Maya Bay (Ao Maya) is a cove on Ko Phi Phi Le, the smaller of the two main Phi Phi islands in the Andaman Sea, in Krabi province, Thailand. Wikipedia describes the island, about 2 square kilometres, as a ring of steep limestone hills around two shallow bays, Maya Bay and Loh Samah. It is part of Hat Noppharat Thara–Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park. The bay became world-famous as the setting of the film The Beach, shot there in 1999 and released in 2000, and the crowds followed. The park closed it in 2018. Since it reopened in 2022, visitors land at a pier on the far side of the island, walk to the beach on a boardwalk and are not allowed to swim. ## Why it's worth knowing Maya Bay is a beach that was loved nearly to death, closed, and given back to its wildlife. Wikipedia’s account gives an estimated 5,000 visitors a day on the beach and 200 boats a day anchoring in the bay before 2018, and surveys by marine biologists found that 80 per cent of the surrounding coral had been destroyed by boat traffic and pollution. Thailand’s Department of National Parks announced a four-month closure from 1 June 2018, then, on 1 October 2018, closed the beach indefinitely, its director, Songtam Suksawang, saying that it had been completely destroyed along with the plants that covered it. It stayed shut for three and a half years; the Tourism Authority of Thailand reported the reopening planned for 1 January 2022. What came back were the sharks. Blacktip reef sharks were reported close to the beach by December 2018, and Wikipedia records that they began breeding there again. In July 2025 the national park service’s marine research centre at Trang counted 158 at once, a record for its Shark Watch Project, The Nation reported; an earlier survey, reported by Thai News Agency in May 2024, had counted 281 on 23 April 2024. The centre’s survey from 31 January to 6 February 2026, using drones over 17 flights, recorded up to 118 at one time and an average of 69 in the mornings, when activity peaked; the Bangkok Post, reporting the 2026 survey, quotes the researchers confirming the bay as a key breeding habitat. Swimming in the bay is prohibited. ## The field notes ### What the film changed For The Beach, Wikipedia’s account says, 20th Century Fox bulldozed and landscaped the beach and altered its sand dunes to widen it and make it look more like the paradise of the story. Wikipedia’s two articles disagree on whether coconut palms were planted or cleared. Environmental groups sued. In 2006 Thailand’s Supreme Court upheld an appeals-court ruling that the filming had harmed the environment and ordered damage assessments; the defendants included 20th Century Fox and some Thai officials. ### Rebuilding a reef Coral restoration began in June 2018, run by the park service’s marine operation centre at Trang. Wikipedia reports that by February 2019 more than 15,000 corals of several local species had been propagated in the bay. The reopening rebuilt the approach: a new jetty at Loh Samah, on the opposite side of the island, and, the Bangkok Post reported, a five-minute walk on a wooden trail to the beach, so that boats no longer anchor over the bay’s reef. The rules have kept changing. The Bangkok Post and the Nation have reported hourly caps of 300, 375 and 380 visitors, in different years. Since the reopening, the park has also closed the bay each year from 1 August to 30 September, which the Nation reported was to let the reefs recover and to keep visitors safe from the rough monsoon sea. **A relic from Maya Bay** A young blacktip reef shark in the shallows. Since the closure of 2018, blacktip reef sharks have returned to breed in Maya Bay. A national-park survey in February 2026 counted up to 118 at once, with activity peaking in the mornings. You will not be allowed to swim with them. From the edge of the water, on a calm morning, you have a good chance of seeing fins moving in the shallows, but no one can promise it on a given day. ## Getting there How to get there. Maya Bay is reached only by boat, on day trips from the mainland and from Ko Phi Phi Don, the larger island nearby. Boats land at the Loh Samah pier on the back of Ko Phi Phi Le, and a boardwalk leads through to the beach. Visits are limited to no more than an hour, and numbers are capped per hour. The national park charges an entrance fee; confirm whether your tour includes it. When to go. The bay closes every year from 1 August to 30 September during the south-west monsoon. In 2026 it closed on 1 August and reopened on 1 October, as Time Out Bangkok and The Thaiger reported, with swimming still banned (checked 1 October 2026). Wikipedia gives the park’s seasons as a rainy season from May to December and a hot, drier season from January to April. How to be there. No swimming, whatever the heat. Stay at the water’s edge, take nothing from the beach, and do not chase or feed the sharks. The rules exist for them. Safety. The United States has Thailand at Level 1, exercise normal precautions. Its increased-caution areas are near the Cambodian border and in the southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, about 290 kilometres from Maya Bay at the nearest, by our measurement. Burma, at Level 4, is about 250 kilometres to the north at the nearest point of its border. ## Common questions #### Is swimming allowed at Maya Bay? No. Since Maya Bay on Ko Phi Phi Le, Thailand, reopened in 2022, swimming in the bay has been banned. Visitors walk in from the Loh Samah pier on a wooden trail, and the bay, where blacktip reef sharks breed, stays closed to swimmers. #### Why was Maya Bay closed? Thailand’s Department of National Parks closed Maya Bay, on Ko Phi Phi Le, from 1 June 2018 because of damage from mass tourism: an estimated 5,000 visitors and 200 boats a day, and 80 per cent of the surrounding coral destroyed. The closure was made indefinite on 1 October 2018, and the bay reopened in January 2022 after three and a half years. #### Is Maya Bay closed every year? Yes. Maya Bay in Thailand’s Hat Noppharat Thara–Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park closes each year from 1 August to 30 September, during the monsoon, to let the reefs recover and to keep visitors safe from rough seas. In 2026 it reopened on 1 October, as Time Out Bangkok and The Thaiger reported (checked 1 October 2026). #### Are there sharks at Maya Bay? Yes, blacktip reef sharks. After Maya Bay, in Thailand, closed in 2018 they returned and began breeding there again. The Nation reported 158 counted at once in July 2025, a record for the park’s Shark Watch Project, and the Bangkok Post a February 2026 national-park drone survey recording up to 118 at one time. A survey in April 2024 had counted 281. #### What film was shot at Maya Bay? The Beach, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was filmed at Maya Bay on Ko Phi Phi Le, Thailand, in 1999 and released in 2000. The production bulldozed and landscaped the beach and altered its dunes; in 2006 Thailand’s Supreme Court upheld a ruling that the filming had harmed the environment. #### How do you get to Maya Bay? By boat only, on day trips from the Thai mainland or from Ko Phi Phi Don. Boats no longer enter Maya Bay itself; they land at a pier at Loh Samah on the other side of Ko Phi Phi Le, and a boardwalk leads to the beach. Visits are time-limited and there is a national-park entrance fee. #### How many people can visit Maya Bay? Maya Bay, in Thailand’s Phi Phi islands, has had an hourly cap on visitors since it reopened in 2022. The Bangkok Post and the Nation have reported different limits in different years, from 300 to 380 visitors an hour; check the park’s current rule. Before the 2018 closure, an estimated 5,000 people a day crowded onto the beach. #### Has the coral recovered at Maya Bay? Recovery is under way. Coral rehabilitation at Maya Bay, on Ko Phi Phi Le, began in June 2018, and Wikipedia reports that more than 15,000 corals of local species had been propagated by February 2019. Boats now land at Loh Samah instead of anchoring in the bay, which removed the main source of damage. What to pack: the Rainforest & reef kit, reef, lagoon and cenote ## Related places Côn Đảosame region · same access level (2) Ha Long Baysame region · same access level (2) Kampong Ayersame region · same access level (2) Gunung Mulusame region · same access level (2) Angkor Watsame region ## Sources and notes Written and checked by SockMonkey.com · last reviewed 24 October 2026 - Background: Wikipedia - Travel advisory: the US State Department