Phi Phi Islands: Thailand's Most Beautiful Archipelago

The Phi Phi Islands are a group of six islands in the Andaman Sea, 40 kilometres south of Krabi in southern Thailand, that have become one of the most visited destinations in Southeast Asia. The two main islands — Phi Phi Don, the only inhabited island, and Phi Phi Leh, which is uninhabited and protected as a national park — are surrounded by limestone karsts that rise vertically from the turquoise water, their sheer faces draped in tropical vegetation and their bases undercut by the sea into caves and arches. The islands were made famous internationally by the 2000 film The Beach, which was shot on Maya Bay on Phi Phi Leh.

Maya Bay, the beach featured in The Beach, was closed to tourists from 2018 to 2022 to allow the coral reef that had been severely damaged by the impact of up to 5,000 visitors a day to recover. The closure was remarkably effective — the coral coverage in the bay increased from 10 percent to over 80 percent in four years, and the blacktip reef sharks that had abandoned the bay returned in large numbers. The bay reopened in 2022 with strict visitor limits and a ban on overnight stays, and the combination of the recovered reef and the dramatic limestone cliffs makes it one of the most beautiful snorkelling sites in Thailand.

The snorkelling and diving around the Phi Phi Islands is among the finest in Thailand, with visibility of up to 20 metres and a diversity of marine life that includes leopard sharks, turtles, moray eels, and the full range of Indo-Pacific reef fish. The King Cruiser wreck, a car ferry that sank in 1997 on the reef between Phi Phi and Phuket, is one of the most popular dive sites in the region — the wreck lies at 18 to 32 metres and is encrusted with soft corals and home to large schools of fish. The Hin Daeng and Hin Muang seamounts, 45 kilometres south of Phi Phi, are among the finest dive sites in Southeast Asia, with regular sightings of whale sharks and manta rays.

Phi Phi Don, the main island, was almost entirely destroyed by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which struck on December 26 and killed over 2,000 people on the island. The island has been rebuilt, but the reconstruction was largely unplanned and the result is a dense concentration of guesthouses, restaurants, and bars in the narrow isthmus between the two bays that gives the island its distinctive shape. The nightlife of Phi Phi Don — fire shows on the beach, bars open until dawn, the constant sound of music — is one of the most intense in Thailand, and the island attracts a young, party-oriented crowd.

The viewpoint above the main village on Phi Phi Don, reached by a steep 20-minute climb, offers one of the most photographed views in Thailand — the twin bays of Tonsai and Loh Dalum, separated by the narrow isthmus of the village, with the limestone karsts of the surrounding islands rising from the turquoise water. The view is best at sunrise, before the heat of the day builds and before the day-trip boats arrive from Phuket and Krabi. The climb is steep and the path is uneven, but the view from the top justifies the effort.

The Phi Phi Islands can be reached by speedboat or ferry from Phuket (45 minutes to 2 hours) or Krabi (45 minutes to 1.5 hours). Staying on the island overnight — rather than visiting on a day trip — gives access to the beaches and the water in the early morning and late afternoon, when the day-trip crowds have gone and the light is at its most beautiful. The best accommodation is on the quieter beaches of the east coast of Phi Phi Don, away from the noise of the main village, where the pace is slower and the snorkelling is accessible directly from the beach.

The best time to visit the Phi Phi Islands is from November to April, during the dry season, when the Andaman Sea is calm and the visibility for snorkelling and diving is at its best. The monsoon season from May to October brings rough seas, strong winds, and heavy rain that make boat travel uncomfortable and diving difficult. Some of the smaller guesthouses and dive shops close during the monsoon, and the island is significantly quieter. The shoulder months of October and November offer a good balance of reasonable weather, lower prices, and fewer crowds than the peak season.