Visiting Maya Bay And Pileh Bay

The shallow waters of Maya Bay are idyllic for a swim, but it’s popularity with tourists makes it very crowded.

Intro: Made famous by the movie “The Beach”, Maya Bay is one of the Phi Phi Islands most popular tourist destinations, but perhaps a little too touristy for us!

Tourist speedboats backed onto the beach at Maya Bay – the third stop on our Phi Phi Islands speedboat tour.

We had such a great time during our first snorkeling excursion at Hin Klang and were now off to Maya Bay on our Phi Phi Islands speedboat tour. This beautiful beach was made famous by Leonardo DiCaprio when he filmed the movie “The Beach” here, but unfortunately its popularity means that it is packed with tourists, and both speedboats and longboats lined up along the shore.

Our stop here was brief and designed more as a tourist stop to take photos than for swimming. To be honest we were a bit dismayed by all the tourists that crowded the beach, and Henry and I decided to take a walk away from the shore.

Exploring the karst limestone interior of the Phi Phi Islands during our stop at Maya Bay.

There was a little path that led into the jungle where there were toilets (no flip flops allowed – super gross experience!) and a snack bar for the hungry. It was nice to be surrounded by all the greenery and I think we even shared a diet coke in a cove as we waited for our guide to signal that it was time to leave.

We left feeling like this place had put a bit of a dampener on our high spirits after Hin Klang and Bamboo Island, but knew it would undoubtedly be quite breathtaking without all the boats and tourists.

The color of the water in the Phi Phi Islands was quite impressive, changing from crystal clear to luminous turquoise.

Afterwards we checked out Pileh Bay, another lagoon where the water was super clear and amazing! Although we didn’t make a formal stop here, I couldn’t help but think that there would be some fantastic views of the tropical fish for those who were snorkeling.

Sparrow nests being harvested for Chinese cooking during our Phi Phi Islands speedboat tour.

Near Pileh Bay our speedboat driver floated us by the Viking Cave, where mysterious wall paintings can be found that indicate the arrival of clipper ships hundreds of years ago. It was fascinating to see scaffolding at the base of the cave, built by people who reside there that are trying to protect the resident sparrows. What makes the sparrows so special is the type of nest they create, which is prized in Chinese cooking and can be sold for $30 to $100USD!

Although we enjoyed the history lesson and views across Pileh Bay, we were starting to work up quite an appetite and off our boat sped to our lunch stop at PP Princess Resort.

TOP THREE TIPS

• 1: There’s restrooms available at Maya Bay, but there are some rules that you will need to follow if you want to use them.
• 2: If you want a break from the beach, you can follow a small path that leads you into the jungle of Maya Bay.
• 3: The best place to wade or swim in the water is towards the left of the bay where there aren’t as many boats.