Visiting Maya Bay and Remembering the Gift of Nature

Boat to Phi Phi Leh

Hundreds of people flock to the Phi Phi Islands to see the legendary Maya Bay, made famous by the Leonardo DiCaprio move “The Beach.” Almost everything about Maya Bay was gorgeous. The perfect water, its “seclusion”, fine white sand, coral reef and dramatic limestone cliffs all made this place famous even without the movie. Unfortunately, overtoursim has stripped this treasure of its beauty and health. Due to the large amounts of tourists that visited this small bay every year, it suffered from detorirating reef, a garbage filled beach and murky water. The conditions of Maya Bay were so bad that the Thai government closed the bay in October 2018 indefinitely. "It's estimated that about 80 percent of the coral reefs around Maya Bay have been destroyed due to "pollution from litter, boats and [sunscreen]," (CondeNast) Though Maya Bay is closed you can still take a long boat out to see the bay from a distance but a large portion of the bay is roped off.

The conditions of Maya Bay were so bad that the Thai government closed the bay in October 2018 indefinitely.

The uninhabited Phi Phi Leh is the island Maya Bay is located on, and is just a few miles from Phi Phi Don. I would still recommend visiting Phi Phi Leh because of the other beautiful lagoons the island has to offer but respect the recovery of Maya Bay and the efforts for the rest of the island to remain as if it is undisturbed by human activity. Seeing Maya Bay from a distance with no one on the beach is still a beautiful sight; just remember not to swim over the ropes. The other sites on Phi Phi Leh are Pileh Lagoon, Baie de Lo Sama and Viking Cave.

Maya Bay at 9am March

Getting to Phi Phi Leh:

If you are trying to figure out how to get to Maya Beach, the answer is hiring your own private long boat. Why sit on a crowded, loud, tight scheduled tour boat when you can rent your own (driver included) and get there before the crowds? For 1800 baht or $56, you can explore Phi Phi Leh on your own schedule. That price included private 3 hour boat, driver, bottled water and snorkels. I would recommend getting there around 7am to miss the crowds but unfortunately you sacrifice the good lighting for your photos.

If you only have one day and are not staying the night on Phi Phi Don there are lots of day trips from Phuket available. We talked to a few people who did these day trips and they did not recommend them. The said lots of travel time, very crowded and not enough time to see the sights.

On the 3 hour long boat we visted Pileh Lagoon, Baie de Lo Sama and Maya Bay. Pileh Lagoon is surrounded by sheer limestone walls and is a quiet place to just park the boat and take in the beautiful scenery. Baie de Lo Sama is great for snorkeling and had the clearest aquamarine color water I have ever seen.

Pileh Lagoon

Words for Nature

Visiting Maya Bay and the rest of these beautiful islands was a reminder that we are just visitors on this planet. Everyone needs to remember that regardless of borders or race we all share this Earth and need to tread lightly. Wherever you travel in the world, its always best to treat the environment with the outmost respect and leave each destination as if you were never there.

"He that plants trees loves others besides himself." Thomas Fuller