Phi Phi beaches: which one to swim at, sleep on or skip

Most of Phi Phi's beaches are on Phi Phi Don, the island with the village and the hotels. They are not interchangeable. The two beaches by the village are the busiest and the worst for a swim; the better water is a walk or a boat ride away; and the quietest bays, in the north, are reached by boat only, because there is no road to them.

This article goes round the beaches one by one: what the sea is like, what the tide does, how loud the nights are, and who each one suits. For the crossing from Krabi, the day tours and the fees, see our piece on Phi Phi from Krabi: we do not repeat it here.

The short answer

For a swim from the village, walk or take a longtail to Long Beach. For the nights out, sleep near Loh Dalum, and expect the music to reach your room. For quiet, look north, to Laem Tong or Loh Bagao, and accept that every trip to the village is a boat ride.

Maya Bay, on Phi Phi Leh, is a beach you walk onto and look at: swimming is not allowed, and it closes every year from 1 August to 30 September. Monkey Beach is a short stop for the macaques, not a beach day.

Phi Phi from Krabi: day tour or ferry, Maya Bay's rules, the fees

Ton Sai and Loh Dalum: the village beaches

The village of Phi Phi Don sits on a narrow strip of flat land between two bays. On the south side is Ton Sai, where the ferries come in. Its central stretch is a working waterfront, lined with moored longtails and boats loading and unloading: a place to arrive and to eat, not to swim. Two guides updated in 2026 say the same.

On the north side of the strip is Loh Dalum, a sheltered bay with calm, warm water. It is very shallow. At low tide the sea draws back a long way, and you walk over wet sand before you reach water deep enough to swim, so look at a tide table if the swim is the point.

After dark, Loh Dalum is where Phi Phi goes out: beach bars, fire shows and music. Guides report the bass carrying until 1 or 2am, which matters if you sleep in the village. Bring earplugs, or sleep somewhere else on the island.

Loh Dalum was also the bay hardest hit by the tsunami of 26 December 2004, which killed more than 1,000 people on the island. A memorial stands on the beach facing the bay.

Where to watch the sunset around Krabi

Long Beach and the south coast

Long Beach, Hat Yao in Thai, is on the south coast, east of Ton Sai, and it is the beach guides send you to for a swim within reach of the village. You get there by longtail from Ton Sai, or on foot along the coast in about half an hour; one guide says the walk works at low tide, so if you go on foot, check the tide first. The path is rough, over rocks and through the forest: walk it in daylight, in shoes, and not alone.

There is a reef just offshore that you can snorkel from the beach, by two guides' accounts. The nights are quieter than in the village, which is why it suits couples and anyone who wants Phi Phi without the party.

One guide warns of currents in the afternoon on the south coast from May to October. In those months, swim in the morning and watch for the red flag.

Further along, one guide describes Loh Moo Dee, about a quarter of an hour's walk beyond Long Beach, as the quietest beach you can reach on foot, with no facilities at all: take water with you.

The north: quiet, and by boat

The northern half of Phi Phi Don is where the island goes quiet. There is no road to it: you get there by longtail from Ton Sai. That is the trade-off. The bays are calm and the nights are silent, but the village, its restaurants and its pier are a boat ride away, every time.

Laem Tong. At the far northern tip: almost a kilometre of white sand, a handful of upmarket resorts and no nightlife, with Bamboo Island offshore. One guide notes a small Chao Lay (sea people) village at the north end of the beach: it is their home, so be discreet with your camera.

Loh Bagao. A sheltered bay on the north-east coast, used mostly by the guests of the resort that stands on it.

Nui. A small beach between cliffs on the north-west coast, reached by boat. Its size keeps the numbers down.

Not for you if you want to walk to dinner in the village, or if you are on Phi Phi for one night only: the boat rides eat the time you came for.

Monkey Beach

Monkey Beach is a small beach on Phi Phi Don, reached by boat or by kayak, and a stop on some Phi Phi tours. Sources do not agree on exactly where it is on the island, so go with a boatman who knows it rather than looking for it on foot.

The point is the macaques, and that is also the problem. Guides describe them as bold, used to being fed, and sometimes aggressive: they go through bags and grab what they can. Do not bring food onto the sand, do not feed or touch them, and keep your bag closed. A bite needs medical care, because of the risk of rabies.

One guide calls it poor for swimming. Treat it as a short stop, not a beach day, and skip it with small children.

A Phi Phi day that stops at Monkey Bay

Maya Bay and Phi Phi Leh

Maya Bay, on Phi Phi Leh, is the most famous beach of the two islands, and the least like a beach day. Boats no longer enter the bay: they land at a pontoon at Loh Samah, on the other side of the island, and you walk through on a boardwalk. Visits run in time slots, so you have a limited time on the sand.

Swimming is not allowed. You may stand in the shallows, as far as the rangers allow. Guides link the ban to the reef that is recovering in the bay and to the blacktip reef sharks that breed there; you may see young sharks in the shallows.

The bay closes every year from 1 August to 30 September, with Loh Samah and Loh Ko, and reopens on 1 October. Phi Phi Leh has nowhere to sleep, so most people reach it on a day tour; if you are staying on Phi Phi Don, ask on the island about a boat across.

Pileh Lagoon, on the same island, is a lagoon ringed by cliffs with no beach at all: you see it from the boat or from the water.

Every island closure around Krabi

Swimming, the tide and the monsoon

The tide changes Phi Phi's beaches the way it changes Krabi's: a bay that is a swim at high tide can be a long stretch of wet sand at low tide, Loh Dalum most of all. Tide times move every day, so check a tide table for your dates before you plan a beach morning.

From about May to October, the southwest monsoon brings swell and rip currents to this coast. When the national park raises a red flag, swimming is dangerous that day: stay out, whatever other swimmers do.

Box jellyfish are found in these waters too. The Tourism Authority of Thailand names the Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi national park among the places where they are seen, and they come closer to shore in the monsoon. If someone is stung, pour vinegar on the sting for at least 30 seconds, never fresh water, and call 1669.

Jellyfish, red flags and what to do if stung

Compare the beaches

What each beach is for, in one line. The tide and the season change every one of them.