Maya Bay Entrance Fee: What You Pay in 2026

Of all the costs of a Phi Phi trip, the Maya Bay entrance fee is the one travellers most often get caught out by — not because it’s expensive, but because it’s quietly added on top of a tour price. Here’s exactly what you pay, why, and how to avoid surprises. For the bigger picture, see our Maya Bay guide.

How much is the Maya Bay entrance fee?

Maya Bay sits inside Hat Noppharat Thara–Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park. Like every Thai marine park, it charges admission that funds ranger patrols, the moorings, the boardwalk and the ongoing reef recovery. For Maya Bay that fee is:

• 400 THB per adult
• 200 THB per child aged 3–14
• Under-3s are free.

There is no separate “Maya Bay ticket” — this national park fee is your entry. Use the calculator below to total it for your group and convert it to your home currency.

What the Maya Bay park fee includes

The single fee covers the Phi Phi Leh sites you visit that day, so the same 400 THB also lets you swim in Pileh Lagoon and pass Viking Cave and Loh Samah Bay. It does not cover Bamboo Island, which sits in a different part of the park and occasionally carries its own small charge. Always read your tour’s inclusions so you know which fees apply.

Is the entrance fee included in tours?

Sometimes. Premium speedboat day trips from Phuket and Krabi often fold the fee into the headline price and advertise “national park fees included” — convenient, because you don’t need to carry cash. Cheaper longtail trips from Phi Phi Don usually quote a low boat price and collect the 400 THB in cash at the pier. Neither is a scam; it’s just two ways of pricing the same thing.

The trap is comparing a fee-included tour against a fee-excluded one and assuming the cheaper sticker price is the better deal. Our guide to choosing a tour from Phuket flags which trips include the fee, and the Maya Bay from Phuket page explains the typical add-ons.

How to pay the Maya Bay fee

When it isn’t pre-paid, bring exact Thai baht per person. There are no ATMs on Phi Phi Leh and card payment is unreliable at the pier, so set aside a few hundred baht before you board. Rangers collect the fee at the Loh Samah pier as you arrive.

Why there’s a fee at all

It’s easy to grumble at an extra charge, but the fee is the reason Maya Bay still looks the way it does. After years of unmanaged mass tourism degraded the reef, the bay closed from 2018 to 2022 to recover — the full story is in is Maya Bay open? The fee funds the patrols and infrastructure that keep visitor numbers sustainable, so in a real sense you’re paying for the postcard to still exist.

Maya Bay fee vs other Thai national parks

At 400 THB for foreign adults, Maya Bay sits in line with Thailand’s other marquee marine parks — Similan and Surin charge similar rates, and the fee structure (a higher rate for foreign visitors than for Thai nationals) is standard national-park policy across the country. It is not a tourist trap or an operator markup; it’s the same admission every visitor to a Thai marine reserve pays, and it goes to the Department of National Parks rather than the tour company.

Children, families and group costs

Because children aged 3–14 pay the reduced 200 THB rate and under-3s go free, family budgeting is straightforward. A typical family of four (two adults, two children) pays 1,200 THB in park fees for the day. Larger groups should carry the total in small baht notes to make collection at the pier quick and painless. Use the calculator on this page to work out your exact total and see it converted into your home currency.

What happens if you don’t pay

You won’t be able to land at Maya Bay without the fee — rangers collect it at the Loh Samah pier, and access is contingent on payment. On tours where the fee isn’t pre-paid, the guide will remind you to have cash ready before you arrive. There’s no way to “skip” it; it’s a condition of entry to the national park, not an optional extra.

How the fee funds conservation

The money matters more here than at most attractions. Maya Bay’s recovery from its 2018–2022 closure was funded and enforced by exactly the kind of revenue the entrance fee provides: ranger patrols to police the no-anchor and no-swim rules, the boardwalk and floating piers that keep boats out of the cove, and the monitoring programmes that track the reef and the returning blacktip sharks. When you pay, you’re directly underwriting the system that keeps the bay from being loved to death again — the same story told in is Maya Bay open?

Frequently overlooked extras

Beyond the park fee, budget for a few small extras: tips for the boat crew, drinks or snacks not covered by your tour, locker or towel hire at some piers, and the occasional separate charge at Bamboo Island. None are large, but they add up across a family. Knowing the full picture before you go means no surprises at the pier.

Quick answers on the Maya Bay fee

• Is it per person or per boat? Per person — 400 THB each adult, 200 THB each child 3–14.
• Can I pay by card? Not reliably; bring cash in Thai baht.
• Is it refundable if the bay is closed? If a beach landing isn’t possible, tours reroute and the fee position varies by operator — check before you book.
• Does my tour price already include it? Sometimes. Read the inclusions, and see our breakdown above.

A little preparation removes the only real friction of a Maya Bay trip. Know the amount, carry the baht, and check whether your tour covers it, and the fee becomes a non-event rather than a surprise at the pier. Compare all-in tour prices on the tours page.

Budgeting your Maya Bay day

For a family of four (two adults, two children), the park fee alone is 1,200 THB — worth factoring in alongside the tour price, lunch and tips. Build it into your plan with our best time to visit guide and compare all-in tour prices on the tours page. For everything else about visiting, head back to our Maya Bay guide or this maya tour phi phi hub.