A cluster of sheer limestone islands between Phuket and Krabi whose karst walls continue underwater as soft-coral-covered pinnacles, boulder swim-throughs and two diveable wrecks. Famous for resident leopard sharks and the recovering blacktip reef shark nursery of Maya Bay, it is one of Thailand's busiest — and most beginner-friendly — dive hubs.
Conditions, highlights, and the resident marine life.
Water and air temperature across the year.
The Phi Phi archipelago sits in Krabi Province's Hat Noppharat Thara–Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park, about 45 km east of Phuket, and is dived year-round by day boats from Phi Phi Don, Phuket and Krabi, plus southern-route liveaboards. The signature dives are the twin limestone pinnacles of Ko Bida Nok and Ko Bida Nai at the southern tip of the chain — walls, giant boulders and glassfish-packed swim-throughs in the 8–30 m range — and Hin Bida, a submerged reef where endangered Indo-Pacific leopard sharks rest on the sand. Wreck divers get the King Cruiser, an 85 m car ferry that struck Anemone Reef on the Phuket–Phi Phi route in 1997, and the purpose-sunk Thai navy ship Kled Gaeow off Phi Phi Ley. The islands are also a case study in over-tourism: Maya Bay, mobbed by up to 5,000 visitors a day after 'The Beach', was closed from June 2018 to allow corals and its blacktip reef shark nursery to recover, and reopened in 2022 with boats banned from the bay and swimming prohibited — divers now work the walls outside it. Conditions are Andaman-seasonal: calm seas and the best visibility from roughly November to April, with the southwest monsoon bringing rain and chop from May to October, though diving continues year-round. Mostly mild currents and shallow sheltered bays make this a major learn-to-dive destination, with the deeper wrecks reserved for advanced certifications.
What makes this dive worth the trip.
32 species you’re likely to encounter on a dive here.
6 signature sites at this destination.
The larger 'outer father' pinnacle at the southern tip of the Phi Phi chain: a fringing reef from about 1 m sliding into steep soft-coral walls and a jumble of giant boulders with swim-throughs on the west side, with outcrops sloping to around 26–30 m. Leopard and blacktip reef sharks patrol the reef line, with hawksbill turtles, moray eels, lionfish, and occasional manta or whale shark visits.
A roughly 50 m ex-Royal Thai Navy transport ship deliberately sunk in March 2014 as an artificial reef about 1 km east of Pileh Bay, Phi Phi Ley. The wreck rests close to upright with the structure from about 16 m down to 26–27 m, and has been colonized by schools of thousands of yellowtail snapper plus trevally, barracuda, lionfish, scorpionfish, groupers and nudibranchs.
An 85 m former Phuket–Phi Phi car ferry that hit Anemone Reef and sank on 4 May 1997, now sitting upright on sand at about 30–32 m roughly midway along the Phuket–Phi Phi route. The collapsing superstructure starts below about 18 m, the car deck lies near 25 m, and the hull is wrapped in soft corals and dense schools of bigeye trevally, snapper and lionfish, with chance encounters with leopard and bamboo sharks, great barracuda and turtles. Penetration is not advised given the deteriorating structure.
A long limestone wall under the cliffs of northwest Phi Phi Ley, near the entrance to Maya Bay: a plateau at about 4–8 m runs the length of the site with the reef sloping to 16–20 m. Its claim to fame is juvenile and adult blacktip reef sharks cruising the shallow shelf — on good days dozens at a time — plus turtles, banded sea kraits, Kuhl's stingrays in the sand, mantis shrimp and nudibranchs. Easy conditions make it a staple second dive and night dive.
A large submerged rocky outcrop about 8 km southeast of the Bida islands, rising from sand at around 18–22 m to barely break the surface at low tide. Three coral-covered fingers run south of the main reef and shelter the leopard sharks the site is named for; the reef also holds schooling snapper, cuttlefish, octopus, turtles, banded sea kraits and porcupinefish.
Bida Nok's sister pinnacle just to the north, with a sheltered shallow bay on the east side for beginners, a field of staghorn coral, big boulders and crevices, and a famous swim-through packed with thousands of glassfish. A strong macro site — harlequin ghost pipefish, seahorses, bearded scorpionfish and boxer shrimp — and a regular spot for leopard sharks on the sand toward 24–30 m.
Local dive centers, resorts, and hotels.
Verified dive centers, resorts, and hotels around Phi Phi Islands will list here — pricing, photos, and direct contact.
