The First Boat to Maya Bay from Phi Phi

To reach Maya Bay before most of the day’s boats, take a speedboat that makes the bay its first stop. Sawasdee Phi Phi’s Phi Phi: First Group at Maya Bay, Avoid the Crowds Boat Tour is from US$29.27 a person (on 20 January and 10 March 2027 the half day cost US$32.52 a person and the full day US$48.93; checked November 2026): you meet at 6:00 AM by Tonsai Pier, board between 6:15 and 6:30, and spend an hour at Maya Bay before anything else. The park fee, 400 baht for a foreign adult, is paid in cash on top.

Pick a date to see the half day and the full day; both meet at 6:00 AM. Free cancellation runs until 24 hours before.

When each boat gets to Maya Bay

Times checked November 2026, on the dates we read. Your confirmation has the exact time.

Discover Thailand starts later on purpose, at 7:30 AM, aiming to miss the sunrise boats and still reach the bay before midday. The first-group boat and Oh-Hoo's sunrise trip leave earlier. Sawasdee Phi Phi’s longtail has a sunrise departure too, but it visits Maya Bay last, after Monkey Beach, Viking Cave and Pileh Lagoon.

The 7:00 opening

Getting there early does not always mean getting in early. A reviewer of the first-group boat in May 2026 booked the 6:00 AM start; the boat left at 6:30, and because the Maya Bay area did not open until 7:00, the group waited at another dock until it did.

That matches the hours the national parks department set when it reopened Maya Bay: visits in one-hour rounds between 07:00 and 18:00, booked in advance (DNP, December 2021). A DNP notice of March 2026 limits visitors to what the bay can carry but gives no hours, so treat 7:00 as what one group met in May 2026, not as a timetable.

Half day or full day

The first-group half day takes 4.5 hours. After Maya Bay come 40 minutes of snorkelling at an unnamed stop, 15 minutes at Viking Cave, 30 at Monkey Bay and 40 at Pileh Lagoon. The full day, 8.5 hours, goes on to Bamboo Island, where lunch is served on the beach, and is back at Tonsai Pier by about 2:30 PM. One reviewer in April 2026 thought the half day was enough, back on Phi Phi by about 10:30 AM, and found the two hours on Bamboo Island at midday long.

Other early starts

Oh-Hoo's sunrise speedboat includes the park fee. After its hour at Maya Bay it goes to Pileh Lagoon, Viking Cave, Monkey Beach, Loh Samah Bay and Shark Point; on 20 January 2027 the half day cost US$55.19 a person and the full day, with lunch on Bamboo Island, US$70.11 (checked November 2026).

Phi Phi Local Tour's early day on Viator meets at 6:00 AM in front of the McDonald’s next to Tonsai pier and runs 8.5 hours, with lunch and the national park fees included, from US$71.88 a person, its one option (checked November 2026).

What reviewers of the first-group boat say

The tour has 329 reviews on GetYourGuide; the review feed returned 332, dated 13 February to 8 November 2026, and we read them all. Eleven give three stars or fewer, and seven of those have a comment. Besides the wait for the 7:00 opening, they mention a guide’s remarks and manner (March and April 2026) and a snorkel that let in water (March 2026). The same March reviewer who disliked the guide called arriving at Maya Bay as the first group brilliant.

Which early boat

Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.