Scuba Diving in the Phi Phi Islands

Diving in the Phi Phi Islands

The Phi Phi Islands sit in the middle of southern Thailand's best diving, halfway between Phuket and Koh Lanta. You'll dive fringing reefs that wrap limestone karst islands, submerged pinnacles in open water, and the wreck of an 85 m passenger ferry that sank in 1997. The headline encounters are reliable: leopard sharks resting on sand at 20 m, blacktip reef sharks patrolling Palong Wall in single digits of depth, and turtles cruising the shallows of Bida Nok.

Visibility runs 10 to 20 m for most of the year and stretches past 30 m between January and April. Water sits at 27 to 30 °C (81 to 86 °F), so a 3 mm shorty is plenty. Most sites are gentle enough for fresh Open Water divers, with three classic Advanced sites (Anemone Reef, Shark Point, and the King Cruiser Wreck) sitting between the archipelago and Phuket. Phi Phi-based day boats run all of them on standard three-tank itineraries.

What makes this place different is the mix. You can stay on Phi Phi Don, walk to the pier in ten minutes, dive five distinct sites by lunch, and split the rest of the day between a longtail ride to Maya Bay and dinner at Tonsai. Or you can base in Phuket and visit Phi Phi as a day trip. Either works. The diving doesn't change.

A quick name note before you book: there are two different "Shark Points" in this area. Hin Bida (sometimes called "Phi Phi Shark Point") is the shallow, Open Water-friendly pinnacle between Phi Phi and Koh Mai Phai. Hin Mu Sang (the Phuket-side "Shark Point") is a deeper Advanced site near Anemone Reef and the King Cruiser. The two are roughly 50 km apart. Confirm which one your operator means when they say "Shark Point."

Top dive sites in the Phi Phi Islands

The top dive sites in the Phi Phi Islands range from shallow shark-watching reefs to deeper Advanced pinnacles. Most are diveable from Phi Phi Don in a single morning. Day boats from Phuket also reach them, so you don't have to choose a base to dive the best of the archipelago.

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Koh Bida Nok

Bida Nok is the southern Phi Phi headliner. You'll drop in along a wall that slopes down to a sandy bottom around 30 m (98 ft), where leopard sharks rest motionless during the day. The reef itself is a slow-drift dive past sea fans, soft corals, and schooling barracuda, with hawksbill turtles working the shallows and the occasional blacktip cruising the edge. Most operators rate Bida Nok as the strongest single dive in the archipelago.

• Depth: 5–30 m (16–98 ft)
• Visibility: 10–25 m (33–82 ft)
• Current: Gentle to moderate
• Level: All levels (Advanced for the wall base)
• Key species: Leopard shark, hawksbill turtle, blacktip reef shark, ghost pipefish, schooling barracuda

Hin Bida (Phi Phi Shark Point)

Hin Bida sits about 8 km southeast of Phi Phi Leh and is the single most reliable leopard shark site in the area. Not to be confused with the Phuket-side "Shark Point" (Hin Mu Sang), which is a separate, deeper Advanced site. Hin Bida is shallow (most of it sits between 5 and 16 m / 16 and 52 ft), with three coral-covered fingers extending south where the sharks settle on sand. It's an easy Open Water profile with long bottom times, and most operators schedule it as the second tank of a Phi Phi day trip.

• Depth: 5–22 m (16–72 ft)
• Visibility: 10–25 m (33–82 ft)
• Current: Gentle to moderate
• Level: Open Water
• Key species: Leopard shark, schooling snapper, harlequin shrimp, octopus, hawksbill turtle

King Cruiser Wreck

The King Cruiser is an 85 m passenger ferry that sank in 1997 after striking Anemone Reef. The upper decks have collapsed since the wreck went down, so the shallowest point now sits in the 14 – 18 m (46 – 59 ft) range (it used to break at 10 m / 33 ft), and penetration is no longer permitted. What's left is still worth diving: a structurally complex hulk that's grown a thick coat of coral and pulls in dense schools of snapper, batfish, and lionfish. Treat it as an Advanced external wreck dive, not the swim-through it used to be.

• Depth: 14–32 m (46–105 ft)
• Visibility: 10–20 m (33–66 ft)
• Current: Moderate, occasionally strong
• Level: Advanced Open Water
• Key species: Schooling snapper, batfish, lionfish, scorpionfish, giant trevally

Anemone Reef (Hin Jom)

Anemone Reef sits about 9 nautical miles west of Phi Phi Don and is exactly what the name suggests: a submerged pinnacle blanketed in thousands of anemones and resident clownfish. The reef top breaks at 5 m (16 ft) and drops to around 25 m (82 ft) onto sand. Currents can pick up, so it's typically run as an Advanced site, but the payoff is one of Thailand's most photogenic shallows. Glassfish schools, leopard sharks, and the occasional whale shark all show up here.

• Depth: 5–25 m (16–82 ft)
• Visibility: 10–25 m (33–82 ft)
• Current: Moderate to strong
• Level: Advanced recommended
• Key species: Sea anemones with clownfish, glassfish, leopard shark, lionfish, occasional whale shark

Palong Wall

Palong Wall hugs the west coast of Phi Phi Leh and is effectively a guaranteed blacktip reef shark dive. The action happens in the top 10 m (33 ft) of water along a sloping wall, so even fresh Open Water divers get the close-up shots. On a good day you'll see 30 to 50 individual blacktips in shallow turquoise water, with parrotfish, schooling snappers, and the occasional turtle filling the rest of the frame.

• Depth: 5–20 m (16–66 ft)
• Visibility: 10–20 m (33–66 ft)
• Current: Gentle, usually drifting north
• Level: Open Water
• Key species: Blacktip reef shark, hawksbill turtle, parrotfish, schooling snapper

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Best time to dive the Phi Phi Islands

The best time to dive the Phi Phi Islands is December through April, when the Andaman sits flat, visibility hits its annual peak, and surface intervals happen in sunshine. Diving runs year-round, but the southwest monsoon (May to October) brings rougher seas, occasional trip cancellations, and lower visibility on the windward sides of the islands.

The shoulder months (November and May) often deliver good diving at lower prices. If you're tied to a specific window, June and July can surprise; visibility sometimes spikes between monsoon systems.

Diving conditions

Diving conditions in the Phi Phi Islands stay friendly almost year-round. The Andaman runs warm, the reefs are mostly sheltered, and currents only get serious on a few specific pinnacles.

Marine life in the Phi Phi Islands

Marine life in the Phi Phi Islands centres on the sharks. Both leopard sharks and blacktip reef sharks are signature encounters here, with reliable sightings at specific sites and seasons. The Maya Bay closures that started in 2018 led to a measurable shark population recovery, with one drone survey recording 158 blacktips in a single sighting inside the bay.

Beyond sharks, you'll see hawksbill turtles on most dives, schooling barracuda and snapper on the pinnacles, and a deep macro line-up on quieter reefs: ghost pipefish, harlequin shrimp, nudibranchs, and the occasional seahorse at Loh Samah Bay.

A note on leopard sharks: they remain reliable at Bida Nok and Hin Bida, but populations have dropped over the last 15 years. You'll still see them, just not the densities of a decade ago.

Leopard sharks: year-round, especially around Bida Nok and Hin Bida

Leopard sharks (also called zebra sharks locally) rest on sand patches between 16 and 25 m (52 and 82 ft). Bida Nok and Hin Bida are the most consistent sites; Garang Heng is the wildcard with the highest sighting rate. Best viewing is daytime when the sharks are dozing.

Blacktip reef sharks: year-round, especially around Palong Wall and Maya Bay

Blacktip reef sharks patrol shallow reef edges in groups of 5 to 30 individuals. Palong Wall is the most reliable spot. The post-closure recovery around Maya Bay has made the bay itself a major aggregation area, though no-swim rules apply inside the bay.

The wider park (Hat Noppharat Thara - Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park) covers 388 km² and protects the entire archipelago, with a coral transplantation program around Koh Yung that has planted over 30,000 fragments. Maya Bay reopened in 2022 with restricted access and closes each year from 1 August to 30 September.

Discover more marine life on Divearoo's global heatmap.

Practical information

Dive prices in the Phi Phi Islands

• 2-tank fun dive: THB 2,700 – 3,000 (USD 78 – 87), gear, guide and lunch included
• 3-tank day trip (Phi Phi + Shark Point area): THB 3,500 – 3,800 (USD 100 – 110)
• Liveaboard (2 – 3 nights, Phi Phi itinerary): From USD 600 per person
• National park / dive fees: THB 400 entry plus THB 200 foreigner dive fee (around USD 17 total, paid at the boat)

Getting to the Phi Phi Islands

The Phi Phi Islands have no airport. You fly into Phuket (HKT) or Krabi (KBV) and take a ferry.

From Krabi: the airport sits about 30 minutes by road from Klong Jilad Pier. Ferries to Tonsai Pier run roughly 90 minutes to 2 hours, with around 28 weekly departures in high season. Krabi is usually the fastest gateway.

From Phuket: ferries leave Rassada Pier at 08:30 and 13:30 and take about 2 hours (around THB 450 one-way). Speedboats cover the same route in 45 to 60 minutes.

From Koh Lanta: the shortest hop. Speedboats from Saladan Pier take around 30 minutes; standard ferries take 1 to 1.5 hours.

On Phi Phi Don there are no cars, no roads, and no motorbikes. You walk across Tonsai village in 10 to 15 minutes, and longtail boats handle anything further (Long Beach, Loh Bagao, Phak Nam Bay). Dive shops in Tonsai are walkable from any central guesthouse.

Hyperbaric chamber

The nearest recompression facilities are in Phuket. The SSS Phuket Recompression Chamber, operating in liaison with Bangkok Hospital Siriroj, has been the regional 24/7 emergency chamber since 1996 (multiplace, rated to 50 m / 165 fsw). Bangkok Hospital Phuket also runs a dedicated Diving Medicine Center with on-call physicians. Realistic transfer from Phi Phi: ferry to Phuket plus ground transport, around 3 hours; faster by air ambulance in a real emergency.