Bamboo Island Beach (Koh Mai Phai)

Bamboo Islands is a quintessential tropical island in the Phi Phi Archipelago of Thailand. Known locally as Koh Phai or Koh Mai Phai, it is the most northeasterly of the islands, about 5 km offshore from Koh Phi Phi Don in the gorgeous blue Andaman Sea. Its remote location ensures that the beach is never crowded providing an unusually peaceful Thai beach experience.

Bamboo Island is one of the 80 islands and islets that are part of the Phi Phi National Marine Park and there is an entrance fee of 400 baht (about US$12). The fee is payable to your tour guide or to the park ranger on arrival at the island. To visit, you need to book a ride on a longtail boat from Tonsai Village (40 minutes by boat) or Sea Gypsy Village on Laem Tong Beach (15-minute boat ride). You can also visit by speedboat on a day trip from Krabi or Phuket.

The low-lying heart-shaped island is about 700m long and the interior is thick with casuarina trees and bamboo, hence its name. The white sandy beach has some rocky patches. It is virtually undeveloped, although there is a beach shack serving drinks and snacks.

Bring your snorkelling gear as the water between Bamboo Island and the mainland has a noteworthy reef (Hin Kland) which is teeming with so many fish and marine life that it’s like swimming in an aquarium. The reef surrounds the island, providing calm clear blue waters, and it comes within 500m from the shore. The beach is scattered with broken pieces of coral which also creates the pinkish-hue to the sand.