In short
The archipelago has six islands. Only Phi Phi Don is inhabited; uninhabited Phi Phi Leh holds Maya Bay, closed for several years to let the coral recover and reopened under strict rules.
There are no roads and no cars on Phi Phi Don: everything happens on foot or by longtail.
What it really costs
The island is dearer than mainland Thailand: everything arrives by boat, and space is squeezed between two cliffs.
The national park fee for Hat Noppharat Thara–Mu Ko Phi Phi is paid on top of the boat trip, often in cash on landing. Many agencies do not include it in the quoted price.
What nobody tells you
Tonsai, the village, is noisy late into the night. Laem Tong and Long Beach are quiet and a few minutes away by longtail.
Swimming at Maya Bay is forbidden: you land at the back of the island and stay on the beach. It is not negotiable, and it is what allowed the reopening.
The Phi Phi viewpoint, the photograph everyone is after, is reached by four hundred steep steps and is paid. It is done at sunrise or late afternoon, not at midday.
