Private Tour | 2-days/1-night private tour in Cheow Lan Lake
For the August dates, the rooms are rapidly getting fully booked at the average and high end raft houses. You are recommended to book earliest possible. Guide availability may also be an issue in time.
Situated between Khao Sok National Park and Khlong Saeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Cheow Lan Lake has one of the most beautiful scenic views in Thailand.
The lake deserves more than one night of stay, but if you only can stay one night, you will still be able to enjoy a few activities with this tour. If you truly want to enjoy more of the lake, then a 3D/2N tour is recommended.
With the 2-days/1-night tour in Cheow Lan Lake you will be able to see scenic rock formations, hike to a viewpoint, visit a cave, hike in the jungle, kayak, swim and drive around for wildlife watching. The tour includes a stay in a raft house of your choice, a private guide and a private boat with driver. No others will share the guide or the boat with you during the tour.
Out tours must be booked with "no matter the weather" in mind. We don't find the lake tours suitable for kids under 7 years old, other companies may have a different opinion about age limits.
Raft house options
500 Rai (deluxe)
500 Rai is one of the two top raft houses in the lake, with 15 houses/cabins of various sizes. The raft house is located at the far end of the lake, between Phupha Waree and Krai Son raft houses, with one of the best views in the lake.
Following are the type of rooms;
| Type | Pax | Size | Info |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deluxe | 4 | 36 ㎡ | Master bedroom with double-size bed, loft with two mattresses. 1 kayak, 5 life jackets. A/c from 6 pm to 6 am. Check-in 2pm, check-out 9:30am |
| Villa | 4 | 42 ㎡ | Master bedroom with double-size bed, loft with two mattresses. 1 kayak, 5 life jackets. A/c 24h/day. Check-in 2pm, check-out 9:30am |
| Family Villa | 8 | 72 ㎡ | 2 connecting villas, 2 master bedrooms with double-size bed, 2 lofts with 4 mattresses, a/c 24h/day, 2 kayaks, 8 life jackets. Check-in 2pm, check-out 9:30am |
| Deluxe Suite | 4 | 72 ㎡ | Master bedroom with double-size bed, loft with 2 mattresses, a/c 24h/day, 2 kayaks, 7 life jackets (2 sofa beds for additional 2 pax if needed). Check-in 4pm, check-out 1pm |
| Family Suite | 10 | 86 ㎡ | 2 master bedrooms with double-size bed, 2 lofts with 6 mattresses, a/c 24h/day, 2 kayaks, 7 life jackets (2 sofa beds for additional 2 pax if needed). Check-in 4pm, check-out 1pm |
| Honeymoon Suite | 4 | 92 ㎡ | Master bedroom with double-size bed, loft with two mattresses, a/c 24h/day, 2 kayaks, 4 life jackets, private swimming pool, jacuzzi. Check-in 4pm, check-out 1pm |
Panvaree The Greenery Raft House (deluxe)
While most raft houses in the lake have on average around two dozen bungalows, Panvaree The Greenery Raft House have fewer which makes it a relatively quiet place even when the place is fully booked. Quality wise it is no doubt one of the best and most popular raft houses in the lake. The raft house is located in the entrance of Khlong Long tributary.
Following are the type of rooms;
- Superior 2 pax - For 2 adults or 2 adults + small child (child to share same bed as parents but quoted half price). Room can be with either a double bed or two single beds, unfortunately can't be chosen, either one can be booked depending on availability and other circumstances.
- Family rooms; For 3+ pax
The price for rooms varies depending on week-day, week-end day or holidays.
Phupha Waree Raft House
Phupha Waree is set back in a private alcove just inside Klong Pey, compared to most basic/average raft houses in the lake it is considered a bit better option. The rooms are equipped with 2 joined queen size beds, a private bathroom, a/c, balcony and can accommodate 2-4 people. While the smaller rooms will be booked for up to 3 people, the larger rooms will be booked for 4 people.
For the dates concerning high season months, week-ends (Fri-Sat nights) and public holidays, rooms at Phupha Waree should be booked well in advance.
Laguna Cheow Lan
Laguna Cheow Lan is located in Khlong Long tributary, in the middle of the lake. Each room have a king size and a single bed, private bathroom, a/c, balcony and can accommodate up to 3 people. The beds are on the floor.
Sai Chon Raft House (wooden)
Sai Chon Raft House is a cheaper alternative compared to high end ones, located in Khlong Long tributary of the lake, not too far from the pier. The quality is somewhere between the bamboo and high end options. The rooms can accommodate 2-4 people with king size beds, equipped with fans and has rooms with private bathroom.
Krai Son Raft House (bamboo option, basic stay)
Krai Son is perched at the entrance to Klong Yee at the remote end of the lake. It is equipped with traditional style bamboo bungalows (2 pax, double beds), no fan, with shared bathroom facilities on land next to the raft house. It is the only raft house on the lake with a view of sunrise and sunset. Local attractions include a viewpoint hike which overlooks the entire lake, and it is close by to the Khlong Saeng wildlife sanctuary not too far from Phupha Waree.
Itinerary
The following itinerary is just an example. Depending on the location of your raft house, weather conditions, your suggestions or eventual shorter/longer time you may decide to spend at attractions may change the planning. Example; you may decide to do more kayaking, skip some activities for the other, or simply just decide to relax and spend some time with friend(s)/family at the raft house.
Day 1
- 10 am pickup from Cheow Lan Lake Pier to board your long-tail boat
- Scenic tour of limestone karst formations on the way to your rafthouse
- Check in to the raft house. Enjoy a traditional Thai Lunch prepared with rich southern Thai curries, delicious local vegetables.
- Guided hike to see viewpoints on dry season or to a waterfall on rainy season (optional)
- Afternoon wildlife safari by boat
- Return to the raft house for a swim, relax and enjoy the scenery
- Enjoy a delectable dinner of fish, Thai soup, and veggies.
Day 2
- Rise before breakfast for the morning mist safari, the best time to see gibbons, macaques, and dusky leaf monkeys
- Return to raft house for breakfast
- Explore the surrounding area by kayak
- Depending on the raft house and it's location, check-out from the raft house is around 9:30 am, tour ends around 10:30 to 11 am
Where & when?
The tour starts at Cheow Lan Lake Pier (Rajjaprabha Dam), 65 km from park headquarters. We can arrange transfers from/to Phuket, Khao Lak, Krabi, Ao Nang, Surat Thani and Khao Sok village on request.
The nearest airports are Surat Thani (~1h), Krabi (~2h) and Phuket Airport (~2.5h), you are recommended to arrive to the area a day before the tour start. This tour is not recommended to start the same day when arriving from the islands or to the airport far away.
This tour is operated all year round.
When to book?
High seasons months in the lake are November to April and July/August. Bookings for these months should be done far in advance, earliest possible. Even if some raft houses may still have rooms available days/weeks before, guide availability is more of a concern. The guides may get fully booked months in advance for the busiest times of the year. During the low season months there is less risk of unavailability.
Panvaree The Greenery superior rooms should be booked at least 6-12 months in advance for the busier months of the year, even the family rooms may get room far in advance. It is one of the most popular raft houses in the lake.
Laguna Cheow Lan should be booked at least 5-6 months in advance, they are constantly fully booked at least 3-4 months ahead.
Phupha Waree can be booked a couple of months ahead, but during the high seasons they may get fully booked most dates 1-3 months ahead. There is greater risk for them to get fully booked during the week-ends.
For the dates concerning high season months from November to mid April, week-ends (Fri-Sat nights) and public holidays, the rooms at Phupha Waree should be booked well in advance. There can be rooms available for the week-days in short notice, but then again, guides may get fully booked.
Sai Chon should also be booked earliest possible for any week-end/holiday concerned dates.
Krai Son tends to have availability for the most year even if booked days/weeks in advance but can be fully booked months in advance for long week-end holidays.
Tour details in short:
- Duration: 2 days/1 night
- Type: Private
- Price: * see price table *
- Group size: 1 or more people
- Grade: Easy
- Transport: Long-tail boat
- Start: 10a m (day 1)
- End: around 10:30 to 11 am (day 2)
What to bring:
- Rain clothing, specially on rainy season
- Personal toiletries
- Sneakers for hiking, sandals for waterfall/cave visit
- Swimming clothing & towel
- Hat
- Flashlight
- Insect repellent
- Sunblock lotion
How much?
The tour will be led by a private guide which means no others will join you while exploring the lake and surrounding areas. The price for this tour package depends on the choice of accommodation and number of people, please see price per person further down.
The prices below do not include entrance fees to the national park.
| Price per person | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pax | Krai Son (bamboo) | Sai Chon | Phupha Waree | |||
| 2 | 5,000 THB | 6,700 THB | 7,050 THB | |||
| 3 | 4,000 THB | 5,200 THB | 5,300 THB | |||
| 4 | 3,300 THB | 4,450 THB | 4,700 THB | |||
| 5 | 3,000 THB | 4,000 THB | 4,500 THB | |||
| 6 | 2,750 THB | 3,700 THB | 4,050 THB | |||
| 7 | 2,650 THB | 3,500 THB | 3,850 THB | |||
| 8 | 2,450 THB | 3,350 THB | 3,750 THB | |||
| Price per person | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pax | Laguna | Panvaree | 500 Rai | |||
| 2 | 8,000 THB | 9,800 to 11,300 THB | 15,600 to 31,900 THB | |||
| 3 | 6,500 THB | 9,600 to 12,000 THB | 12,700 to 21,700 THB | |||
| 4 | 5,700 THB | 7,600 to 9,350 THB | 11,300 to 17,400 THB | |||
| 5 | 5,300 THB | 8,500 to 11,000 THB | 14,100 to 14,900 THB | |||
| 6 | 5,000 THB | 6,900 to 8,700 THB | n/a | |||
| 7 | 4,750 THB | n/a | n/a | |||
| 8 | 4,600 THB | n/a | n/a | |||
Displayed prices are per person
Tour rates include:
- Lodging
- Guide
- Long-tail boat transportation
- Lunch and dinner on day-1, breakfast on day-2
- Drinking water
- Canoeing
- Accident insurance during the tour (covering hospital costs)
Tour rates doesn't include:
- Entrance fees to the park
- Transfer to the lake from the nearby towns
Reviews from our guests
By: Marta Kania | posted Mon 11 Mar, 2024 | Sai Chon
Everything was top of the top. From the customer service to the actual trips organization and the timing, including professional guide. Fully recommended.
By: Angela Farrelly | posted Fri 8 Mar, 2024 | Phupha Waree
A beautiful environment, so peaceful. Our Guide was very attentive and ensured that we had everything we needed. Staying in our chalet was fantastic as was the food.
By: Lola Boussier | posted Tue 5 Mar, 2024 | Krai Son (bamboo)
It was an exceptional experience.
By: Adrian Zaprucki | posted Sat 2 Mar, 2024 | Phupha Waree
My partner and I were really looking forward to seeing Khao Sok National park and the private tour we booked with Thai National parks lived up to our expectations and more. We had the pleasure of touring with Bee who was a great tour guide. Bee was thoughtful, knowledgeable and had a great sense of humour to make the experience that much more enjoyable. The scenery in the park was incredible, accommodations were good and the food was also unique and tasty. Overall it was a great experience and we would recommend it to anyone.
By: Leo Grau | posted Mon 19 Feb, 2024 | Krai Son (bamboo)
Amazing Experience! Was great to learn from our tour guide 'Dam'.
Will definitely recommend and repeat.
By: Poppy | posted Thu 15 Feb, 2024 | Phupha Waree
We had such an incredible time on our 2D 1N tour. Our guide Junn was AMAZING!! She was so knowledgeable about the area and we learnt so much!
Our driver Jon was also great:)
We were lucky enough to see all sorts of wildlife including monkeys and toucans - which Junn spotted for us!
Honestly cannot recommend this tour enough was one of the best experiences we had in Thailand!
By: Luka Čepin | posted Mon 5 Feb, 2024 | Sai Chon
We had an amazing trip, especially with our guide Lek who made sure we had a good time and were well-informed. His knowledge and English is very good.
We are very satisfied :)
By: Germaine Peeters | posted Wed 31 Jan, 2024 | Sai Chon
we had a wonderful tour. And how lucky we were with Junn! she speaks very good English and knows a lot about everything we saw and what we asked. We also had pleasant private conversations with her. The sights of the tour are also varied. The only downside is that the houses were dirty. Simple, that doesn't matter, but dirty floors and holes in the walls are unacceptable. We had two houses and both were poorly cleaned. one house had a screen in the window and the other did not. But once again because of Junn and the beautiful nature we made an unforgettable tour
By: Arno Pradolini | posted Tue 30 Jan, 2024 | Phupha Waree
The guide we had (Bee) was THE GUIDE you need to have to discover Khao Sok national Park. He knows everything there is to know, listens to his customers, he explained everything showed us a lot of wild animals we would never have found without him. He makes a great team with the captain of the boat. We had a great time, the organisation is perfect.
The only thing that wasn’t worth the price for me is the hotel, we had the Phupha waree, it’s old and needs to be freshed up. This hotel is really not worth the price, I really recommend to take a cheaper option as we couldn’t use the aircon because of the noise it made and the ventilator was even worse. It was not a good night of sleep, but the beauty of the park makes it good. The food was nice and I definitely recommend to book a private tour.
By: Emiel Jansen | posted Tue 23 Jan, 2024 | Phupha Waree
Great expirience, and a good tourgide (bee). We loved it and will recomand this expirience to all. Don't make the same mistake as we did. Stay for 2 nights (3Day tour) and not for 1 night.