Private Tour | 2-days/1-night private tour on Cheow Lan Lake
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 at 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 at a floating resort 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.
Floating resorts on Cheow Lan Lake
500 Rai Floating Resort (high-end)
500 Rai Floating Resort is one of the best floating resort on Cheow Lan Lake, with 15 houses/units of various sizes. It is located at the far end of the lake, between Phupha Waree and Krai Son raft houses, with one of the best views at the lake. It is the only option at the lake providing electricity 24 hours/day (deluxe option with only 12 h/day a/c powered, others 24 h/day).
Following are the room types;
| Deluxe (4 pax) | 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 pax) | 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 pax) | 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 |
360° Issara Floating Resort (high-end)
360° is the a brand new high-end resort opened in January 2025.
360° Issara is located at Khlong Long tributary of Cheow Lan Lake, around 40 minutes boat ride from Cheow Lan Pier, somewhere between Sai Chon and Laguna Cheow Lan. When at full capacity, the floating resort has total 10 deluxe rooms for couples, 10 triple deluxe rooms with a queen-sized and a single bed. 4 more villa rooms will be ready later this year with a king-sized bed and a sofa bed (for 2 adults and 1 child).
While the deluxe rooms will be a/c powered from 6pm until 6am, the villa rooms will be powered 24 hours/day.
The 360° Issara Floating Resort offers three seasonal pricing tiers: the lowest rates are available from May to June, higher rates apply from July to October, and the highest rates are in effect from November to April.
Panvaree The Greenery (high-end)
The resort is located at the entrance of Khlong Long tributary. Compared to other optiong on the lake, Panvaree The Greenery has fewer cabins/houses which makes it a relatively quiet place even when the place is fully booked, ideal for people avoiding crowds. Quality wise it is no doubt one of the best and most popular floating resort on the lake. Electricity is provided from 5pm until 9am.
Following are the room types;
| Superior room (2 pax) | For couples or 2 adults + small child (child to share same bed as parents but quoted half price). Rooms can be with either a double bed or twin beds, unfortunately can't be chosen, either one can be booked depending on availability and other circumstances. |
| Family section (4 pax) | For families up to 4 pax, 2 storeys, 2 rooms, 1 bathroom, 1 king size bed in each room. |
The price for the rooms varies depending on week-day, week-end day or holidays.
Panvaree Resort (high-end)
Located right next to Panvaree The Greenery, Panvaree Resort has similar quality and price level with different type of bed settings, it too has less cabin/houses. The rooms gets a bit cheaper at Panvaree Resort for groups of 3 people or more.
Following are the room types;
|
Garret house king (4 pax) |
Semi-detached to a garret house queen, with a king size bed and a loft area with 2 single mattresses on the floor. |
| Garret house queen (4 pax) | Semi-detached to a garret house king, with twin beds and a loft area with 2 single mattresses on the floor. Max 4 people |
| Private garret (4 pax) | Solitary unit (not semi-detached), with twin beds and a loft area with 2 single mattresses on the floor. Max 4 people |
The price for the rooms varies depending on week-day, week-end day or holidays.
Laguna Cheow Lan
Laguna Cheow Lan is located at Khlong Long tributary, on the middle of Cheow Lan 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. Electricity is provided from 6pm until 6am.
5 of the rooms called "see view rooms" are charged at a higher rate, they are the rooms with best views, facing the mountains on the opposite coast.
Phupha Waree Raft House
Phupha Waree Raft House is set back in a private alcove just inside Klong Pey, compared to most basic floating resorts on 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. Electricity is provided from 6pm until 6-7am.
Sai Chon Raft House
Sai Chon Raft House is a cheaper alternative. While being a very basic raft house, it is still a better option when compared to most other basic options on the lake mostly because the rooms have ensuite private bathroom. The raft house is located on Khlong Long tributary of the lake, not too far from the pier. The quality is somewhere between bamboo and average options. While the smaller rooms have 1 king size bed, the larger rooms have 2 king size beds. The rooms are equipped with fan only, electricity is provided from around 6pm until 6-7am.
Unlike the other raft houses, kayaking is not free at Sai Chon Raft House, rental will cost 200 Baht per kayak. The kayak fee is optional, not included in our listed prices for Sai Chon Raft House.
Itinerary
There is no strict itinerary with our lake tours, the following itinerary is just an example. Depending on the location of your raft house, weather conditions, your preferences the itinerary may be much different. 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
- 10am – Pick-up from Cheow Lan Lake Pier and board a long-tail boat.
- Cruise past stunning limestone karsts, known as the "Three Rocks" or Khao Sam Kloe, before exploring Diamond Cave.
- Check in at the resort and enjoy a traditional Thai lunch featuring rich southern curries and fresh local vegetables.
- Optional guided hike: Visit scenic Kri Sorn Viewpoint or the nearby Bang Hoi Waterfall.
- Enjoy an afternoon wildlife safari by boat.
- Return to the resort for a refreshing swim, relaxation, and breathtaking views.
- End the day with a delightful dinner featuring fresh fish, Thai soup, and seasonal vegetables.
Day 2
- Rise before breakfast for the morning mist safari, the best time to gibbons, macaques and dusky leaf monkeys
- Alternatively explore the surrounding area by kayak
- Return to resort for breakfast
- Depending on the resort and it's location the tour ends around 9:30 to 10 am at the pier
Where & When?
The tour starts at Cheow Lan Lake Pier (Rajjaprabha Dam), 65 km from park headquarters. We can arrange transfer from/to Phuket, Khao Lak, Krabi, Ao Nang, Surat Thani and Khao Sok village straight to tour start in the morning or transfer to the mentioned towns after the tour.
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 the airports.
This tour is available throughout the year.
When to book?
High seasons periods for the lake are November to mid April and mid July to end of August. Bookings for these months should be done well in advance, earliest possible. Even if some of the 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.
Panvaree The Greenery superior rooms should be booked at least 6-12 months in advance for the busier months of the year, family rooms too may get booked far in advance.
Laguna Cheow Lan should be booked at least 3-6 months in advance for the high seasons months.
Phupha Waree can be booked a couple of months ahead, for the high seasons months they may get fully booked for most dates 1-4 months before.
Sai Chon tends to have more availability compared to the other raft houses we offer, sometimes days/weeks before. But for the certain peak dates, they too will eventually get fully booked many months before.
Tour details in short:
- Duration: 2 days/1 night
- Type: Private tour
- Price: * see the pricing table *
- Group size: 2 or more people
- Grade: Easy
- Transport: Long-tail boat
- Start: 10am (day 1)
- End: around 9:30 to 10am (day 2)
What to bring:
- Rain clothing, specially on the rainy seasons (no rain protection on longtail boats)
- Waterproof bag/cover for all your electronics in case of rain
- Sneakers for hiking, sandals for waterfall/cave visit
- Personal toiletries
- 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 | Sai Chon | Phupha Waree | Laguna |
| 2 | 7,700 THB | 8,700 THB | 9,700 THB |
| 3 | 5,800 THB | 6,400 THB | 7,400 THB |
| 4 | 4,850 THB | 5,450 THB | 6,900 THB |
| 5 | 4,300 THB | 5,100 THB | 6,100 THB |
| 6 | 3,850 THB | 4,550 THB | 5,600 THB |
| 7 | 3,650 THB | 4,300 THB | 5,600 THB |
| 8 | 4,100 THB | 4,800 THB | 5,900 THB |
| Price per person | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pax | 360° Issara | Panvaree Resort | Panvaree T. G. |
| 2 | 10,600 to 13,300 THB | 11,700 to 13,000 THB | 11,300 to 12,800 THB |
| 3 | 8,600 to 11,400 THB | 9,200 to 10,350 THB | 10,700 to 13,100 THB |
| 4 | 7,700 to 10,500 THB | 7,300 to 8,250 THB | 8,400 to 10,100 THB |
| 5 | 7,100 to 9,900 THB | 8,000 to 9,300 THB | 9,150 to 11,600 THB |
| 6 | 6,700 to 9,500 THB | 7,400 to 8,500 THB | 7,500 to 9,200 THB |
| 7 | 6,400 to 9,300 THB | 6,500 to 7,500 THB | 7,800 to 9,900 THB |
| 8 | 6,900 to 9,900 THB | 6,700 to 7,600 THB | 7,700 to 9,400 THB |
| Price per person | |
|---|---|
| Pax | 500 Rai |
| 2 | 18,600 to 34,500 THB |
| 3 | 15,100 to 24,000 THB |
| 4 | 13,400 to 18,700 THB |
| 5 | 12,400 to 16,900 THB |
| 6 | 13,100 to 15,700 THB |
| 7 | 12,400 to 14,800 THB |
| 8 | 11,900 to 14,100 THB |
Displayed prices are per person
Tour rates include:
- Lodging
- Private guide
- Tour around the lake
- Private long-tail boat from the moment of tour start until the tour ends
- Lunch and dinner on day-1, breakfast on day-2
- Drinking water
- Kayaking (not included at Sai Chon Raft House)
- Insurance for incidents during the tour (covering eventual hospital costs)
Tour rates doesn't include:
- Entrance fees to the park
- Transfer to the lake from the nearby hotels/towns
- Parking fee (if you have your own vehicle)
- Kayaking at Sai Chon Raft House (the fee is included at the all other resorts we offer)
Reviews from our guests
By: World Wild Hearts | posted Sun 16 Apr, 2023 | Sai Chon
A video review from one of our guests. This clip wasn't promoted by us, nor were we informed in advance about it.
Review by; World Wild Hearts
By: Divya Antoney | posted Tue 29 Apr, 2025 | Sai Chon
I loved the tour. The stay was amazing. I stayed for 1 one day sai pier. I loved the whole experience. The kao sok national park is piece of heaven. It is must visit place of thailand.
By: Jana | posted Thu 24 Apr, 2025 | Phupha Waree
Wenn man die private Tour bucht, kann man die Landschaft besser genießen, weil es ruhiger und entspannter ist. Wir mochten die verschiedenen Stops mit der Höhle, den Felsen inmitten des Sees und auch den Ort der Wanderung. Leider haben wir unseren Tourguide wirklich kaum verstanden. Er hat schlechtes und zudem sehr leises und undeutliches Englisch gesprochen (genuschelt) und war die meiste Zeit still oder hat mit unserem Bootsfahrer laut auf thailändisch gesprochen. Dadurch haben wir kaum Informationen mitbekommen und fanden das Preis- Leistungsverhältnis nicht angemessen. Wir hätten uns auf jeden Fall mehr erhofft.
Die Bungalows „Phuphawaree“ sind sauber, aber sehr einfach eingerichtet. Man kann keine Luxusunterkunft erwarten. Die Aussicht ist atemberaubend und das Essen hat uns positiv überrascht, sogar vegetarisch möglich.
+: die Safaris (leider haben wir nicht so viele Tiere und keine Elefantenherde entdeckt wie gehofft), das Baden im See, die Landschaft während der Bootsfahrt
-: die Sprachkenntnisse des Guides, die Dschungelwanderung und vor allem die Zeitraktung (sehr stressig, kaum entspannend)
-> Alles in allem finden wir die Tour für das, was man effektiv bekommt etwas zu teuer. Wir haben fast 240 € pro Person für 2 Days/ 1 Night
gezahlt, was effektiv weniger als 24 Stunden sind. Ich kann mir vorstellen, dass eine Gruppentour für viele attraktiver ist, aber dafür weniger ruhig und voller.
> Tour operator's response
We're sorry to hear that the tour did not meet your expectations.
To be transparent about our services and room quality, we had shared the following information during your inquiry:
"As there is a big demand for guides in Cheow Lan Lake, not all the guides speak good English. The English level of our guides are generally basic level with some guides speaking better. We can only assign guides from a queue system to be fair with all."
Your inquiry was sent on April 4th for a booking on April 8th, which gave us very limited time to potentially secure a guide with stronger English skills. Given the rural nature of the area, the more fluent English-speaking guides often prefer working in coastal regions where day trips are easier.
While we cannot guarantee better English-speaking guides even with earlier inquiries (due to occasional last-minute changes), booking further in advance - typically 3 to 12 months- would have significantly improved the chances.
If you browse our reviews, you’ll notice that very few mention dissatisfaction with the value of the tour when guests are fortunate enough to spot elephants or other rare wildlife. However, we do understand the disappointment when such sightings don't happen, especially when expectations are high.
The chances of seeing wild elephants during a 2-day/1-night tour are about 20%, increasing to up to 40% on a 3-day/2-night tour during the dry season, such as when you visited.
As for the pricing, considering the boat rental, guide/driver fees, accommodation in a remote location (and a such resort's logistical costs), these tours can't get cheaper than this. A comparable tour in Europe would likely cost around three times as much.
We appreciate your feedback, and hope that your review helps others make informed decisions when considering a tour on the lake, with us or any other provider.
By: Tobias Skou | posted Wed 23 Apr, 2025 | Phupha Waree
It was the most amazing experience, and it would never have been the same without the best guide ever, Ruam!
The bungalow was all we needed, clean and nice, and the perfect location.
The restaurant service was really good!
The food was some of the best food we had on our entire trip to Thailand.
We saw so many different animals, thanks to Ruam, who knew all the good spots.
We treasure these memories forever!
By: Anton Skvortsov | posted Thu 10 Apr, 2025 | Sai Chon
We really enjoyed the experience. Su was a great guide, huge thanks to her. Overall, everything was great: food was nice and even a bit too much for two people :) hotel was good, boat driver was great and the whole experience was excellent.
Thank you and thanks to Su!
By: Glenn Mathew | posted Mon 7 Apr, 2025 | Phupha Waree
Another fantastic trip for the family excellent guide excellent accommodation and fantastic food and WOW what a place and wildlife.
By: Michelle Nocon | posted Wed 2 Apr, 2025 | Phupha Waree
Our guide Au really did a great job. She explained everything well and we always felt very comfortable with her. Khao Sok National Park is a dream!
By: Martine Poels | posted Sun 30 Mar, 2025 | Phupha Waree
Our guide Nid was really great, had patients and respect for the nature and animals. He was very knowledgable. And our skipper Nep did his utmost to wait for the elephants to appear getting almost dark, but made sure we were save and back in time. They take good care of you. Thank you both for making the 2 days a lovely memory. We will not forget this one!! We stayed at Phupha Waree, food was lovely, they tried their best to support special food allergy requests. We fekt very welkome.
By: Lydia | posted Sat 29 Mar, 2025 | Laguna
In één woord fantastisch, we hadden de privé toer en ik wil dit iedereen aanraden. Ze nemen alle tijd en hebben wilde olifanten gezien, daar waar de groepstoeren direct verder ging. Je bent wat meer geld kwijt maar dat is het absoluut waard!
By: Huong | posted Mon 24 Mar, 2025 | Phupha Waree
We really enjoyed our 2D1N Khao Sok National Park tour with Thai National Parks! From the planning with Julia to the whole service during the trip (incl. transport service) and our guide Lek - everything was well organised and we felt very well taken care of. The planning was very easy and well structured with all needed information provided beforehand. Lek was a great guide, he is very knowledgable and took great care of us throughout the trip. What we really liked is that he made sure we were not in the midst of the crowd but looked out for more private routes for us. We have been informed about the feedback about the Phupha Waree Raft House beforehand (a bit run down and mattress are not the best), so we were not taken by surprised. But we were overall fine with the accommodation, it was clean and had an AC + private bathroom. We liked that the kayak was included and food was also really good.
We can definitely recommend booking this tour with Thai National Parks!