Private Tour | 3-days/2-nights private tour in Khao Sok 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.
While a 2-day/1-night stay leaves less time for various activities due to check-in and check-out times from the raft houses, a 3-days/2-nights tour gives a much better opportunity to enjoy more of the attractions and activities around the lake.
With the 3-days/2-nights tour in Khao Sok you will be able to see scenic rock formations, hike to a viewpoint, visit a cave, hike in the jungle, kayak and drive around in the vicinity of your raft house for wildlife watching. The tour includes two nights 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.
Raft house options
Phupha Waree Raft House (deluxe)
Phupha Waree is set back in a private alcove just inside Klong Pey. It features modern rooms with queen size beds. Equipped with private bathrooms, a/c, balconies and can accomodate 2-4 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. The rooms are available for booking a maximum 3 months in advance.
Laguna Cheow Lan (deluxe)
Laguna Cheow Lan is located in Khlong Long tributary, in the middle of the lake. It features wooden rooms with queen size beds. Equipped with private bathrooms, a/c, balconies and can accomodate 2-4 people.
Sai Chon Raft House (wooden)
Sai Chon Raft House is a cheaper alternative compared to deluxe ones, located in Khlong Long tributary of the lake, not too far from the pier. The quality is somewhere between bamboo and deluxe options. The rooms can accommodate 2-4 people with queen beds, equipped with fans and has rooms with both private and shared bathroom facilities. As default we will try book private bathroom options, if not available we will book shared bathroom options.
Krai Son Raft House (basic bamboo)
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.
We do not recommend Krai Son to families with kids.
Itinerary
The following itinerary is just an example. Depending on 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, Board your long-tail boat at Rajjaprabha Dam (Cheow Lan Lake Pier) enjoy the scenic tour of limestone karst formations on the way to floating bungalows
- Check in to the raft house (deluxe or basic bamboo/wooden). Enjoy a traditional Thai lunch
- Depart for a guided hike to Khao Sok's highest viewpoint which has a breathtaking view over the lake
- Return to the raft house for a swim, relax and enjoy the scenery
- Afternoon wildlife safari by boat
- Enjoy your dinner
Day 2
- Breakfast
- Board long tail boat for a morning wildlife safari by boat
- Return to the rafthouse for free time
- After lunch, guided jungle hike
- Return to the raft house to for a swim, relax
- Enjoy a traditional Thai dinner
Day 3
- Rise before breakfast for the morning mist safari, the best time to gibbons, macaques and dusky leaf monkeys
- Return to raft house for breakfast
- Explore the surrounding area by kayak
- Check-out from the raft hour around 10:30 am, tour ends around noon at the pier
Where & When?
This tour is operated all year round.
The tour starts in Cheow Lan Lake (Rajjaprabha Dam), 65 km from park headquarters. It is easy to get to nearby Ban Takhun Town with buses operating from various destinations like Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi or Surat Thani. Private transfers by taxi or minivan can be arranged on request.
On the week-ends and long holidays the lake gets very busy with the local tourists. The high end and popular raft houses like Phupha Waree tend to get fully booked weeks ahead for Friday to Sundays. You are recommended to book for weekdays if possible, but if you need to book for week-end day(s), then we recommend booking at least 3-4 weeks prior to your planned trip date. It may also be hard to find an available guide for week-end dates, another reason to book far in advance.
Tour details in short:
- Duration: 3 days/2 nights
- Type: Private tour
- Price: * see price table *
- Group size: 2 or more people
- Grade: Easy
- Transport: Long-tail boat
- Start: 10 am (day 1)
- End: around 12 pm (day 3)
What to bring:
- Rain clothing, specially on rainy season
- 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.
The listed prices for Phupha Waree below are valid until October 2022, newer high season prices will apply from November onward.
Optional charges;
Coral Cave Rafthing
- From Krai Son or Phupha Waree raft houses; 1,400 Baht fixed price and 200 Baht per person entrance fee for Khlong Saeng Wildlife Sanctuary
- From Laguna Cheow Lan, Sai Chon or Plearn Prai raft houses; 400 Baht fixed price and 200 Baht per person entrance fee for Khlong Saeng Wildlife Sanctuary
Wildlife oriented tour?
Although our tour is more about visiting the attractions, enjoying the scenery and water activities in the lake, our price includes a bit of safari driving around the lake in hope to see a glimpse of wildlife around.
If you wish a more wildlife oriented tour, we can arrange it for an additional change depending on the raft house location, then our guide could take you to Khlong Saeng tributary on the north/west end of the lake one afternoon. Please let us know in case. The wildlife oriented tour is only suitable for the 2nd day over a 3D/2N tour.
- From Krai Son or Phupha Waree; +2,000 Baht
- From Sai Chon, Plearn Prai or Laguna Cheow Lan; +3,000 Baht
| Price per person | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pax | Krai Son (bamboo) | Sai Chon (wooden) | Laguna (deluxe) | Phupha Waree (deluxe) |
| 2 | 8,100 THB | 9,100 THB | 11,600 THB | 10,800 THB |
| 3 | 6,400 THB | 7,100 THB | 9,100 THB | 8,200 THB |
| 4 | 5,400 THB | 6,200 THB | 7,700 THB | 7,400 THB |
| 5 | 4,900 THB | 5,700 THB | 7,650 THB | 7,300 THB |
| 6 | 4,500 THB | 5,400 THB | 7,100 THB | 6,600 THB |
| 7 | 4,350 THB | 5,200 THB | 6,600 THB | 6,400 THB |
| 8 | 4,100 THB | 4,950 THB | 6,300 THB | 6,200 THB |
Displayed prices are per person
Tour rates include:
- Lodging; basic bamboo, wooden or deluxe
- English speaking guide
- Long-tail boat transportation & boat driver
- All meals & fruit
- Drinking water
- Canoeing
- Accident insurance during the tour (covering hospital costs)
Tour rates doesn't include:
- Entrance fees to the park
Reviews from our guests
By: R Walker | posted Sun 2 Oct, 2022 | Phupha Waree (deluxe)
Faultless service from Thai National Parks.
We travelled Phuket to Khao Sok National Park return (Sept 2022). Communication from our first enquiry to the end of our trip was prompt and clear. Rushen was extremely well-organised and pleasant to deal with throughout. The transfer service made our travel with two children (aged 6&8) seamless and easy - an excellent driver and vehicle. At the lake, our local guide and boat driver were fun, knowledgeable, thoughtful and passionate about the area. Simple but very satisfactory accommodation from which to experience this beautiful area.
Highly recommend using this company if you wish to visit this area.
By: Dolores Montenegro Gregorio | posted Fri 2 Sep, 2022 | Phupha Waree (deluxe)
We spent 23 days travelling around Thailand and Cambodia, including khao yai national Park in Thailand, Angkor wat, several cities, and several islands with beatiful Beaches and corales and I want to say that our tour 3d/2n to Cheown lake organized by Thai National Parks was the Best part of the trip. It was an amazing experience, the beatiful of the scenery was astonishing, the peace, the sounds of the jungle, the animals...everything. Everything was perfectly coordinated, from the fisrt untill the Last minute throught our NP contact Rushen.
Our guide in the Park, Ruam, was very kind and knew perfectly every part of the Lake and the sorrunding jungle.
We did a lot of activities, as they had told us, all of them were very well organised and planned.
We saw a lot of wild animals, including wild elephants, it was a very special moment, I will never forget.
We did a trekking to a view point where we could see a incredible image of the Lake...
We were in Phuppa waree floating houses. They were very comfortable and the food was delicious.
I went with my husband and my 13 year old son. We all agreed it was the best tour of our trip and one of the most beatiful places we have ever been.
I recomend the tour 100%. I will surely repeat if I come back again.
Thank you to Thai NP!
By: Jon | posted Thu 1 Sep, 2022 | Phupha Waree (deluxe)
had a wonderful time boating around and staying on the floating raft house. Accommodations were great, especially given the remote location on a lake in the middle of the jungle. The food was very good, and the scenery spectacular. we saw wild boar, buffalo, deer, and even elephants from the boat! We hiked up a waterfall and to a high viewpoint. On the viewpoint hike we encountered a number of land leeches, so mentally and physically prepare yourself for that, or avoid the hike. overall excellent trip.
By: Alex Thomas | posted Tue 30 Aug, 2022 | Krai Son (bamboo)
Thank you very much for this experience!
We had such a good time, especially with bee! He’s such a good guide!
We did all the activities we wanted to do and because of Bee we saw so many animals.
There is just 1 bad thing, that we stayed only 2 nights😅
A huge thank you to Bee and you Company for this experience.
If we gonna come to Thailand again, we’ll definitely book it again.
By: Rebecca Winkler | posted Mon 22 Aug, 2022 | Phupha Waree (deluxe)
Our 3 day trip out on Chew Lan lake was incredible and exceeded our expectations! We saw Binturongs, Guars, Leaf eater monkeys, macaques, hornbills, and even very briefly saw a gibbon! The accommodation was beautiful and the food was amazing, and provided really great vegetarian options. Our guide was super informative and worked really hard to help us see a wide range of animal life and ensure the trip went smoothly. Thank you for an amazing experience!
By: Thijs Den Dunnen | posted Mon 8 Aug, 2022 | Sai Chon (wooden)
Unbelievable location and with the private tour of Thai national parks you get the best experience of the lake and jungle there. Lovely guide and boat driver and the food was so good!
By: Andrei Makarenko | posted Mon 8 Aug, 2022 | Phupha Waree (deluxe)
All was good organized, and private tours are the best you cna get.
By: Kim Van der Meer | posted Mon 8 Aug, 2022 | Laguna (deluxe)
The communication, organization and compliance with the agreements made were all super good. Our guide was a very cheerful, nice and funny man. He showed us beautiful parts of the park and was always at our disposal. Unfortunately the accommodations left something to be desired and worst of all is the insecurity at the resort. The walkway to the huts was broken in several places. Planks broke continuously, in the evening a woman even fell into the water between the planks. The hygiene was very bad; the flushing water from the toilet ended up directly in the water next to your cabin. You are swimming in your own feces. The hut is rotten inside and very damp, there is no shortage of cockroaches. Even the bed was wet. As expected, we ended our holiday sick. The last night all four of us got a serious stomach flu. The youngest (thankfully) 9 years old still hasn't recovered from this. I'm glad not with younger kids were here.
Tour operator's response
I am very sorry for this bad experience you had, we already forwarded your feedback to the raft house. We will also take this up with the raft house owner in a private meeting.
I want to clarify one thing that, the toilet waste is stored in tanks, not flushed into the lake. Only the shower water is released to the lake and that is the case in the entire lake with all raft houses.
Regarding cockroaches; in this tropical side of the world, they are very common, can even be found in 5 star hotels 20-30 stories up in the middle of Bangkok. Same with the geckos, ants and few other insects. It is inevitable. It is part of the life here, particularly in the middle of a national park.
By: Conor McMahon | posted Sat 23 Jul, 2022 | Sai Chon (wooden)
It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Our guide, Sam, was the best. He was extremely knowledgeable and was great at point out wildlife and plants and he made sure we had the best time.
By: AYoshida | posted Sun 3 Jul, 2022 | Laguna (deluxe)
Thai National Parks was very good in scheduling my guided tour. They were very upfront about the expectations. My guide, Ruam was amazing. His English was great and went extra miles to help the trip a memorable one, for example he spent many hours trying to find animals and took me to the other resort site for coffee when it started to rain. With my experience, I highly recommend the site. One thing to keep in mind is that I contacted them almost 6 weeks ahead during covid time to schedule a trp, and there was a significant time between my initial deposit and actual start, but the Thai National Parks people set everything up by the time they connect me about a week before the trip. I was already in Thailand traveling then. Thank you and will definitely use it again.