Thai National Parks

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.

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.

Reviews from our guests

Rated 4.64/5 based on 107 customer reviews

By: World Wild Hearts | posted Sun 16 Apr, 2023 | Sai Chon

5/5 stars

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: Taylor | posted Tue 16 Apr, 2024 | Phupha Waree

5/5 stars

We had Bee as our guide and he was truly amazing. Super funny, candid, and knowledgeable about the park. This tour (2 Day 1 night at phupha waree) was perfect for my partner and I (couple in our mid 20s) but I can see if you do not like camping or the outdoors or if you have back problems this would probably not be for you. The whole process was very streamlined and organized very well. Nothing to complain about on our end.

By: Samantha Gerken | posted Mon 8 Apr, 2024 | Phupha Waree

5/5 stars

We had the best time! We wish we’d done 2 nights. I’ve done nothing like this so it was a new experience and one I’ll recommend to anyone that comes to Thailand. Beautiful scenery and activities and Hnum was an incredible guide, always full of energy, funny and amazing English. Couldn't have asked for anything better

By: Kirsten Smith | posted Thu 28 Mar, 2024 | Sai Chon

3/5 stars

The beauty of the park is without question a stunning display of nature at her finest. The hut comfortable enough for one night and the food average watered down Thai food.

I was sorely disappointed to realize that I paid four times as much as everyone else who had the exact same tour and overnight stay. I didn’t realize I could have booked one from a hostel for 2500 THB and have good company the whole time. Instead I paid $300 US dollars for the opportunity to sit in a boat alone, dine alone, and hike alone. It was very isolating. My guide skipped the morning “trek” aka walk because there are so many people so we will go later and do a better one without so many people. I trusted him. Then I ended up wasting the entire day sitting around or swimming while he wanted to leave to “trek at 5pm and I said, enough - I am bored and you said we would trek and it will be dark at 6. So he said ok and we went at 3:30 on an 30’min walk in the woods. Not a trek which I expected a decent hour or two hike into the woods. My guide said, if you trust me I’ll take you out early to see the animals…ok so got up early —- with everyone else as that is the program for everyone! I felt duped. It soured my experience as I felt isolated and misled. When I booked this, I went though the park system who I thought I could trust. I said I wanted to do an overnight and asked if there was room since trip advisor only had trips from Krabi. They said yes but there was no explanation that I was paying to do the tour privately vs a group at a serious 4x premium over other options. I wasn’t told about those options. I could have done the day tour instead of overnight with friends who went the same day for even less cost and at least had the company of friends. I think the park service needs to tell the public what the options are or this is an expensive and lonely excursion.

> Tour operator's response

Hi Kirsten!

You have clearly missed the point this is a private tour, it is clearly stated in this page above this is a private tour. If you rather have booked a shared one to share with up to 12-18 people in one boat, that is really yourself to blame. There is not much we can help with the loneliness if you preferred to have others to join you, because this is a private tour.

I am not sure why you would book the very first tour you came across and then later complain about the price. It is like you go to one shop and buy an iPhone, and then the next to find out the next shop is selling a much cheaper Android variation (the cheapest one in the market), and complain to the first shop about the price difference.

Then also, you are a solo traveller. No matter if you are a solo or a couple, a guide and a boat will be at your service for 2 days, then the price won't be too different from the total price for 2 people. You can't compare a private tour price to a group tour.

Khao Sok Lake is surrounded by steep mountains and cliffs, there are no extensively long trails and longer hikes are not possible.

This is a national park, not a zoo. One can be unlucky with impressive animals sightings like elephants, gaurs etc. And the chances get smaller with a 2D/1N tour vs a 3D/2N tour.

Thanks,

By: Janice Santikarn | posted Thu 28 Mar, 2024 | 500 Rai

4/5 stars

A wonderful one night stay at the 500 Rai raft hotel. Service, food and staff all fantastic. The only complaint is we visited when the weather was very very hot and the AC could not cope with that amount of heat. It took a long time to cool down the room - however, once it was cool, it was fine. Our guide(Hnum) was wonderful - fun, very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Highly recommend this tour.

By: Philip Van Hout | posted Thu 28 Mar, 2024 | Phupha Waree

4/5 stars

The 2 day/1 night tour was a really nice experience. The guide, Pla, was very friendly and attentfull. She brought some sticky rice sticks in bamboo and some big beers for us to enjoy. Her English was not that very good, but she could express herself so we could understand what she was saying. We had bad luck with spotting and seeing wild animals except for some small monkeys. The beds in the Phupha Waree were springy and the sheets were itchy. Therefore 4/5 stars.

By: Sheila Grosman | posted Sun 17 Mar, 2024 | Panvaree

5/5 stars

We loved khao sok national park so much. It was definitely the highlight of our trip to Thailand. Ann was an amazing tourguide and made the experience even better. Thank you so much for your help, everything was organized perfectly! We expected it to be great but this exceeded our expectations! *

By: Tamas Fabian | posted Fri 15 Mar, 2024 | Sai Chon

5/5 stars

It was amazing, thank you.

By: Lauren van Maanen | posted Thu 14 Mar, 2024 | Phupha Waree

4/5 stars

The private tour was lovely, it’s all worth your money not the be in a big group. Beautiful location, food was amazing. Our guide Aon was great. Rooms are good, beds are rockhard but okay for one night.

By: Marta Kania | posted Mon 11 Mar, 2024 | Sai Chon

5/5 stars

Everything was top of the top. From the customer service to the actual trips organization and the timing, including professional guide. Fully recommended.