Khao Sok Travel Guide

Khao Sok Travel Guide – Are you a National Park junkie? A nature lover? Someone who appreciates adventure? Well if so, then Khao Sok is the perfect place for you! Arguably one of Thailands best kept secrets, this gorgeous nature reserve will take your breath away. It is a great place to go to escape the crowds and enjoy some beautiful scenery. With a wide variety of activities, you can easily find something to do during your entire stay in Khao Sok.

It is important to note that visiting Khao Sok does require a bit of planning. Prior to arriving, we found ourselves searching the internet for tips on how to book day trips, treks, etc. and found little to no information. Can you do the hikes alone, or do you need a guide? How can we book a night on the lake in the bamboo huts? Hopefully in this post we can answer some of these questions and give you some ideas for things to do on your upcoming trip to Khao Sok!

The minute we arrived, the two of us turned to one another dumbfounded that after numerous trips to Thailand, it took us this long to visit Khao Sok. Nevertheless, we finally made the dedicated trip and boy was it worth it!

Like we said before, prior to arriving, we tried to do as much research as possible. Although some questions were hard to answer, once we were there, everything made sense. The town of Khao Sok thrives off of the business from tours and hikes. Nearly every shop and hotel there will be able to schedule any hikes, tours, or day trips you need. So moral of the story, wait until you get there to book anything!

Below, we have listed out a number of different activities you can take part in on your trip to Khao Sok. Although we did not do every one of these ourselves, this should serve as a great guideline for you to help prioritise what may be of interest. Overall, we would recommend you spend between 3-5 nights here to get the full experience!

Khao Sok Travel Guide

Things To Do

Hiking

A big question we had prior to arriving was- Can we hike alone, or must we hire a guide? There are still plenty of mixed reviews on this. However, what we gathered was that you are technically allowed to hike on your own up until a certain point. Once you find that the trail marks are not as easy to navigate, that is when a guide is required. For us, not being avid hikers we figured having a guide was probably in our best interest rather than trying to navigate the park alone.

It is also important to keep in mind that this is a national park filled with wildlife and plants. You just don’t know what may be along the path in front of you! Additionally, many guides will be able to point out things you wouldn’t otherwise have seen, or known on your own. Generally, they offer three types of hikes. A half day hike, a full day hike and a night hike. This gives you flexibility on choosing what is best for you. NOTE: The entrance fee for the national park is 300 baht per person per 24 hours! We did not know about the 24 hour rule before we arrived and thought it would be something important to share!

Jungle Cooking Class

If you like to cook this is a great activity for you! You get to visit with a local Thai family and learn how to cook some of the most delicious authentic Thai dishes. This is a great activity to do on a lazy day, or afternoon to get out of the heat

Tubing

Tubing is offered for people who are there during the wet season. Unfortunately for us, it was the dry season, so tubing was not available. That being said, it sounded really fun! You are given a tube to take down the river where you can pass bamboo huts and monkeys playing on the side of the jungle surrounding.

Elephant Sanctuary

Yes there are elephant tours, no we did not do one. Additionally, there are some that we strongly suggest you do NOT support. Please guys, never book any tours with companies that allow you to sit on them. Even if they say it is okay, it really is not! That being said, if you are willing to walk and ask around, we heard of one family that has an elephant that you can bathe and feed for the afternoon.

River Canoeing

Similar to tubing, you can also take a canoe down the river to see it from a different perspective. This makes for a relaxing afternoon and is a great way to see the national park.

Overnight Lake Stay

The highlight of our trip was booking an overnight stay in a bamboo hut on the lake at the national park! If there is one thing we would recommend you do, it’s this. We booked our trip with our hotel and they sorted it all out for us. With this overnight tour you get transportation to and from the lake, all meals included, two jungle safaris, a jungle hike, cave exploring, and an overnight stay in an authentic bamboo hut! Click here to read our full experience:

Lake Day Trip

If you are not too keen on spending the night on a lake, companies also offer single day trips as well! Essentially all the same as the overnight, minus the stay and one safari, you get to experience most of the lake too!

Khao Sok Travel Guide

Where To Eat

Bamboo Bistro

We ate pretty much every single meal here. With fair prices and a wide variety of dishes you couldn’t go wrong. The service was great and they also had great wifi! At night, the top reggae bar was a fun place to grab a drink and watch some fire shows!

The No-Name Mini Mart

If you stay at, or near the Khao Sok Residence Resort, you will pass a small convenient store on your walk to the main road. This little shop had the cheapest beers around and some cold fresh coconuts! It was our go to snack stop practically everyday.

Khao Sok Travel Guide

Where To Stay

Khao Sok Residence Resort: These were the cutest little homes built right alongside the limestone cliffs of the national park. Staff was really nice and beds were extremely comfortable. They offer fan rooms and air-con rooms….we made the error on booking the fan rooms at first in the middle of the hot season and switched to air-con after two nights! Overall, a great stay! Book Here.