Things to do in Khao Sok: the highlights you should not miss

Khao Sok has no list of twenty sights you need to get through. There is jungle, there is a lake and there are the animals that live in between, and you still will not fit all of it into two or three days. You do not need to, because the best moments here happen when you stay put somewhere instead of moving on.

A few things really belong on your list: the night on the water, and one morning where you get out of bed before sunrise. The other activities are on the board at your hostel, and they make a great half day if you have one spare next to your time in the forest.

So where do your Khao Sok days go, and what do you save for next time?

Below are the places themselves. Where to sleep, how to get there and how many days to give it are all on our Khao Sok page.

Sleeping in a floating hut on Cheow Lan Lake

This is what you came for, even if you do not know it yet when you arrive. Out in the middle of the lake are simple rafts tied to the limestone cliffs, and as soon as the day boats leave in the late afternoon it goes completely silent. Just water, a rock wall hundreds of metres high and the forest slowly waking up.

Do not expect luxury. You sleep on a mattress in a wooden hut, share the bathroom and eat whatever the cook on the raft makes at one long table, and on a lot of rafts there is only power for a few hours in the evening. There is no signal. That is not the compromise, that is the point.

So take out cash before you leave the village, because there is no ATM on the lake. Charge your phone fully, then leave it in your bag.

Our verdict: absolutely, and sort out your spot as soon as you arrive in the village

Boating between the limestone cliffs of Cheow Lan Lake

Cheow Lan Lake is a reservoir of 165 square kilometres, and the limestone cliffs rising straight out of the green water are the photo you know Khao Sok from. In real life it is mostly the scale that gets you: you are out on the water for an hour and there is always another wall appearing from behind the last one.

You go by traditional longtail boat, and it is about two hours from the pier out to the rafts. On the day tour it is often combined with the Emerald Pool and with stops where you can jump off the boat into the water. The water is warm and clean, so just wear your swimmers from the start.

From December to April the water is at its clearest. In the rainy season it looks different, but definitely not less beautiful.

Our verdict: a must, even if you only do the day tour

Into the rainforest along the river

The Khao Sok forest is 160 million years old, and it is this dense because the park sits right between the two coasts and catches rain from both sides. You walk from the park entrance into the forest along the river, between enormous trees, with a chance of gibbons and hornbills above your head.

Along the way there are waterfalls and pools you can swim in, so bring your swimmers. On the short river trails you are fine on your own, but for the longer and more remote treks we would always take a local guide. They hear and see three times as much as you do, and they know which trail is still passable after rain.

Wear shoes with grip. In flip-flops you will slide all over the place, and the trails get properly muddy after a downpour.

Our verdict: go, and take a guide as soon as you go further than the river

Kayaking at sunrise

From pretty much every raft on the lake you can step straight into a kayak, and the hour after sunrise is the best moment of the whole day for it. There is mist hanging between the cliffs, the water is like glass and there is not another boat in sight.

You paddle along the rock walls and into the inlets you rushed past on the longtail, at your own pace. It is often simply included in your overnight stay, and it is exactly the moment when you have the best chance of seeing animals on the shore.

Set your alarm, even if you slept badly on that mattress. Two hours later the mist is gone and the day boats are back.

Our verdict: often already included in your night on the lake, and the hour with the best chance of wildlife

Spotting wildlife

Khao Sok is one of the better places in Thailand to see wild animals. Gibbons, dusky langurs, macaques, hornbills and monitor lizards turn up regularly, otters now and then, wild elephants if you are lucky and a tapir only if it is really your day.

Your chances are best early in the morning and towards the end of the afternoon, and often better on the water than on the trail, because animals come down to the shore to drink. That is why a lot of rafts combine the overnight stay with a safari by boat. In the rainy season, from May to October, the forest is at its most alive and you actually see the most.

Nobody can give you guarantees, and a guide who does is selling you something other than a jungle. Meanwhile, do not leave food out in your hut, because the monkeys know exactly where it is.

Our verdict: no guarantees, but it is the reason you are here

Nam Talu cave

There are caves between the limestone cliffs, and the best known is Nam Talu. You walk partly through water, with stalactites above you and bats in the dark, and it is the most adventurous half day you can have here.

You only go in with a guide, and not in the rainy season. In heavy rain the cave floods, and people have died there. That is not a formality on a sign, it is the reason the cave is regularly closed. Which caves are open depends on the water level, and you only find that out on the spot.

Going? Wear something that can get wet and shoes you can keep on in the water.

Our verdict: only in the dry season and only with a guide, but then absolutely go

Tubing or bamboo rafting on the Sok river

The most relaxed half day in Khao Sok is spent floating. You drift down the Sok river on a rubber ring or a bamboo raft, past the forest, with the trees closing in above you. No effort, no climbing, just looking.

It leaves from the village, so it does not take a whole day and you can combine it with a morning in the park. Want a bit more action? You can kayak on the river too.

Do this on your last afternoon, when your legs are done from trekking and your bus does not leave until the next morning.

Our verdict: perfect for your last afternoon, when your legs are done from trekking

Got time to spare in Khao Sok?

Two nights instead of one

Khao Sok sits halfway between the Andaman coast and the Gulf coast, so it is tempting to hop off for a quick stop on the way through. Give it two nights: one in the village and one on the lake. That is exactly the difference between a nice view and the place people are still talking about years later.

Sleeping on the lake or just the boat trip

The day tour is fine, and the scenery is no less stunning for it. But everything that makes the lake special only happens after the day boats leave and before they are back the next morning: the silence, the mist between the limestone cliffs and the animals on the shore. If you can swap one night in the village for a night on the water, it is the best swap of your trip.

The caves in the right season

Nam Talu cave is impressive, and you go in the dry season with a guide. In the rainy season it floods in heavy rain and conditions here can change within the hour, so if someone offers you a cave tour in those months, pick something else. There is plenty of other adventure in this park that does go ahead then.

Pick two or three activities

Treks, night safaris, kayaking, tubing, caves, wildlife: every hostel on that one street sells all of it. Pick the two or three that really appeal to you and keep the rest of your time free. An hour just sitting and looking at the forest is worth as much here as any tour.

Our top five in Khao Sok

Only got a few days? These are the five we would do no matter what:

1. A night in a floating hut on Cheow Lan Lake, once the day boats have gone
2. The longtail across the lake, two hours between the limestone cliffs
3. Into the park along the river, with a swim in one of the pools
4. Kayaking from the raft in the hour after sunrise
5. Spotting wildlife from the boat, early in the morning

Still got time after that? Nam Talu cave is the biggest adventure and the Sok river the most relaxed afternoon. A night safari through the forest with a head torch shows you a completely different Khao Sok, and if you want to cook in bamboo over an open fire for once, there is a farm close to the village where you can do exactly that.

So what do you really have to do in Khao Sok?

Nothing on this list is compulsory, and Khao Sok is the one place where ticking things off works against you. The travellers who got the most out of it are usually the ones who booked one tour less and stayed a morning longer wherever they already were.

If we had to pick just one thing, it is that night on the lake. Not the boat ride out and not the safari after, but the moment the last day boat pulls away and the noise simply stops. You sit on the edge of a raft with your feet in the water, there is no signal, no light except whatever gets switched on later, and the rock wall across from you is hundreds of metres high. You do not have to do anything else.

Plan three days, book your spot on Cheow Lan Lake as soon as you arrive and take out cash before you leave the village. The rest takes care of itself.