Khao Sok Floating Bungalows on Cheow Lan Lake: Travel Guide

Staying in floating bungalows in Khao Sok Lake was one of our Thailand bucket-list experiences.

While Khao Sok Lake is definitely not a hidden gem as posts on social media suggest, and there will be many people, especially at the entrance to the park, it’s still absolutely worth visiting. The scenery of Khao Sok is simply out of this world, and the crowds disperse as you head onto the water, and everyone goes to their own floating bungalows.

So, to make your trip more enjoyable and with realistic expectations, here is everything you need to know before visiting Khao Sok Lake, including our personal tips!

About Khao Sok floating bungalows

Cheow Lan Lake, better known as Khao Sok Lake, is a man-made lake known for its stunning water color, high limestone cliffs, and floating bungalows which you can stay at overnight.

Khao Sok Lake is a part of Khao Sok National Park, one of Thailand’s most beautiful and diverse natural areas. Located in the Surat Thani Province, it covers an area of 739 km² and is home to a wide variety of wildlife, including many bird species, wild boar, monkeys, fish, black bears, and even elephants.

You have to be lucky to see elephants in Khao Sok Lake, but many do see them! Spoiler alert: we didn’t see them, but we heard them!

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How to visit Khao Sok Lake (Cheow Lan Lake)

There are several different ways to visit Khao Sok Lake (Cheow Lan Lake) depending on your budget and time.

The most popular way to visit Khao Sok is 2-day-1-night tour of the lake, but let’s explain all the different ways in a bit more details so you can find a perfect Khao Sok tour for you.

1. Overnight Khao Sok Lake tour package

The most common way to visit Khao Sok Lake (Cheow Lan Lake) in Khao Sok National Park is an overnight tour, which includes staying in a floating bungalow.

Depending on which Khao Sok overnight tour you choose, the prices can start at 2500 THB (70 USD) and usually include transportation, food, and activities like wildlife safari, hiking, and kayaking (entrance fees are not included in every tour – more on that later in our blog).

These are join-in tours, and for many of these overnight Khao Sok Lake tours, you can’t choose the activities you want to do or the floating rafts you want to stay at, but they depend on availability and, of course, weather conditions.

If you want a more customized tour according to your wishes, you need to book a private tour which will be more expensive.

You can book an overnight tour to Khao Sok online (like this one) or you can also organize these tour packages with your accommodation in Khao Sok or at any of the local travel agencies in Khao Sok Village.

We organized our overnight stay at a floating bungalow on Cheow Lan Lake through our stay at Our Jungle House and Our Jungle Camp (sister properties).

2. Stay in a private floating resort

If you want a nicer Khao Sok experience, we recommend staying in a private floating resort like 500 Rai Floating Resort or Panvaree Resort and organize any extra activities with them.

This way you can choose your accommodation and opt for something more luxurious than the simple government-run facilities.

Some of these resorts have quite luxurious options and even have rooms with a jacuzzi, on-site massages, and similar.

3. Day trip to Cheow Lan Lake

If you’re short on time but still want to visit Khao Sok Lake, a day trip to Khao Sok (like this one) is the best choice. You can take a day tour to Khao Sok Lake from a few different places, including Khao Sok village itself, Khao Lak, and even Krabi.

We highly recommend booking your daily boat tour online or arranging it with your hotel in advance as availability of boats at the lake marina has become a problem in Khao Sok, especially in the high season.

If you book a day trip to Khao Sok Lake (Cheow Lan Lake) at Khao Sok Village, the prices start at around 1700 THB (50 EUR) per person. This is usually without extra entrance fees, which can get up to 15 EUR per person depending on the spots you plan to visit (read more in the entrance fees section of the blog).

Cheow Lan Lake overnight tour package itinerary

Most travelers to Khao Sok visit Cheow Lan Lake on the “official” tour package that includes transport, meals, an overnight stay in a floating bungalow, and activities.

This is the usual itinerary you can expect:

• Pickup from Khao Sok hotel in the early morning
• Drive towards Cheow Lan Lake
• Stop at a market to stock up on snacks and similar
• Reach Ratchaprapha Marina and board the longtail boat
• Longtail boat ride around Cheow Lan Lake scenery
• Check-in to the floating bungalow
• Lunch at the floating restaurant
• Hike to a viewpoint or cave
• Return to the floating bungalow
• Short time off
• Sunset/evening safari or kayaking
• Sleep in the floating bungalow
• Morning safari or kayaking
• Breakfast
• Free time for kayaking or swimming
• Longtail boat back to the marina
• Lunch
• Return to Khao Sok or continue the journey elsewhere

Khao Sok National Park Entrance Tickets

These are the Khao Sok National Park entrance fees in 2025:

• Khao Sok National Park entrance fee: 300 THB ($9 or 8.5 EUR) for adults and 150 THB ($4.5) for children (age 3-14).
• Khao Sok Lake pier service fee: 40 THB for adults and 20 THB for children
• Coral Cave entrance fee: 200 THB (5.8 USD / 5.6 EUR)

Best time to visit Cheow Lan Lake 

The best time to visit Cheow Lan Lake (Khao Sok Lake) and stay in a floating bungalow is from December to April in the dry season.

However, this is also a peak season, so definitely book your stay or tour in advance.

Although the rainy season at Cheow Lan Lake is also okay to visit, as nature is very lush and there are even more animals.

So essentially, you can visit Cheow Lan Lake anytime and have a great experience with plenty of activities to enjoy.

• Also read: Best time to visit Thailand (Guide)

Top things to do on and around Cheow Lan Lake

The main attraction and the biggest drive of most tourists coming to Cheow Lan Lake are its floating bungalows.

And some of the top things you can do there are hiking, exploring caves, going kayaking, and swimming.

1. Go swimming in the lake

The top thing to do while staying in a floating bungalow on Cheow Lan Lake of Khao Sok National Park is to go for a swim!

Use your chance at the lake to cool off in the water, which is not really cold.

It feels like you are on the seaside, and it reminded us a lot of Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. But you will notice that you’re not on the seaside when you jump in the water, and you do not float.

2. Visit the famous Guilin Rocks – Three Brothers Rocks

Something that’s on every Cheow Lan Lake itinerary is a short visit to the famous Three Brothers Rocks, also known as Guilin Rocks, because of the similarity to Guilin in China.

It was our first stop before checking in at our floating bungalow.

3. Kayak around the beautiful lake

Among the absolute top things you can do on the lake is to take one of the kayaks and go explore the beautiful scenery.

Kayaking around just before sunset and right after sunrise was the highlight of our Cheow Lan Lake experience.

4. Wildlife watching on a night or morning safari

Khao Sok National Park is home to a wide range of wildlife species, making it the ultimate destination for wildlife safaris.

Taking a boat ride around the lake at dawn and dusk is the best way to spot several animals as they approach the lake to drink water.

Most overnight trips to Cheow Lan Lake include a morning or night safari to see animals like monkeys, many variations of birds, wild boar, and deer. And, if you’re super lucky, free-roaming elephants.

Of course, you must be lucky to see the big animals, but at least you might be able to see some monkeys.

During our visit, we decided to skip the night and morning safari because, on arrival, our guide told us that elephants moved to higher ground and away from the lake’s shore.

We instead used our free time and went kayaking both at sunset and just before sunrise.

But we heard the elephants while we were kayaking!

5. Hiking and trekking around Cheow Lan Lake

There are quite a few hiking trails around Cheow Lan Lake that you can do, like the Nam Talu Cave hike, the Coral Cave hike, and the hike to Kri Sorn Viewpoint.

TIP: Try to decide which hike you want to do beforehand as that may affect in which raft house you’ll stay.

NOTE: Some hikes around Cheow Lan Lake require buying an additional ticket, like the Coral Cave hike, which costs an additional 200 THB or 6 USD per person.

5.1. Hike to Coral Cave

The Coral Cave hike in Cheow Lan Lake is an easy, 40-minute hike suitable for all ages.

The Coral Cave hike takes you through a beautiful forest trail where you can learn more about the flora and fauna of this area. This is perfect if you didn’t choose to do a night safari in Khao Sok Village, as you can see and learn more about animals here.

The hike leads you through a forest towards a lagoon tucked in between mountains. And then, you board a bamboo raft that takes you to the cave’s entrance.

The total duration of the hike to Coral Cave, the bamboo ride, and exploring the cave lasts between 1.5 and 2 hours.

5.2. Kri Sorn Viewpoint hike

Kri Sorn Viewpoint hike is a challenging 1 and a half hour climb up to a mountain that offers a stunning view of Cheow Lan Lake.

We didn’t manage to go to the Kri Sorn Viewpoint this time, as you can only do one activity if you stay for 1 night. But we would definitely return for it!

5.3. Hike to Nam Talu Cave

The hike to Nam Talu Cave is another challenging hike perfect for adventurous souls. It leads you inside the cave, where you’ll have to wade and swim in the water.

The hike to Nam Talu Cave should take around 3 hours in total.

NOTE: The Nam Talu Cave hike is usually available only in the dry season. And it’s not suitable for non-swimmers or children under 12 years old.

5.4. Hike to Bang Hoi Waterfall

The 2 to 3 hours hike to Bang Hoi waterfall is easy and suitable for all ages.

NOTE: The hike to Bang Hoi waterfall is recommended in the rainy season when there’s more water flowing down the cascades.

How to choose your floating bungalow on Cheow Lan Lake

Choosing the best floating bungalow on Cheow Lan Lake is hard because it depends on what you want to do on your visit.

For example, if you want to go on a hike, you need to be closer to that trail’s starting point.

You can stay in a government-operated floating bungalow or one of the few private ones.

To choose the best government-run one, you need to speak to your travel agency or accommodation in Khao Sok if you’re booking through them.

On the other hand, if you want a more comfortable stay, there are some luxurious floating bungalows on the lake, the most famous being the 500 Rai Floating Resort and Panvaree Resort.

IMPORTANT: If you want to explore some other parts of Khao Sok during your stay in a floating bungalow on Cheow Lan Lake, it can cost quite a bit of money and add a lot of travel time.

This is because you would first need to get a boat ride back to the lake’s marina and then another ride of about 1 hour to Khao Sok Village, where most other spots worth visiting are.

Are there restaurants on Cheow Lan Lake?

On Cheow Lan Lake, all the floating bungalow accommodations have on-site restaurants, providing you with breakfast and lunch.

The food at our floating raft house was basic but pretty tasty, and we were quite happy with it.

They also have options for vegetarians and vegans or other dietary requests. But just make sure to let them know in advance.

How long to stay on Cheow Lan Lake?

Most travelers to Cheow Lan Lake stay for one night in the floating bungalows as part of an organized overnight trip involving activities.

But we would highly recommend at least 2 nights in a floating bungalow on Cheow Lan Lake to have enough free time to swim and kayak around.

That way, you can do everything from the regular tour itinerary, like hiking to a cave and a morning or night safari, but with more free time.

The nature at Cheow Lan Lake is just phenomenal. And on our return, we wish to stay for at least a few nights on the lake. And do some other activities we haven’t on our last visit (hike to a viewpoint!).

Travel tips

If you arrange an overnight tour through your stay in Khao Sok village, you might be able to store your big bags with your accommodation. And then you can only take a day bag to your overnight stay on Cheow Lan Lake. That’s what we did, and it was a lifesaver!

And when we came, we couldn’t choose our rooms (unless we paid for an upgrade beforehand). Instead, we got them assigned by ‘lottery’ – picking a paper with the number of the raft house on it.

Make sure to take some money with you. On the way to the lake, there’s a stop at the store if you wish to buy anything for your lake stay. Our raft house also had a small shop with some essentials like candy, chips, soft drinks, and even toothbrushes.

Keep in mind that overnight tours to Cheow Lan Lake usually have a pretty packed schedule.

You’ll likely have little time to peacefully enjoy the scenery at your raft house. Of course, you can always skip some activities like we did if you wish. Or try to arrange a 2-night stay on the lake if you can. 🙂

If you’re finishing off your visit to Khao Sok with the overnight trip to Cheow Lan Lake, you can continue your journey from the Ratchaprapha Marina (if you have all your bags with you).

You can book your private transport right there for about 1600 THB to Surat Thani Airport, 2800 THB to Khao Lak, 3000 THB to Krabi, or 3500 THB to Phuket.

But we highly recommend booking your transport in advance online.

Packing list

While there are different seasons in Khao Sok National Park, the packing list is about the same for all seasons.

1. Prepare for water activities

You will likely partake in at least one water activity. So we recommend bringing your swimming suit and a towel for drying off later.

Also, it’s always smart to bring clothes that you are okay with getting wet or that dry quickly.

As we were around water a lot, especially on the lake, we had our waterproof bag to put all our valuables like our camera gear, drone, and money.

Our overnight trip to Cheow Lan Lake was organized through our accommodation at Khao Sok Village. So we left all the baggage we didn’t need with them. And we only took our waterproof bag and one smaller daypack.

2. Protect your skin

2.1. Sunscreen

For your trip to Cheow Lan Lake, we highly recommend sunscreen as you will be in the sun for quite a bit.

It’s very likely that on the boat ride, you will be sitting somewhere where there will be sun directly on you. And since the boat ride can be up to 40 minutes long, you can quickly get sunburned.

As always, we highly recommend taking a reef-safe sunscreen. And yes, even though there are no reefs or corals here, it’s a lake that we should preserve. And reef-safe sunscreens are the best choice.

2.2. Mosquito repellent

Cheow Lan Lake is located in the tropics, and you’ll be on the lake and around the jungle and rainforest. So make sure to bring mosquito repellent (natural if possible).

Although when we arrived at our floating bungalow on Cheow Lan Lake, they said there were no mosquitos on the floating rafts for some reason.

So we actually had no problems, but we might have just been lucky. In places like this in our home countries, there would be thousands of mosquitoes, and we would be eaten alive.

3. Take light, breathable clothing

We traveled to Khao Sok National Park with our favorite clothes from Unbound Merino, which were great because the material is warm but still thin and light to pack.

And the best thing is that all our clothing from them is breathable. And if we get wet, all pieces dry fast. Plus, the clothing doesn’t smell, even after wearing it many times. So we can reuse clothes a lot before washing them.

TIP: Use code SHIPPEDAWAY for a special 10% discount at Unbound Merino.

4. Bring your camera

Remember to bring an action camera like a GoPro to take some cool photos and videos and not worry about it getting wet. Or simply take a waterproof phone case.

Also, bring at least one power bank to charge your phone or camera batteries if there is no power on the lake. And take a universal plug adapter, as you might need it once the power is on.

5. Other useful things to take

Make sure to bring sunglasses, as when the sun is out, the glare from the lake is powerful. And you will be squinting your eyes so much that your head will start hurting (talking from experience).

Next, we also packed our trusted raincoats that fit a camera bag underneath. But we didn’t need to use them in the end.

And we took our reusable water bottles to refill them and did not rely on the small plastic bottles the whole time.

Finally, if you wish to do a lot of night wildlife watching, take a headlamp. However, you will be provided one by your tour guide on your night safari.

Frequently asked questions

Is Cheow Lan Lake safe to visit?

Visiting Cheow Lan Lake and staying in a floating bungalow is safe for all travelers.

The longtail boat ride is calm as this is a lake. So there are no real waves, and you’re not going fast, unlike in some destinations that you reach with a bumpy speedboat ride.

Also, while hiking, you are always joined by an experienced guide.

Is staying in a floating bungalow on Cheow Lan Lake worth it?

An overnight stay at Cheow Lan Lake is absolutely worth it because it’s a very unique experience staying in a floating bungalow on this vast lake surrounded by high limestone cliffs.

The scenery is stunning, and while it does cost a bit of money, it’s really worth it. And especially if you decide to give yourself more free time there by staying for two nights and not only one.

The floating bungalows on Cheow Lan Lake are exactly what’s advertised, a simple stay in beautiful surroundings, and we can highly recommend a trip there to everyone.

Final thoughts

Hopefully, our detailed review of the trip to Cheow Lan Lake and staying in the floating bungalows has given you enough information to plan a fun visit.

And if we missed something and you have any questions, leave a comment. We will try to answer to the best of our knowledge.