A Guide to Visiting Khao Sok National Park
So you’ve seen the pics of gorgeous rocks jutting out of bright blue water, capped with greenery that sways as colorful long tail boats cruise by. It looks like a different planet, a better planet.
You’ve seen the travel influencers post aerial views from their floating water bungalows and thought…how can I get me a night in one of those?
The good news is, you don’t have to be an influencer to cop a night on the waters of Khao Sok National park. In fact, you don’t even have to be rich. It is, however, a bit of a journey to get there. But don’t worry, I’ll teach you how.
Location
So where is it? Khao Sok National Park is in the south of Thailand, down by where people go island hopping. It’s a bit of a trek out of the way so I could see how people may just skip it (but I really don’t think they should)
How to get there
Now of course it depends where you’re coming from, but I always use Rome2Rio when I’m trying to figure out how to get from Point A to Point B. You type in where you are and where you’d like to get and it lists all the ways to get there, how much each option will cost, and links you to purchase tickets for your selected mode of transportation.
I was coming from Ao Nang, so I took a bus ~4 hours from Ao Nang to the town of Khao Sok. I booked a hostel for one night in the town and it dropped me off there.
Where to stay
For the backpacker
Once you get there, you can book an excursion through the hostel that will take you to Khao Sok National Park where you will stay in the floating water bungalow for the night. The nice thing about doing it this way is that I was able to leave all my stuff in a locker at the hostel and just take a small backpack with me for the night. Additionally, then they take care of the schedule, activities, the boat to the bungalow, the meals, etc. It made it a pretty easy way to do it all with very little planning on my part.
Transportation from the town to the water
- They’ll pick you up early in the morning from your hostel/hotel, so make sure you’re all set the night before.
- It’s kind of a long ride, go to the bathroom before you get on the bus and again before you get on the boat.
Activities
- So we trekked through a cave… definitely read your itinerary closely. I just knew I wanted to go to Khao Sok National Park and since this was the only excursion left available I thought, sure, why not. Now, people opted out of it for sure, but it was all a part of the experience and I didn’t want to not do it. I learned on the way there per two girls who actually did their research that people have died in that cave before due to a flash flood….I plugged my ears and said “la la la”….ignorance is bliss.
- Went to the park! It looks like a Dr. Suess movie up there. So vibrant and whimsical.
- Swam in the lake
- Slept with a stranger! With mine they just started asking people to raise a hand and put them in random bungalows. I’m sure not every tour company does this, but don’t be surprised if you have no idea what’s going on. It’ll all work out don’t worry. Luckily I made friends with a sweet Italian girl about my age on the boat ride over. We were still strangers but I trusted her and felt comfortable enough. There was only one bed but truthfully I’ve had much worse beds in my backpacking life.
Why I loved it
Oddly enough, it reminded me a bit of home. But that’s purely for the reason that I was swimming in a lake rather than an ocean. And as much as I do love the ocean, I must admit swimming in a lake does feel better. Less sticky, more soft. Less salty, more refreshing. Less fighting for your life, more floating over a still, calm surface. This was a really nice change of pace from the rest of Thailand. In the north you get more city, sightseeing, monuments. On the islands you get more beach and partying, but here, this is where you disconnect from the chaos.
Things I’m glad I had
- Headlamp (Amazon)
- Packable lightweight jacket or sweatshirt (Amazon)
- Waterproof Bag (Amazon)
- Chacos– really great for the cave trek because they had grip and could get wet (Amazon)
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A few notes…
- You won’t have cell service…but you probably won’t need it. It was really nice to disconnect
- There’s a park entrance fee, you’ll need cash
- Don’t expect luxury, baby!
- One night was enough for me
- Read your itinerary closely!!
- This one is really a joke at this point because I was given access to information and I simply ignored it
To hear more about my time here you can listen to What did I get myself into? Travel stories with Lola
