Half Day Visit Elephant Sanctuary in Samui
Recommended by 97% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Koh Samui, Thailand
- 3 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Get up, close and personal to majestic elephants in their natural habitat. Learn about the cheeky animals and observe their behaviour while you prepare and feed them their morning or afternoon meals. Perfect for socially conscious travellers, visiting the elephant sanctuary helps preserve the good work done to care for the elephants.
- Countless occasions for memorable photo opportunities
- Opportunity to swim with the elephants during your day, so don’t forget a change of clothes
- Depending on the time you book, lunch or dinner is included
- Pick up and drop off to your hotel in Samui
What's Included
- Join round trip transfer for hotels as mentioned area in Samui
- Professional English speaking guide
- Snacks, tea and coffee
- Lunch or Dinner
- Food for the elephants
- Insurance and Karen shirt
- Personal expenses
- Gratuities
- Extra charge roundtrip transfer from Villas, Airbnb, Private House, Airport and Pier case by case
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Pickup details
We pick up from all hotels in Bo Phut/ Maenam/ Nathon/ Plai Laem /Chong Mon/ Lamai/ Lipa Noi /Chaweng /Taling Ngam/ Nathian area of Samui Island (Except, Villas, Airbnb, Private House, Airport and Pier in Koh Samui with extra charge as private roundtrip transfer and pay on spot case by case, price to be dvised. Otherwise, you can wait at the meeting point each which is set by local supplier).
What To Expect
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Infants must sit on laps
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 35 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
Conor_A
Great time for my wife’s 30th birthday morning, we did the half day and it was a special experience for us both.
Lots of photos and the guide was great.
Food was good too
Remember to bring swimming kit to wash the elephants it’s brilliant
Reviews
4.8
based on 32 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Aju_K, Jul 2026
The elephant sanctuary was a beautiful experience. The elephants in this sanctuary are well looked after, the guide was very knowledgeable and funny, the activities were interactive and interesting. Best part was being able to bathe the elephants! We truly enjoyed everything about this experience and highly recommend this sanctuary to anyone planning to visit elephants who are genuinely cared for and well looked after.
Ashlea_W, Jul 2025
Unethical elephant sanctuary. Not a true and ethical rescue centre. They are physically rough with the elephants and have tourists bathe them which is unethical and scares them.
Dorina_M, Apr 2025
It was wonderful to see the elephants so well cared for in their natural environment and it was a nice experience to be able to get close to them and feed them and wash them. Although you need to be brave to be standing in those waters where the elephants do their business.
carol_w, Mar 2025
Excellent organisation from the Cruise Ship jetty, we were taken by mini bus on a 30 minute ride to the Elephant sanctuary.
The Sanctuary staff were really lovey and a great commentary and presentation was made in excellent English to explain the operation.
The elephants themselves are a joy to Pat, photograph and feed with adequate fruit provided by the Staff, they are obviously happy and very well looked after.
Great fun afterwards in their bathing pool, scrubbing and washing them down.
( Ensure you take additional clothes to change back into.)
A really good lunch was provided with a great range of local food dishes.
Friendly Driver in a nice cool vehicle took us back to the Port after a really, super experience.
Sherah_G, Jan 2025
We wanted to visit a true sanctuary for elephants & what a great experience. The host, feed, bathing and providing mud baths to the elephants was awesome. My son's got a kick out of helping prepare lunch- unexpected. My son's 21yr & 14 had a blast. Black Americans in Thailand, best trip!
Conor_A, May 2024
Great time for my wife’s 30th birthday morning, we did the half day and it was a special experience for us both.
Lots of photos and the guide was great.
Food was good too
Remember to bring swimming kit to wash the elephants it’s brilliant
Michelle_K, Apr 2024
We had arranged a private transfer due to our son having autism, however we were herded into a minibus with 2 other families, luckily he coped really well, but after paying, what I deemed extra for this, I wasn’t really happy. The staff were really accommodating of our family. There was a lot of talking by the staff which could have focused more on the preservation of elephants I felt. Wasn’t sure about how ethical it was as they didn’t really focus on that. We were told 1 elephant was saved from a circus. Wanted more of that info. I ate food and have been sick since. Great opportunities for photos with elephants.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
Hi Michelle, Thank you for your review and so sorry to here this. Due to this tour is join tour and join transfer included in the price and we have never know before about your son as there is no any remark in the booking, if we have the infomation then we can inform our team on spot. However, great to know you happy for photos with elephants and we hope to serve you again in the next time.
Lois_J, Feb 2024
Awesome experiences while saving the elephants and supporting this wonderful sanctuary
The staff are fabulous and the tour was perfectly arranged and implemented
Kudos to the people who. Hose to support this sanctuary while enjoying a memorable experience. .
Response from Host, Apr 2024
Hi Lois, thank you very much for your review. It's make a day for our team and hope to serve you again for your next trip.
Donald_T, Feb 2024
Go once and Leave a small party of your heart here!!
Amazing FULL half day including lunch (I did AM tour)
BRING a bathing suit cause you have chance to MUD BATH then WATER BATH the rescues!!!!
Priceless
Response from Host, Feb 2024
Hi Donald, thank you very much for your review and hope to serve you again.
Debbiehall24, Oct 2023
Must do trip. Amazing experience feeding and bathing the elephants. John was an excellent guide. Well worth the price.
Paul_C, Jul 2023
Very enjoyable morning with the elephants and the people who look after them would
definitely recommend and would definitely go again if I was in the area.
Response from Host, Jul 2023
Thank you for your feedback. We’re so happy to hear you had a great experience, your review made our day! Thanks again, and we hope to serve you again soon.
Sarniacherie, Jun 2023
These elephants were beautiful and well cared for.
I loved seeing them roaming around.
The whole trip was 10/10.
Staff, food and of course the Elephants
Response from Host, Jun 2023
Thank you for your good review and we are very happy to hear that you enjoy the whole trip with the Elephant. We hope to serve you again soon!
Jade_D, Jun 2023
I had the most amazing day! It was lovely to learn, feed and wash those beautiful animals. And to see how well loves and cared for they are! Best day so far!!
Response from Host, Jun 2023
Thank you for sharing how you get this good experience. We appreciate it.
We’re grateful that we had the opportunity to serve you.
Mandy_A, May 2023
Great morning with the elephants. The staff really seem to love the elephants and they look well cared for. We had a blast feeding them and interacting. Bathing the elephants was dirty and fun, take cloths to change! Angie and her team were the best!!! Having Max take photos for everyone was awesome!!!
Response from Host, May 2023
Thanks so much for sharing your feedback about our service. We’re glad to hear that our team’s performance exceeded. Your fantastic feedback means to us here and hope to serve you again soon.
Joanne_S, May 2023
Wonderful experience, Very informative and interactive but in a kind, ethical way. Angie, our guide, is very knowledgeable. Staff very caring for both the elephants and guests. Lunch was delicious and plentiful.
Response from Host, May 2023
Thank you and your review make a good day for our team. Hope we will serve you again soon!
Daniel_N, May 2023
Interacting with and learning about the elephants was a blast. The guides were very knowledgeable, friendly, and funny. Angie was great!! We even learned a new recipe preparing the lunch at the end. This excursion is a MUST while in Samui.
Response from Host, May 2023
Hi Daniel, thank you very much and your review make a good day for our team and hope to serve you again.
Simon_K, Apr 2023
Very chilled day with the elephants :) totally worth the time and money.
Little recommendation for the Tourguides; try to split the groups a little smaller that it feels even more like a private tour ;)
Response from Host, Apr 2023
Hi Simon,
Thank you so much for sharing this with us. We appreciate it and will feedback this to fix it.
We’re grateful that we had the opportunity to serve you.
Trudy_R, Apr 2023
It was a great experience . Swimming , feeding the elephants . Very friendly . Nice food . Good organized
Response from Host, Apr 2023
Hi Trudy, We’re so happy to hear you had a great experience with the elephant and we hope to serve you again soon.
Sincerely,
Panorama Destination Thailand
Anthony, Apr 2023
This was without doubt my favourite experience of my time in Koh Samui.
Elephants are amazing animals and they're very well looked after here.
I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did but I did
You get a fantastic guide who was very welcoming and funny and several helpers along the way who have a lovely way about them to include everyone and make it fun.
Upon arrival you get free tea and coffee, when everyone has arrived you get your vest (these make you so hot so wear something light for the trip) and then you get straight into mashing up some food to make into 4 balls to feed the elephants their nutrients.. once made you walk over for photo opportunity number 1 (they have a photographer follow you all around all day) once the balls of gone you then get a bucket of watermelon to feed them for photo opp #2
After that it's free time to spend with the elephants for a bit and have photo opp #3
Then you change into swim wear and join them in the mud to spread mud all over them, this was a lot of fun and also photo opp #4.. then it's off to the water to bathe them, again a lot of fun and you really start to see the personality of the elephants coming out (photo opp #5)
You end the day with some of the group making some food for you and you then eat.
You get a free elephant jungle sanctuary bag and booklet and all photos are uploaded to Facebook or Dropbox for FREE.
Really is worth every penny and something I'll remember for a long time.
Thanks for an amazing experience
Response from Host, Apr 2023
Hi Anthony, thank you very much for your good review and we hope to serve you again soon.
Grace_V, Mar 2023
A great trip! You get a good amount of time with the elephants and the guides make sure that everyone gets adequate opportunities for pictures in their groups which they put on their Facebook for you to access free of charge. The day is relatively short and sweet but it was ample and enough for us as it’s too hot to be standing around. Lunch was good and guides were friendly and informative.
Response from Host, Mar 2023
Hi Grace, thank you very much for your review - very much appreciated! We hope to serve you soon.
Paul_M, Feb 2023
Lovely and very informative trip. You can see how loved and well cared for the animals are. Excellent and clear information about the elephant welfare. Great lunch supplied too. Great day out!!
Response from Host, Feb 2023
Thank you very much Paul and hope to hear from you again in the next trip with us.
Deb_N, Sep 2022
Elephants were really well cared for, a lovely experience to see these beautiful creatures given a new life after rehiring from the tourist trade
Response from Host, Sep 2022
Thank you very much! It is our pleasure to hear your valuable feedback. Looking forward to welcoming you to Thailand in the future :)
Matthew_S, Aug 2022
BRING A SWIMSUIT! We booked onto this tour in August and it did not specify to bring swimwear, a towel or a change of clothes - which is what you need! Half the trip is spent feeding the elephants, the other half is bathing with them. Luckily we bought some shorts from the gift shop but don’t make the same mistake as us, this advertisement is very misleading! This is an amazing experience, we loved every moment!
Response from Host, Aug 2022
We're truly thankful for your valued review. Your review would definitely help us to continue improving our product description. Thank you so much & happy to hear that you had a memorable experience :)
Kara_H, Jun 2022
We felt honored to be a part of the elephants' lives that morning. We live in a city in the United States, and avoid zoos simply because we support the humane treatment of animals. We appreciate the time, effort, and opportunity you provided us to learn more about your sanctuary and participate in the care of these precious elephants.
Response from Host, Jun 2022
Hi Kara, thank you for your precious review. We highly appreciate your support in sustainability and hope to serve you again in the future.
Alessandro_B, Aug 2023
Bellissima esperienza di reale contatto con gli elefanti; gli animali sono trattati benissimo e nel rispetto completo delle proprie esigenze fisiche e mentali.
La guida e il servizio tutto sono professionali e disponibili nonché puntuali
Response from Host, Aug 2023
We’re so grateful that you took the time to share your feedback with us. We're thrilled to hear you got the beautiful experience of real contact with elephants, the guide and service all are professional and helpful. Thanks again, and we hope to serve you again soon.
Sincerely,
Joy
Sandra_M, Feb 2023
Merci pour cette belle journée c'était vraiment toooop.
A faire je recommande 100 fois.
L'accueil était très chaleureux
Martin_H, Nov 2022
wunderschönes erlebnis, artgerechte haltung, angie ist ein super guide, unbedingt diese station besuchen und kein elefantenreiten, hier geht es den tieren gut, das merkt man ihnen an
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Half Day Visit Elephant Sanctuary in Samui
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