Top Pick - Full or Half Day @Elephant in Wild Sanctuary ChiangMai
Recommended by 94% of travelers
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Chiang Mai, Thailand
- 7 to 8 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Have a three-adventure day when you join this group tour from Chiang Mai. You’ll get to spend time at the elephant sanctuary, go for a jungle trek, and raft on the rapids and smooth waters through the rainforest. You’ll keep costs down by booking this group tour, but still have plenty of attention from your guides, and plenty of opportunities for fun.
- Round-trip hotel transfers included for ease
- Enjoy Thai lunch along the way
- Observe elephants in their natural surroundings
- Raft, Trek, Explore and more in this one-day tour
What's Included
- Lunch
- Bottled water
- All Fees and Taxes
- Insurance
- Photography
Meeting and Pickup
You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup
Itinerary
1
Mae Taeng
6 hours • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Infants must sit on laps
- Not recommended for travelers with back problems
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 24 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
Brilliant day out four hour family of four. Kicked off with the jungle track to a waterfall, followed by lunch, feeding and bathing the elephants, and then finished off with the white water rafting. AK our guide was excellent. Would thoroughly recommend to all.
Reviews
4.7
based on 243 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Very fun experience. Elephants were really very well behaved and everyone had a lot of laughs. So good to see these magnificent animals well taken care of.
Loved our tour wide gave us very good information. The hike was breathtaking I love to be active so was great to see a waterfall. The elephant was just something I never thought I would experience
Feeding , playing and bathing the elephants is an experience we will never forget.
We started by changing clothes then rode a small truck on a rugged road then we reached the sanctuary . We re information on elephant highlights. Then we cut some watermelon to feed them mixed some vitamin food and we started feeding and interacting with them. The hugs the blow kisses the dancing was awesome. Then we hiked up the mountain them down towards the river and started bathing them . They blow ofd some water from their trunk yo get is wet
Absolutely wonderful! The guide was knowledgeable and clear. Interacting with the elephants was amazing. Best day here so far!
While the experience with the activity was excellent the pick up drop and subsequent support by Viator was very poor. When I booked Viator agreed to pick us up from our hotel Vernada resort. Previous evening the your operator messaged saying that they cannot pick up from hotel instead they asked us to come to Central Chiangmai airport ( it is a mall) . We didn’t have a choice because of last minute. The operator dropped us back same place. We incurred TBH 1300 for our pick up and drop. I escalated to Viator customer service and they didn’t have the courtesy to respond. So much for such a big company !!!
Elephants and rafting was an excellent full day trip. Our guide Tata picked us up at our hotel promptly. Our van had 9 people, a small manageable size. First we hiked to waterfall. It is about 5km round-trip. I'd say it is a moderate hike. Uphill in places, steep, rocky lots of roots and mud, narrow with drop offs. Toward the end there is some moderate boulder scrambling within the cold river bed. If you like hiking, it is very good. Not too crowded. Tata went the extra effort to help my wife in some precarious areas and river crossings. At the end you are rewarded with a nice waterfall in the jungle. I thought it was too cold to swim, but others swam anyway.
Next we had the included lunch. It was authentic Thai food and pretty good. Tata gave us (to borrow) tee shirt and shorts to change into for the elephant encounter and rafting. It is very muddy and wet. Good to change clothes.
The Elephants are retired and rescued animals now living free range on a jungle farm. We fed them, they slobber on you. And took lots of pictures. Then we followed them down to the river on a short walk to bathe them and play in the water. You splash them, they squirt you. Everyone gets very wet.
After the elephant bath and massage, we did our third activity. Class 2 river rafting (small rapids). It was beginner stuff, but still fun with some drops and swirls.
Finally, we changed clothes back at the restaurant, and the van drove us back into Chiang Mai and to our hotel. All together, door to door, it was about a 10 hour trip. Very worthwhile, fun day. No problems or screw ups, well managed. Reasonable price for the program of three activities. It would be difficult to do it all independently without the guided tour. Highly recommended.
Despite the heavy rain/mud, we had a great experience. The transportation took a bit long (~2 hours each way), but it was more than worth it for being able to feed/play with elephants, seeing them in their natural habitat, rafting, and climbing the sticky falls. Our guide was patient, engaging, and ensured that everyone had a good time. It was a bit disorganized (groups were splitting off to do different activities), but our guide made sure everyone was accounted for at all times.
This activity was absolutely NOT suitable for older folks / people who need accessibility accommodations. Our group was predominantly young and active, and even we were skeptical about the amount of trekking through the knee-deep mud with lots of rocks and debris, then getting into the muddy river with the elephants. Then certain paths of the sticky falls were extremely steep; we were encouraged to walk up the falls, but there are stairs with handrails as well.
This activity was particularly enjoyable because it was very apparent that the elephants are treated ethically. Many were rescued from cruelty, and they got to freely roam about the sanctuary / had a great relationship with their handlers. I would highly recommend this activity if you're active and open to adventure.
The hike is not easy but well worth it, make sure you are happy for your shoes to get wet because they will. The elephants were good fun, who would know how hard the are to bath and mud pack and the rafting was also great fun.
Tony was an excellent guide funny and very helpful
A magical experience in Chiang Mai 🐘🌿 We fed and bathed elephants in their natural sanctuary... unforgettable family time with my wife, daughter and mom! ❤️🌍
Also great service from our guide Mint, the driver, all the staff and elephant keepsr.
Brilliant day out four hour family of four. Kicked off with the jungle track to a waterfall, followed by lunch, feeding and bathing the elephants, and then finished off with the white water rafting. AK our guide was excellent. Would thoroughly recommend to all.
Amazing tour! The hike was very fun, the guide was great showing us local plants and fruits. Swimming in the falls was so cool! The elephants were so friendly and treated very well, free to come and go as they want. The rafting was crazy and certainly a highlight! Would do this all again!
The guide was great, very funny, slightly crazy!
This was a great experience for me and my adult children. We enjoyed participating in feeding the elephants, making medicine and walking with them through the jungle to the river. The guide was very helpful and knowledgeable.
Challenging waterfall hike which was not well supported by the guide - not for beginners! It was a rough path requiring difficult crossings and climbing up and down rocks. Elephant experience was good and water rafting was a fun way to end the day
This was a fabulous day! Unbelievable from start to finish the trek to the waterfall was like stepping into another world with an amazing guide talking us through the jungle. Then the elephants were so majestic, they were very well looked after and happy to be around us was brilliant to be there. Finally the rafting down the river was so brilliant the peaceful floating along to the rapid drops was brilliant. Thank you for an amazing day!
Elephants never forget & neither will we! We will always remember the wonderful full-day tour with Elephants in the Wild. Tour included a trek through the jungle to the waterfall, white water rafting & spending time in the company of elephants - can't get any better than that!!☺️ ☺️ 🐘 🐘 🐘 🐘 🐘 Thank you 🙏
The tour guide was fine, but the overall experience did not live up to the expectations for the following reasons:
1) No water/coffee/tea provided throughout the day, even though it is said to be part of the package. Only water bottle we got (1 per person) was during the lunch. Being out from 8 am to 6 pm this was the only water we got. Never got coffee or tea, though it was part of the package.
2) Lunch only had ONE option- vegetarian pad Thai with egg. There was nothing else.
3) This is the worst part. We booked a tour to ONLY do the sticky waterfall and the elephant sanctuary. We were under the understanding that after completing these activities, we would head back to the hotel. Instead, we were told that we would only head back AFTER the rest of the group would complete their rafting activity. This meant we would be waiting around for 1 additional hour unnecessarily. Quite misleading.
We have been on many tours and when offered multiple options, we head back after the activities are done. Seems like this tour operator is trying to bundle multiple groups, with different itineraries, on the same transportation. This leads to a lot of wasted time.
In the morning we were picked up at 8:00 am, earlier than the 8:30 am time on the booking. This was manageable, we thought, but when we picked up the rest of the tour members, we left the city, Enroute to the tour, only at 9:15 am. So 45 minutes of pickups.
Reached back at 6:20 PM, as the van had additional guests( more than who we left with) join us on the return.
Again, the tour guide was good, and knowledgeable. My complaint is towards the management of the tour. This fell short in the areas mentioned above: transportation, meals, beverages.
It was amazing from beginning to finish. Well exceeded our expectations! Truly an experience I will never forget. If you do nothing else while visiting Chiang Mia you should book this excursion!!
We had a great time in this full day adventure! We started off with a hike through the jungle with lots of bamboo bridges to cross and rocks to balance on (we recommend picking up a bamboo walking stick at the beginning—free—, even with hiking experience!) Time with the elephants was lots of fun. You really get to spend ample time with them and get to know their personalities. Clothes are provided, just in case if you get muddy or wet. The rafting was a refreshing way to end the day and our skipper really took care of us. Plus our driver and guide were great and the tour group was a nice size (8). Definitely recommend!
Be ready for a day with a variety of experiences from the eyes bright trekking to the waterfall, the soulful connection with the elephants to ending on a thrilling raft ride.
Great day out - feeding and bathing with the elephants the highlight. Walk to the waterfall through lovely jungle track. Rafting mainly gentle, however some small rapids.
We did get to feed elephants and they were brought down to the river and mud bath, but I wouldn’t consider it to be “elephants in the wild” as the picture suggests. Additionally, if you are an experienced rafter, this isn’t for you. If it’s your first time rafting, it’s perfect!
The guide and driver however were both excellent!
We did the half day elephant experience and loved it.
The drive is about 90 mins in a minibus, and when we arrived we changed into the company provided clothes. We then prepared some food for the elephants, fed them, and walked them down to the river where we bathed them. We were with 4 elephants who were all lovely and the tour operators were all great. After the elephants we had some pad Thai which was nice, then headed back in the van. Overall a really great hands on experience with the elephants who all looked really well loved and looked after.
Challenging hike with several makeshift bridges. Good time with the elephants. Easy white water rafting experience. Perfect experience.
Incredible experience! Just as described. I’m only giving 4 stars because our guide was unnecessarily crude and vulgar, which I found to be unprofessional, but others might find this to be charming
This is a great tour combining elephants, rafting, and trekking.
I particularly enjoyed the elephant experience; also, our guide Tony was fantastic.
The trekking is fun and not particularly difficult if you’re in decent shape. Whole trek is about three miles with 450 feet of vertical ascent. However, there is some balancing on rocks in streams and bamboo bridges, so I would highly recommend bringing sturdy footwear.
I’ve never rafted before; there is a short tutorial and then you do about 45 minutes on the river. It’s not very scary or bumpy, so for more serious rafting enthusiasts this is likely very tame.
Overall we got what we paid for however it wasn’t anything special.
Trek - we did a small 1 hour trek to visit a waterfall which was nice and refreshing to cool off in but not like a waterfall we hadn’t seen before.
Elephant sanctuary - it is always beautiful to see these majestic creatures and at this place they look like they are looked after. However, we felt this type of sanctuary was more of a mutual agreement situation whereby the elephants are looked after so they can bring in money for the people that house them. There is no riding which is good, but they aren’t free to do as they wish. Next time I’d prefer to go to a sanctuary for elephants rather than a sanctuary with elephants. One of the handlers had a knife and catapult on his belt too which was concerning. Hopefully the elephants are free to go back into the jungle and spend the rest of their afternoons as the guide said they do. The elephants were beautiful and friendly and one was very playful too diving around in the water and mud puddles which made me smile. I just felt a little unsettled that it might not be as ethical as it’s made out to be. Hopefully my feelings here were wrong.
Rafting - it was okay. Could have gone without doing this. It was a quick 15-20 minute float down the river with a couple of rapid spots.
In summary, the guides were nice and friendly and we did get what we paid for however, it was nothing special and I probably wouldn’t recommend to others.
We had a fantastic time! Our guide, Sam, was wonderful. Knowledgeable and engaging. Everything went very smoothly. I would highly recommend this tour.
Superb 3 in 1 experience with passionate and knowledgeable guides.
Things to be aware of:
Bottled water given at lunch. We trekked in the morning so we had to buy water. Bring water in case this happens and you don't need to wear swimwear. There are places to change when required.
Bring swim shoes/flip flops for bathing the elephants as this wasn't in the list of things to bring so we had to go barefoot (bathing and mud bath not suitable for shoes)
The trek is through the forest, so some shaky bridges and clambering over uneven rocks at times. Therefore bring sturdy shoes as we had some people struggle in crocs/flop flops.
Definitely do the white water rafting if you can (full day only) as this was our first time and an amazing experience.
Big was a fantastic tour guide. Funny, kind, and explained things very well. He made the experience!
It was honestly such an incredible experience. Ping Pong was the most amazing guide for the day. He was so funny and knowledgeable. Loved the whole day, from the lovely hike to the elephants to the rafting.
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