Phuket Elephant Nature Reserve Ethical Sanctuary
Recommended by 100% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Phuket, Thailand
- 3 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
Explore our promoted experiences
Overview
Meet and interact with elephants in an ethical way at the Phuket Elephant Nature Reserve, an award-winning elephant sanctuary. Here, elephants roam freely, and their wellbeing comes above entertainment. While no bathing, touching, or hand feeding is permitted, you still see gentle giants up close, enjoying their natural habitat. This wholesome half-day experience includes the chance to prepare elephant food—and your own lunch during a Thai cooking class.
- Observe and photograph elephants in the jungle and at watering holes
- Prepare vitamin balls for the elephants with the mahouts (elephant handlers)
- Learn how elephant dung is recycled at the sanctuary
- Support the important work of an ethical elephant sanctuary
What's Included
- LunchThai Cooking clase demo (Half Day Program Only)
- Meet & feed our elephants with a hands-off approach
- Elephant jungle nature observation
- Elephant dung recycling center ( Half day program only)
- Making vitamin balls ( Half day program only)
- Water
- Experience tour guide
- Insurance
- Comfortable shoes
- Hat & sunglasses
- Your own water bottle for our water refill station
- Transport
Meeting and Pickup
Departure Point
- Phuket Elephant Nature Reserve, 100/12 Moo 7, Srisoonthon Rd, Phuket 83110 Thailand
What To Expect
1
Phuket Elephant Nature Reserve
Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Infant seats available
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Most travelers can participate
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
5.0
based on 72 reviews
Elizabeth_V, Mar 2026
Such a great experience! Our guide was very kind and knowledgeable and you can tell they really love their elephants!
LanJericha_F, Mar 2026
This experience was very enjoyable. Our guide was very knowledgeable and personable. We were able to experience the elephants as they roamed the property freely. It was clear they were happy and well cared for. You should definitely book!
Wendy_S, Mar 2026
Make sure you’ve got sun cream water and comfortable shoes - water can be bought and lunch is provided - beautiful sanctuary where the elephants roam free and are well cared for - prepared food for them and even fed the elephants - highly recommend this trip
RaduDaniel_V, Mar 2026
Great and ethical way of experience the greatness of the elephants. Extremely welcoming people. It is really a hands off experience, but you are never too far from the beautiful "ladies".
Rekha_C, Mar 2026
Amazing experience at this rescue and rehabilitation center. Up close and personal with the 6 elephants they have on premise. I thought we would be observing from afar, but they are free roaming. You are just a few feet away while they are being fed. Preparing food for them and then getting to watch them eat it was a true pleasure. And you feel like the care given is quite good. These animals each have their own personality and some are relatively newly to the reserve.
Robbin_S, Mar 2026
The 90 minute tour is great you get to learn about the elephants and feed them.
The tour guide takes your picture with.
The elephants are treated ethically...no rides, etc
Doug_H, Mar 2026
Such a great experience! The elephants are the star of the show but all are treated really well. This is a hands off experience but you will get to see the elephants up close and personal.
Natasha_B, Feb 2026
Very knowledgeable guide & a very ethical elephant sanctuary. No feeding, touching, riding or bathing with the elephants. Highly recommend!
Arjun_L, Feb 2026
This is the only type of elephant experience you should go to. Completely ethical and all elephants there are fully rescues. And this is a great experience for seeing the elephants where they live and how they are cared for. 90 minute experience was all we needed.
Liam_r, Feb 2026
so so so good great chilled vibe and the elephant have 10 star 🌟 care all around
my family loved the talks
Terronisha_S, Feb 2026
Porshe made our experience exceptional! It was so cool to learn all about the elephants. You can tell this place is a safe haven for them! Highly recommend!
Lyn_O, Feb 2026
This sanctuary is well worth a visit. you won’t be disappointed. We fed the elephants, with food we made ourselves, learned a lot about them and had an amazing experience walking with them. They are well looked after and you can see that the staff care for the elephants a lot. It was a hands off experience and the elephants always come first. We then had a Thai cookery lesson and enjoyed the food that we had been taught how to cook.
Nancy_H, Feb 2026
Fantastic experience. Learned a lot about ethical care of elephants. Loved our guide and the lunch was great!
Van_P, Feb 2026
Great experience for my family, especially for my brother! He and my dad thoroughly enjoyed being near the elephants and feeding them. Our tour started out with a short cooking lesson followed by a delicious lunch of Tom Yom soup, pad thai and fresh fruit before heading off to see the elephants. Probably the best part for me was to make the vitamin balls! It felt so meaningful to be involved in these beautiful creatures overall health! All in all, it was an informative heart warming experience! Would recommend to anyone and day!
Adam_H, Feb 2026
This sanctuary is amazing, if travelling to Phuket it is a must see. It is easy to see the care and love the team show for the elephants , and the elephants themselves are free to walk around the sanctuary as they like to.
Other tours let you bathe with the elephants however as we found out on the tour it is not natural for elephants to bathe every day and not so good for them.
Whilst you won't pat or touch the elephants, they are very inquisitive and you will be up close to them. Dang our guide was great, very knowledgeable.
ขอบคุณที่แบ่งปันกับเรา Dang.
Alexis_F, Feb 2026
It was a nice experience! All the staff were kind and knowledgeable. I booked the 1.5 hour slot and it was perfect.
Alexandrea_B, Feb 2026
Such an amazing experience. Did some research prior to choosing this place and glad I did because it truly is an ethical elephant sanctuary. They were so informative and you can tell they truly care about these animals. 10/10 recommend.
Martin_G, Feb 2026
Wonderful day at the elephant sanctuary today. Tom the guide was excellent, knew all there was to know about the elephants and their care.
This is an ethical sanctuary so no bathing and forced interaction by the elephants. We did the half day tour which included La lovely Thai cooked lunch, can highly recommended this tour.
Kenneth_N, Feb 2026
Awesome guides, good experience and totally worth it!
90 min is perfect, it gets very hot and humid.
The elephants are so beautiful and you can see that they have a good life here🙏🏻
Simira_L, Jan 2026
This experience was unmatched. Truly an animal sanctuary. They really do take great care of the elephants. 10/10 recommend!
Erica_S, Jan 2026
The best way to see elephants in Phuket. Based on ethical practices and educated about why bathing wiith and riding elephants is so cruel.
Scott_H, Dec 2025
We opted for the half day experience and it was definitely worth the extra money.Our tour started a 13-00 so the first hour was a thai cooking class followed by lunch which was what we had learned to cook.The meal was very nice and there was lots of it.Next we headed off the see the elephants (6 in total,all female).
The reason we chose this trip was we knew it was hands off and you could see the elephants in their own environment.We made up some food baskets consisting of lots of fruit and veg then took them over for the elephants.The trip was very informative and amazing seeing these beautiful elephants in a happy environment considering they were all rescued from a previous bad life.I highly recommend this tour it was an amazing experience.
Silvia_H, Dec 2025
You will see a limited number of elephants that had been rescued and are being loved at this place. The amount you paid is to help with all the expenses to take good care of the elephants
Monika_B, Dec 2025
The experience was amazing- the place very accommodating. I made a mistake with the booking and they changed it without any issues.
When the place say they are ethical- they mean it. No touching or bathing the animals but were able to prepare fruit and veg and have photos up close. The guide was very informative and enthusiastic, animals well cared for.
Muhammad_A, Dec 2025
The whole experience was amazing. The team was very welcoming and accommodating, they even graciously accepted to delay our ticket to the next group when our driver suddenly canceled on us. Tom the tour guide is amazing and 90 minutes was the perfect tour.
Tatiana_V, Dec 2025
Can’t recommend this enough! A lovely small sanctuary that truly cares for their elephants. I enjoyed learning about the complex history of elephants in Thailand and making them snacks!
STEFANY_V, Oct 2025
Steve was great at explaining about the elephants and about how this sanctuary believes in the ethical treatment of these gigantic sweet animal
Robin_T, Aug 2025
Great experience and learned a lot about why it’s important to interact with elephants in a more humane way. They were also very accommodating when we were 30 mins late to the experience. Highly recommend!
Hannah_B, Aug 2025
My friends and I absolutely LOVED this experience!! Would 10/10 recommend to anyone. We loved learning about the elephants in a safe and ethical way - because it happened to be raining the elephants came out to play more!
Samantha_A, Aug 2025
Was such a beautiful sanctuary. Got to get close to elephants in an ethical way. We did a half a day tour and it was amazing. Dong was our your guide and he did an amazing job. If your looking to go see elephants and get close in an ethical way, I highly recommend this place!
From $37.75
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
Compare Similar Experiences
Current
Phuket Elephant Nature Reserve Ethical Sanctuary
72
3 hours 30 minutes
Free Cancellation
From
$37.75
Customers Who Bought This Tour Also Bought
Attractions in Phuket, Thailand
- Koh Yao Noi (Ko Yao Noi) Tours & Tickets
- Nai Harn Beach (Naiharn Beach) Tours & Tickets
- Bangla Road (Patong) Tours & Tickets
- Phang Nga Bay (Ao Phang Nga) Tours & Tickets
- Maya Bay (Maya Beach) Tours & Tickets
- Promthep Cape (Laem Phromthep) Tours & Tickets
- Temple of the Protruding Buddha (Wat Phra Thong) Tours & Tickets
- Racha Island (Raya Island) Tours & Tickets
- Koh Yao Yai (Ko Yao Yai) Tours & Tickets
- Phi Phi Islands (Koh Phi Phi) Tours & Tickets
- Big Buddha Phuket Tours & Tickets
- Wat Chalong Tours & Tickets
- Aquaria Phuket Tours & Tickets
- Splash Jungle Water Park Tours & Tickets
- Chalong Bay Rum Distillery Tours & Tickets
More attractions near Phuket, Thailand