Chiang Mai Elephant Sanctuary and Rafting

19 Ratings

Mae Win

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Discover Chiang Mai’s Joy Elephant Sanctuary & Bamboo Rafting: Observe elephants, enjoy a waterfall, and relax on a serene bamboo raft ride.

Duration: 9 hours

Cancellation: 24 hours

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Highlights

Thung Luang - Experience our Elephant Sanctuary Observation, Waterfall & Bamboo Rafting adventure, spend a full day relishing rural Chiang Mai close to nature.
Change into traditional Karen clothing upon arrival at the sanctuary, as you soak in their fascinating culture & involvement with the elephants.
Engage in hands-on activities, preparing food…

What's Included

Free photography
Towel
Bottled water
Lunch
In-vehicle air conditioning
Elephant’s food and snack
Insurance
Tea and coffee

What's Not Included

Other personal expenses

Additional Information

Perfect for nature enthusiasts! Enjoy a tranquil day with the Joy Elephant Sanctuary & Bamboo Rafting Program: watch elephants in their natural habitat, gain exclusive insights, and relax to the sounds of the river while bamboo rafting on the serene Wang River.
Immerse yourself in our responsible tourism with Elephant Observation programs!
Interactive…

Location

Thung Luang

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

4.9

(19 Ratings)

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1 star

Erin_l

Jan 26, 2025

Elephants! Waterfalls! Bamboo Rafts! - Wow. We love elephants so much and this place was awesome!!! We got to feed them snacks, walk with them and just spend time watching them be amazing and beautiful animals! This place is truly ethical- NO touching/bathing/riding (except for very light touch on the tip of their trunks where the elephants accept their snacks!) We loved it! We also did the Bamboo rafting and laughed so much and had so much fun- we were informed ahead of time that the raft guides did not speak English, but our guide still entertained us and goofed around with us and made it so, so fun! Also loved watching the young kids learning to guide the rafts- and! We saw so many elephants from other sanctuaries along the river while we rafted- such a fun first day in Chiang Mai!

Review provided by Viator

Donna_h

Jan 26, 2025

Nice way to spend the day. - What a nice day! The ride there seemed longer than I expected and some commentary along the way would have been good, but there was none of that. We just arrived somewhere, were transferred into a jeep for a bumpy ten minute ride, and we were at the sanctuary. Feeding and walking with the elephants was amazing, the dip at the little waterfall was refreshing, and making our herb inhaler was a fun craft . The lunch wasn't very tasty to me but the thought was appreciated. After our time at the sanctuary we were driven somewhere else to go bamboo rafting which was serene. The van was waiting for us at the rafting end point for the ride back to town. Even without an understanding of where we were, it was a very enjoyable, full day with kind, helpful people every step of the way.

Review provided by Viator

Kelly_g

Jan 19, 2025

Wonderful day! ... - Wonderful day! Professional, organized, safe, educational and super fun. Highly recommend this tour. We fed the elephants, with their handlers took them for a walk, swam under the waterfall and ended the day with a relaxing bamboo rafting trip.

Review provided by Viator

Cosmopolitan697955

Jan 5, 2025

Beautiful day with the gentle giants - A beautiful facility that is really for the benefit of the animals and you can be silent observer of the animals. You can immediately feel from the staff and the guide that this facility is operated with love for the animals. The highlight of course was the feeding of the elephants and the calmness they radiate. On the small "hiking" you walk near the animals, they move freely there. In the complex there is a small river with waterfall. Great cool down. With any luck, an elephant will also come to the water and drink :)

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Camila

Dec 24, 2024

Must visit! Ethical Sanctuary - Joy Elephant Sanctuary is an ethical place that truly cares for the elephants. They don’t offer activities like bathing or riding them. You can only touch the elephants while feeding them; the rest of the experience is about watching them roam freely in open fields and being taken for walks. We also made Thai inhalers, enjoyed a delicious lunch, and had fun bamboo rafting. The waterfall was beautiful, and the whole experience was very peaceful. It’s a bit far, but worth it. The driver was excellent, and everything was well-organized. Highly recommend it!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Herman_c

Dec 22, 2024

Amazing experience - What an amazing place! Love the scenery and of course the elephants. The elephants are treated kindly. The highlight of the show is feeding the elephants. Our guide is very helpful. The second part of the trip was a pleasant surprise. Bamboo rafting along the river was beautiful and serene. Seeing some elephants on the river banks along the way is a bonus.

Review provided by Viator

Oliviaco965wx

Nov 21, 2024

Nothing better!!! - This will be one of our special memories from a whole backpacking trip. It’s the only genuine, ethical and caring place to visit elephants from start to finish. It was the most perfect experience and if I could get six stars I would. They pick you up in a, high-quality van with comfy seats and take you all the way to the sanctuary. Then once you arrive meet the most charismatic yet humbling tour guide who is absolutely brilliant with both the elephants and the visitors. After you have some education on elephants you get to meet them and give them their favourite snacks. Benefitting enrichment, you then go on a small hike into their natural habitat where they get to play around. Our lunches provided and absolute delicious pad Thai and after lunch you get to make your own all natural nose clearer (much better than anything 7-Eleven Will give you) and it’s a brilliant reusable gift which can fit in any luggage size. Playing in the natural waterfalls was incredible with the current being gentle yet fun to challenge. And the bamboo rafting was a brilliant experience because we got to see other elephants playing in the water as we were going round and witnessed even more Chiang Mai magic.

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Lexyrobinson

Nov 19, 2024

Great elephant experience - We really enjoyed this tour! The guides were very knowledgeable and friendly. We got to see elephants and hand them broken watermelons and cut up kabocha squash. The elephants were mostly behind a fence although at some points they were roaming around but at a distance. Although we were not able to raft because of high water due to rain, we really felt we got the most out of this tour. This was a fantastic tour with lots of information.

Review provided by Viator

Valentina_f

Nov 10, 2024

Ethical and awe-inspiring experience - Visiting the elephant sanctuary was an incredible experience. It was clear that the sanctuary operates with the highest ethical standards, allowing the elephants to live freely without any pressure or obligation. Watching these magnificent animals in their natural habitat, moving and behaving as they would in the wild, was truly inspiring. The respect and care shown to the elephants here is evident in every detail, making this visit both responsible and unforgettable. Highly recommend this sanctuary for anyone looking for an ethical, awe-inspiring experience with these amazing creatures!

Review provided by Viator

L7709jpmichellel

Nov 17, 2024

Loved the itinerary - Itinerary was 10/10 and would recommend but I had to bring it down a few points because our “guide/driver” changed midway when we left the elephant sanctuary to head to the bamboo rafting. The new guide didn’t speak English and wasn’t able to explain to us what we needed to do/ prepare nor answer our questions. We opened our google translate but it probably wasn’t accurate and he really tried his best but it definitely was a struggle. Other than that, the bamboo rafting was really fun and the experience at the elephant sanctuary was good too. The person there explained everything to us about the elephants and we just fed them (no bathing them of any kind which is what we were looking for).

Review provided by Tripadvisor

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up to 15 guests

1 Adult