A Morning with the Elephants at Phuket Elephant Sanctuary
Description
Phuket Elephant Sanctuary is the first ethical, 100% hands-off elephant sanctuary in Phuket where elephants roam around, bathe and sozialize freely across 30 acres of lush, tropical land bordering the Khao Phra Thaeo National Park in North East Phuket. We buy all rescued elephants to ensure that Phuket Elephant Sanctuary is their final home, and we offer professional veterinary care for old and injured elephants. By visiting us, you are supporting a sustainable, ethical and compassionate approach to elephant tourism where elephants have the freedom to live naturally. National Geographic, Lonely Planet and The Guardian have all endorsed our ethical approach.
Tour Options
Itinerary
A morning with the elephants is an eye-opening and inspiring experience. Following a scenic drive along a local village you will arrive at Phuket Elephant Sanctuary, a picturesque jungle dotted with ponds, wide open fields and hillsides for the elephants to roam around. Your visit starts at our Tree Top Lounge, where we will show you a presentation and educational video to prepare you for your encounter with the elephants, and to help you understand why they need to be protected. We then follow them down into the jungle. By keeping a safe distance and watching them from our Observation Salas, the elephants have the freedom to express their natural behavior, from bathing and playing in our pond to socializing with each other. The program ends with a delicious Thai vegetarian meal.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
(Pickup up to 90 minutes before the tour!) We offer shared roundtrip transfers from anywhere in the Phuket Province. To book a tour including shared roundtrip transfers, please select the "Program + Transfer" option. Pick-up and drop-off location must be identical, and the exact pick-up time, up to 90 minutes before the tour, will be advised via message or email shortly after completing your booking.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Italian speaking guides are available for the Half Day “A Morning with the Elephants” program on Wednesdays and Fridays only
- French speaking guides can be requested as a language preference, subject to guide availability, but cannot be guaranteed.
Reviews(1,851)
This experience was well worth the money to see this beautiful creatures up close while knowing they are being treated ethically. We learned so much! Rudi was an excellent tour guide and the service from start to finish from all was warm and thoughtful.
Wow. What can I say, this tour is so worth the money. It was such a great experience and our tour guide Rudi was amazing. If you're lucky enough to get Rudi then you are all set. Would do this again for sure the way they care and are passionate about elephants is phenomenal. It's not a job for them it's a passion. Thank you so so much fir sharing them with us... our group also had a great bunch of people. Do yourself a favour and do this tour when you're in Thailand.
Absolutely beautiful. I am happy to support this ethical sanctuary so they can continue their good work.
True elephant sanctuary experience. Let’s start with pick up. The driver was on time and very courteous, he even stopped at 7/11 because my friend really wanted a redbull. The experience there was amazing, the Elephants are free roaming and all rescues, you can get close enough to enjoy it but far enough that they can still do their thing. It did say on the booking that we’d get to feed the elephants, that recently changed so that was the only issue I had. Overall 5/5
Very informative, though it was sad to hear the cruel treatment some of their resident elephants came from, but I'm so happy there is an ethical sanctuary helping these beautiful creatures. This is probably the only elephant sanctuary I would recommend to visit in all of Thailand. Side note, the food provided was amazing!
It was an absolutely amazing experience. The sanctuary is very well run and thought out, the vegetarian lunch was delicious and our guide Rudi was brilliant and very knowledgeable
The Phuket Elephant Sanctuary was an absolutely incredible experience. It was heartbreaking to learn how horribly so many elephants have been abused since the rise of tourism in Thailand. We saw it ourselves, first hand, in Bangkok. Here, at the sanctuary, they’re treated with such amazing compassion and respect. The people here really care a tremendous amount about the wellbeing of the elephants. And it was such a joyous experience to be among these happy thriving animals. Being just a few feet away and seeing the emotional intelligence in the eyes of these gentle giants Is something I will never forget. Everybody that comes to Phuket should come here and see how we can coexist on this earth. Do not give your money to business that exploit animals for photo opportunities, or interactive rides or performances. Do not reshare social media posts of people visiting those places. Those animals are kept in chains and cages, the birds and lizards are fed barely enough to keep them alive, the tigers are drugged so they won’t attack, elephants that give rides or perform tricks or make paintings aren’t having fun! They’re being forced through physical torture. All of the elephants here are rescued from abusive situations, and they have a magnificent new lease on life. Here they are happy and thriving, being allowed to just be elephants. Not slaves, not performers, not an amusement park attraction… just elephants. In the wild. Simply being allowed to be.
It was an incredible learning experience for us all. Awesome your guides very knowledgeable about the elephants.
Amazing elephant sanctuary. I research for a long time to find a truly ethical sanctuary and landed on this. We were very happy to find this place was entirely focus on elephant well-being which was pleasing and comforting to see. The elephant hospital they’ve built is a true testament to this. Thoroughly enjoyed this visit and recommend it to any tourists hoping to see elephants while also respecting and caring for these beautiful animals. Elephants should not be ridden or bathed with and this sanctuary made sure to uphold this and treated the elephants with the upmost care.
It has been a wonderful experience and it is so worth it to do the morning tour! The guide was super friendly and knowledgeable! The vegetarian buffet lunch was also very nice. All the proceeds are going back in to the sanctuary. The sanctuary is very respectful to the elephants and therefore does not allow feeding or touching the elephants in order to mimic their natural habitat. Would definitely recommend doing the 3.5 hour tour! Boots and socks are provided.
