Prek Toal Birds Sanctuary and floating Village Private Day Tour
Description
Prek Toal Birds Sanctuary is one of the most important bird sanctuaries in Southeast Asia. Encounter Cambodia’s startling wildlife on a thrilling full day private tours around Tonle Sap Lake from Siem Reap. Get a glimpse of local life on the water as you pass floating villages, markets and stilted houses, then enter the protected biosphere reserve of the Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary. Paddle around the flooded forests and swamps in a traditional boat, and look out for over 199 bird species, including Spot billed Pelican, Black headed Ibis, Grey-headed Fish Eagles and the rare Masked Finfoot. - Full-day private tour of Tonle Sap and Prek Toal birds sanctuary from Siem Reap - Informative commentary of Cambodia’s wildlife from an insightful personal guide - Pass stilted houses, flooded forests, and floating markets that you cruise across Tonle Sap Lake - Spot ibis, storks, and pelicans on a cruise around the Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary - Private tour ensures a personalized experience
Tour Options
Itinerary
Your tour guide and driver welcome you at your hotel lobby and transfer to pier at Tonle Sap Lake to take your private boat to explore birds sanctuary at Prek Toal
Tonlé Sap is a lake in the northwest of Cambodia. It belongs to the Mekong River system. It is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and one of the most diverse and productive ecosystems in the world, designated as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1997 due to its high biodiversity
Prek Toal is one of the most important bird sanctuaries in Southeast Asia located on the great Tonle Sap Lake. On this full day excursion, you will not only take a chance to explore the protected biosphere reserve with a significant number of rare water birds but also get a glimpse of local life on floating villages and contribute your effort to support local children on floating schools and community Centre. Embark on this voyage and have a unique experience in your Cambodia holiday.
Prek Toal is one of three biospheres on the Tonlé Sap lake, and this stunning bird sanctuary makes it the most worthwhile and straightforward of the three to visit. It’s an ornithologist’s fantasy, with a significant number of rare breeds gathered in one small area, including the huge lesser and greater adjutant storks, the milky stork and the spot-billed pelican. Even the uninitiated will be impressed, as these birds have a huge wingspan and build enormous nests.
The Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve is located in the Northeast of Cambodia. It includes the Tonle Sap Lake, the most extensive freshwater lake in South-East Asia, which is located in the centre of the Tonle Sap Basin. It is surrounded by the Dong Rek Mountains to the north, the Cardamom Mountains to the southwest, and other small hills to the east that separate the basin from the Mekong River.
From February to July we take boat from Chong Kneas pier to Prek Toal and From August to January we take boat from Mechrey Pier to Prek Toal
From August to January we take boat from Mechrey Pier and from February to July we take boat from Chong Kneas pier
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
We offer free pick up and drop off at your hotel but please provide us your hotel name and your hotel address that our guide and driver will meet and welcome you at your hotel lobby.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(23)
A brilliant trip , the birds were fantastic and wonderful to see the floating village and experience a meal in the water .
Dear Lan A Thank you for choosing About Cambodia Travel & Tours for your trip. It was a pleasure to have you travel with us and explore Cambodia together with our team. We truly appreciate your kind feedback; it means a lot to us. We’re delighted to know you had a positive experience. We hope to welcome you, your family, or your friends again in the future. Please stay in touch! Warm regards Guest Relation Manager About Cambodia Travel & Tours
My husband and I very much enjoyed our all day tour. Leap was our guide and Paeap was our driver. We had a wonderful visit to Prek Toal. The trip from the hotel by van was very comfortable. We then took a larger boat a distance to a floating village were we got into a smaller boat that took us into the reserve. We saw many birds and Leap did an excellent job of pointing them out and identifying them. We enjoyed the viewing tower which allowed us to see the rookery for pelicans, Asian Open Billed, and Painted Storks. On the return we stopped at a baray and a Buddhist Pagoda. Leap did a wonderful job of explaining the history of the area. Everyone that we met was very kind and friendly. We recommend taking this tour. Bring a lunch or ask to purchase one in the floating village. Water is provided. The larger boat motor is loud so bring some earplugs if you are bothered by that.
I would recommend this tour if you want to spend more time seeing the bird sanctuary compared to some other area tours! We had an amazing day seeing the birds, floating village, reservoir and monastery. Our guide (Mr. Sara) and driver (Mr. Pheape) were great—Sara was really knowledgable and helpful, he also asked us on the way to the tour whether we wanted to call ahead to reserve lunch at the floating village, which we did, and it ended up being one of the highlights of the day for us, incredible fresh fish and other dishes.
Really great tour, we had a wonderful time, learning about all the birds in such a relaxed setting! The lunch that was served was especially good, they had freshly caught fish that was grilled! I would recommend this if you have a free day
We wasted £275 to save your money! We were very disappointed with the tour today. The guide gives you a double-sided laminated sheet with all the birds in the park. However, between JUL - NOV there are very few birds. So if you are there for bird-watching, save you money. If, however, you are happy to spend this money for a couple of hours boat trip around the lake and floating villages then fine. I felt sad having to leave a poor review because our guide was so cheerful and enthusiastic, but even he was sad for us to see so few birds. We have travelled all over the world and understand with wildlife trips nothing is guaranteed, but to see only 2 eagles, a couple of bee eaters and a heron in over 3 hours is very poor to say the least!
Dear Andi Scott, Thank you so much for taking the time to share your feedback. We truly appreciate your insights and the opportunity to respond. We’d like to clarify that the Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary is open year-round, welcoming visitors to explore the unique floating village and support the local community. In addition to birdwatching, travelers can enjoy the beauty of the mangrove forest and the breathtaking views of Tonle Sap Lake. While bird activity can vary depending on the season and environmental conditions, many guests visit not only for the wildlife but also to experience the culture and contribute to the local economy. Your participation in this tour helps support local livelihoods, and we are sincerely grateful for that. We understand that your main expectation was to observe a large number of birds, and we regret that the sanctuary did not fully meet your hopes on this occasion. Your comments are valuable, and we will take them into consideration as we continue to improve our services. Once again, thank you for choosing this tour and for your enthusiasm for birdwatching. We hope you had a memorable experience overall during your journey in Cambodia. Sincerely yours, Local Activities Suppliers About Cambodia Travel & Tours
Absolutely outstanding experience. Our guide Leap was amazing providing detailed experience regarding species of birds. Our driver Pheap was outstanding and punctual picking us up at our hotel. We went deep into the bird sanctuary. The entire process was smooth and seeing the floating villages was also very interesting. I would recommend this trip to any birding enthusiasts as it was fantastic. Would try to do this again in the future.
Absolutely amazing! My favorite part of my trip to Cambodia. We saw a ton of amazing birds and our guide Leap was extremely helpful. Both of our boat trips both on the lake and in the preserve were really fun and the drivers were fantastic. We also got to see a number of the floating villages which was great. Overall can't recommend high enough!!!
My guide is Rum, His english is not bad but I guess with their local accent, we may need them to repeat themselves occasionally. Saw quite a number of birds in the santuary so it was a worth while trip. The engine from the boat can be quite loud but you will get used to it. If not, please bring along your noise cancellation ear buds. The tour is a bit pricey though but I hope the funds do help the villagers.
Prek Toal Birds Sanctuary is a great habitat to observe stunning large water birds from Painted-billed Pelican, Painted Stork, Asian Open-billed to Oriental Darter. Observation tower after a 30 to 45mins-electric sampan boat ride allows one to check out Painted Stork nests from the monocular telescope prepared by the SVC guide, Savobin, a super friendly and passionate young gentleman born in the same Province, Battambang. Read through the bird list provided before departure to get the best experience. Enjoy!
Our tour with Prek Toal was excellent. We went a few days before Christmas and there was just enough water to be able to travel through small waterways instead of on the lake. Apparently the birding will be better in a month but the small waterways will be dry. Communication with Hoksan was easy and our tour guide, Sophal, was excellent. He was great at spotting and identifying the birds, and he also gave a lot of information about the floating village. On other tours I felt we were only seeing what was set up for tourists, but this trip felt genuine. The home where we had lunch was the same as the other homes. The town has had successes and failures and its all there to see. Hoksan is putting the money from these tours back into the community to improve housing and develop sustainable vocations for the residents. One thing to note- bring layers for the temperature on the boat in the morning.
