Khao Sok guide: staying at 360 issara Floating Resort

Khao Sok and 360 Issara at a glance

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Where is Khao Sok National Park?

Khao Sok sits in Surat Thani province in southern Thailand, roughly halfway between Phuket and Krabi on the Andaman coast and Koh Samui in the Gulf. The park covers about 739 square kilometres of rainforest and limestone cliffs, and Cheow Lan Lake is the reservoir at its heart. The lake is man-made, created in the 1980s when the Ratchaprapha Dam flooded an entire valley, and it is up to ninety metres deep in places. I was thinking about that depth every time I walked back to my floating room, gripping my iPhone as if my life depended on it. Elephants, gibbons, monkeys and hornbills all live in the park, but you simply won’t get a sense of the scale of the place until you are out on the water.

The boat ride that gets better every minute

Do not use up your camera battery early. The first stretch past the dam is pretty, but the real show starts once you are well past it and the cliffs close in on both sides, tall and imposing. Near the end, our driver took us slightly off course into a hidden inlet ringed by towering cliffs and stopped so everyone could take photos. I had already filmed a tonne before we even got there.

Then the bungalows come into view. The engine drops to a cruise, and the floating rooms look insignificant against the cliffs. A welcome drink and a bit of paperwork later, you are shown to your room, and the excitement is hard to hide.

A room on the water

I stayed in a deluxe triple room, and it felt properly luxurious. There is a double bed and a single (for some reason I slept in the single), a great shower with the toilet in the same room, and a hallway with a basin, a small drink-making area and space to hang your clothes. Wifi is free and great. Floor-to-ceiling sliding doors open to a private balcony over the lake, and tied up right there is your own canoe, with paddles and life vests. The beds are fantastic, and I slept better here than almost anywhere else on this trip. The resort has 24 rooms in total: 10 deluxe doubles, 10 deluxe triples and 4 villas, all with private balconies. It is perfect for couples. I was not part of a couple, so the lake and I got very close.

What is included depends on how you book. The resort explained that packages booked directly cover accommodation, meals, boat transfers and scheduled activities, depending on the package. Bookings through online travel agencies generally include accommodation and breakfast only, and boat transfers, extra meals and activities have to be arranged separately with the resort. My own stay was a package that included the meals, safari, trek and cave trail, so check what your booking includes before you pay.

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Kayaking to the sound of elephants

With no television to tempt me, I fell into a routine. Each morning I would step out onto my private balcony, climb into the kayak and paddle off into the quiet. It was a still, early world, with cliffs on every side. While I paddled, I could hear elephants breaking bamboo somewhere in the distance, and I would see them later on the safari. I am not someone who finds it easy to slow down, and the lake did it for me. It was one of the best parts of the whole trip.

Dinner for one, sunset for two

Dinner is served in the open-air restaurant, and the menu is huge, with Thai and Western dishes that are surprisingly delicious considering how remote you are. The drinks were a highlight too, especially the mango smoothies, which were unreal. The staff are super attentive and always up for a chat. Travelling solo, that is priceless.

I will be honest, eating alone at sunset while couples enjoyed the romantic setting was a little strange. It never felt awkward, though, and after dessert there is not much else to do apart from a drink at the bar or a board game, so I went to bed and slept like a log. Breakfast the next morning was a short stroll away.

Seven elephants and a cliff

The wildlife safari is an afternoon boat trip, and it was the highlight of my stay. So much so, I paid to do it again on my second day. Waiting for animals on a safari is ninety per cent anticipation, but on my first expedition, we rounded a corner and found a family of seven wild elephants, including a baby, swimming from the cliffside bank across to an island.

We all sat in awe, watching them climb out and slowly meander into the bamboo forest. A few of them gleefully pulled down bamboo stalks to eat the shoots. I was overcome by emotion, and I discreetly shed a tear. I blame the baby elephant for that.

We also saw wild boar, monitor lizards, snakes, eagles and hornbills. Our guide mentioned that seeing elephants is never guaranteed, so I know how lucky I was to see them both days.

If you want more, there is also a morning sightseeing cruise around the lake. It is a nice change of scenery where you sit back with the wind in your hair and nowhere to be. As a solo traveller, I romanced myself, but it would be a perfect experience to share with a partner.

Leeches, a jungle trail and a cave in the dark

The trek was another great day out. We left at 9 am, and I was worried it would be too hot to enjoy. But the sun here seems less brutal than back in Australia; instead, it was the humidity that got me. I had also left sunscreen behind because of my 7kg luggage limit, but surprisingly I did not burn. A cap and plenty of shade on the jungle paths did the work.

After we slipped on our leech protection socks, a boat took us to a far corner of the lake, where we went ashore and paid the park entry fee, 340 baht in cash. Bring cash. I forgot, and a lovely Thai couple in our group paid for me. Much to their protest, it gave me the chance to tip them handsomely when we got back later that day.

From there we followed a well-worn path up the mountainside, with some incredibly loud insects overhead and plenty of evidence of who had been through before us: a trail of bamboo shoots and elephant dung. We stopped to spot monkeys in the trees and a decaying motorbike that our guide said the elephants hated. The leech socks worked a treat, because the leeches definitely tried. Bring insect repellent too.

At the end of the trail was a long boat dock, and another boat across to Pa Ka Rang cave. The water was incredible, and the mist floating through the cliffs made it one of the best photo opportunities of the trip.

The cave was much bigger than I expected. Our guide had us switch off our headlamps and sit in the pitch dark, and he kept us laughing with a few jokes. He also explained that a Buddha statue is placed in dark places like this to keep spirits away. Caves across Thailand are often treated as spirit places, and shrines to the Buddha sit alongside older beliefs. We had the place to ourselves, with just one other boat around, and the landscape outside was stunning. We did the boat and the walk in reverse on the way home, all the time anticipating the comfort of the resort that awaited.

By the end of the day, the Thai couple felt like friends. That is one of the best things about travel: strangers on the other side of the world who become friends for a day. I wish I could slow my travel down more, and there is a lesson in that I will come back to.

Good to know before you book

• Bring cash in baht for the park entry fee (340 baht adults, 170 children), the Pakarang cave trail fee (200 baht adults, 100 children) and the refundable room deposit (3,500 baht or USD/EUR 100, paid at check-in). Card payments can fail when the connection drops, so cash is the safe backup
• Drinks other than water are extra, so check what your booking includes
• Book shared boat transfers at least two days ahead
• Pack insect repellent, a hat and sunscreen
• Soft-sided bags are easier on the boats
• Wear shoes you do not mind getting muddy, and the guide will supply leech socks
• Mobile signal is limited, but the resort wifi is free and strong

When is the best time to visit Khao Sok?

Khao Sok is a rainforest, so it is humid and green all year. The dry season runs roughly from January to March, and the busiest stretch at the lake is December to March, when boats fill up, and waits can be long without a booking. I went in September, in the wet season, and loved the mist drifting between the cliffs. The trade-off is more rain and a better chance of meeting a leech. Private boat transfers are not available from 1 December 2026 to 31 March 2027, so in peak season book the shared boat early.

The verdict

Yes, 360 issara Floating Resort is worth it if you want nature and a proper reset. The cliffs, the wildlife, the canoe on your doorstep and the silence won me over completely. It suits couples best, and I ate dinner surrounded by couples, but I would still go back on my own. My one wish is that I had shared it with someone. If you want nightlife, digital distractions or loud tourists, I’d skip it. If you want to hear elephants breaking bamboo from your kayak in the early morning, book it.