Chiang Mai Elephant Sanctuary and Sticky Waterfall Day Tour

I would not recommend this tour nor would I redo it. First things first, it is not clearly described in the description but a driver picks you up. No tour guide until the elephant place where a guide is with you but then again you leave with the driver who doesn't really talk or explain what is next or how long to the next place etc. I do not think the cost was worth it. The elephant sanctuary- although the elephants are not in chains, I would not say it is ethical. They stage it all and the caretakers force them to stand and eat while you take your pics, sit and eat for more pics, make them go into the water so you can have your fun with them. Some guides had their guests sit on the elephants leg for pics which I thought was horrible. An ethical sanctuary for me is when the elephants wander and do what they want and you get to observe and interact on their terms. If they want to eat, we feed etc. I did not like how Controlled and forced it felt. Good side is there are just 4 elephants sharing the large space. Lunch was nothing great. I wish there was an option to opt out. It was a very plain basic pad thai and they offered chilli on the side but there was a dead cricket in the chilli bottle so hygiene was just lacking. Washroom was clean in that space but bring wipes and hand sani as soap was empty. The falls was cool. The driver just told us what time to be back and left us to our own time. You don't need a guide for the falls so if you manage your own transportation to and from, that would work well! I would do better research on which sanctuaries to check out. I chose this because the original reviews were good but I would not suggest this. There was others that do it right. Lack of chains only doesn't mean ethical. Its to do with control and forcing interaction with people. It was a timetable like now its time to feed them. Now it's time to take pic. Now its time to make this item for them. Now its time to get into the water and splash. Some guides were forcing the little elephant to spray the people while another kept yelling at the older one to squat in the river so people could splash them with the buckets of water. Avoid booking this.

This tour was not for us No English guide hence absolutely no interpretation Beat up old Toyota with bad suspension not air con in the back Driver and guide left their visors down the whole trip limiting passenger view Driver nibbled on berries and left pips in view 3 .5 hours of driving with no interpretation Elephant farm was great with excellent interaction and interpretation Sticky fall were interesting but without interpretation and due to long drive not really worth the effort

Probably our favorite day from our trip to Thailand! The pickup was prompt. Our driver was kind. And the overall experience was amazing! The people at Lanna Elephant Care showed us such friendliness and allowed us to have a wonderfully close time with the elephants. We learned the names of the elephants as well as their personalities. We got to feed them, walk with them, and bathe them. After that, a nice serving of pad Thai. Awesome time! After that we went to the sticky waterfall. Wow!! So much more than we expected from pictures. It has to be one of the coolest natural creations I’ve ever experienced. Overall, an incredible experience! Definitely worth your time!

Fabulous morning feeding, petting, snuggling and bathing the elephants! Guide was great with photo ops. Top and pants were offered so our clothes did not get wet. Bathrooms perfect for changing. Pad Thai lunch was included and served with watermelon and water. Spent an hour and half at Sticky Waterfalls. Nice experience climbing the falls but very crowded. We were in a van with 4 other groups, a total of 13 people. There was no guide, only a rude driver, who spoke little English. He claimed not to understand when requested to drop us off at our hotel, which everyone else was doing. He had difficulty following the GPS. At the falls, he parked a distance away from the entrance, with no indication of where to go. All in all, a good day, but this driver should not be with foreign guests.

The was absolutely one of the most fun animal encounters I've ever had. Everything was so nice. The elephants looked happy and well cared for. Shawn our guide explained about the elephant's care and needs. He was so informative when asked questions about each elephant and their routines and needs. The lunch served was so tasty, we could even get seconds!

Best experience we ever had, they changed our itinerary last minute but it totally worth it, had a private tour and was even better

The company said our hotel was too far so made us drive into the city to meet at 8am. We waited for 40 minutes and called multiple times with no answer. Finally the showed at 8:45am. The driver did not speak any English so there was no communication and we didn’t know what the schedule was. They said max 12 people total but there were 13. We left this tour early.

The elephant sanctuary experience was AMAZING. We fed, washed and walked with these majestic creatures whilst being well looked after by our guide with information and care. We have teenage kids and they loved it too! Sticky waterfalls falls was FABULOUS. Highly recommend too.