Luang Prabang: Cruise to Pak Ou Caves & Kuang Si Waterfalls
Description
A full day tour to the Pak Ou Caves and Kuang Si Waterfalls. We depart Luang Prabang boat pier in the morning. Floating along the Mekong River, you will be in love with the beautiful landscape in Luang Prabang. Stop by a village "Ban Xang Hai" for tasting unique local rice whisky and rice wine. Afterward, exploring the mystery cave with local tour guide. Having buffet lunch at the restaurant overlooking the Mekong river. In the afternoon, we take a car to waterfalls and enjoy swimming in the cool water. At 5pm, we leave for the city. Stop by a Hmong village en route. We'll meet Hmong people wearing traditional cloths and see their small Hmong museum. Arrival at the city center or your hotel at 6:00. There is an option visiting waterfalls in the morning and Caves and Sunset Boat Cruise in the afternoon. This is the same experience except the morning and afternoon itineraries are swapped.
Tour Options
Itinerary
A unique little village on the banks of the Mekong River. Ban Xang Hai, is also known as whisky village, is famous for their handicraft products like distilling and selling whisky, hand woven fabric and jewelry.
These two caves are located some 25km from Luang Prabang where the Nam Ou River flows into the Meking. The journey on a slow moving longboat to caves is decidedly picturesque. Motoring upriver you can see locals fishing and listen to the joyful laugher of children splashing in the water. The caves are revered throughout Laos and a very popular place for tourists and pilgrimsalike. There are some 4000 statyes abd statyettes in the caves, mostly of the Buddha, many stukk covered with paper thin gilding. The first cave is reached by a steep staircase from the river’s edge, while the second cave is a little deeper inside the mountain: bring a torchilight!
The Kuang Si Falls, sometimes spelled Kuang Xi or known as Tat Kuang Si Waterfalls, is a three levelled waterfall about 29 kilometres (18 mi) south of Luang Prabang. Upon reaching falls, relax and enjoy the magnificent natural surroundings. The water tumbles down and cascades gently into several cool, clear pools where you can enjoy a refreshing swim. The adventurous may walk to the top of the falls via a steep track where stunning views are awaiting them. Kuang Si Waterfalls also is a place where a rescue center for protecting sunbears, the endangered species, is located.
On the way back from the waterfall, we visit a Hmong village. We walk through the village and stop at a small museum built by the villagers. We learn from the villagers dressed in traditional costumes about their original highland life.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
• Please note that "The Nam Khan Resort" is not included in the pickup area for our joint tours, so please meet at Manifa Travel office in Luang Prabang to join the tour, or upgrade to a private tour. • Your tour experience begins with a transportation service pick up from your accommodation at about 8:15-8:50 AM • As this is a join in tour, please be patient in cases of unforeseen delays along the pick up route
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- This tour is not hard at all. But it's about 10 hours full day excursion including a long distance drive (60km). If old people and infants are in your group, please consider to choose 2 days split option or private option
Reviews(1,869)
An INCREDIBLE tour! It was extremely comprehensive and Da was a FANTASTIC tour guide! Everything was so well-run, and honestly I feel like the tour kept getting better and better! Every stop was magical! I cannot recommend this enough! If you only do one tour in Luang Prabang, please make it this one!
That makes our whole team SO happy to hear! 🥰Thank you so much for this INCREDIBLE review! We will pass your kind words straight to Da — he’s going to be grinning all day. He truly puts his heart into every tour and loves sharing the magic of Luang Prabang with families like yours.We’re so glad every stop felt magical and that the tour just kept getting better for you. That’s exactly what we aim for!Hope you and your family had an amazing time in Laos. If you ever come back, we’d love to welcome you again — maybe for Kuang Si at sunrise or a village homestay next time 😉Safe travels, and thank you again for recommending us!With gratitude, The Manifa Travel Team Luang Prabang
The waterfalls were beautiful and there was plenty of free time to enjoy them. Boating up the river was also enjoyable. The guide and drivers were great.
Thank you so much for the lovely review! 💙We’re so glad you loved the Kuang Si waterfalls and had plenty of time to swim and relax there. And yes — cruising up the Nam Ou River to Pak Ou Caves is one of our favorite parts too. So peaceful!Big thank you for the shout-out to our guide and drivers as well. We’ll pass your kind words to the team — they work hard to make sure everything runs smoothly and you can just enjoy the day.We hope the rest of your time in Luang Prabang was just as beautiful. Come back anytime — maybe next time for a sunrise at the waterfalls 😉With gratitude,The Manifa Travel Team
Fantastic whole day experience seeing Kuang Si Falls, meeting a baby elephant at Manifa sanctuary where we had a delicious lunch, visited Pak Ou caves and a whiskey village where we tasted 2 different whiskeys! Out guide Ben, was so friendly and knowledgeable, highly recommended.
Thank you for your kind word . It means a lot to me to receive such thoughtful recognition from a valued client like you. Your words of appreciation have brightened my day and motivated me to continue doing my best. I truly believe that positivity can fuel success, and your gratitude has fueled my determination to achieve even greater heights in our work together. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to collaborate with someone as talented and dedicated as tour guide . Once again, thank you for your kind words. Your support and encouragement are invaluable to me.
Beautiful day on the waterfalls and the Mekong river …. The tour guide amazing name Bon!!! He was very enthusiastic and helpful in all aspects, very caring and kind . We love him The waterfalls are breathtaking, what a beauty in Laos . Also the long tail boat on the mekong river so beautiful and peaceful .. good opportunity for a relaxing on the journey all the way to the temples on the rock formation. I really recommend this tour and the company.
An absolutely unforgettable day in Luang Prabang! Our guide, Dang, was fantastic, incredibly helpful and knowledgeable throughout the trip. Seeing the rescued bears and feeding the elephants were wonderful, heartwarming experiences. The ultimate highlight of our tour was the sunset cruise back down the Mekong River. It rained just a little bit, which rewarded us with a stunning, picture perfect double rainbow over the water. We also enjoyed visiting the village of the Hmong people. The only minor downside was the lunch. While it offered several options, the food quality wasn't the best. However, they did have an excellent cold drink selection and ice cream to make up for it. Overall, it is a highly recommended tour. LandLTravelWithAloha
Thank you so much for this beautiful review! 🌈💚We’re thrilled you had an unforgettable day with Dang — we’ll pass your kind words to him. He really loves sharing Luang Prabang with guests and we’re glad he made the day so helpful and special for you.Seeing the rescued bears, feeding the elephants at the sanctuary, visiting the Hmong village, and that sunset cruise on the Mekong sound like the perfect mix. And a double rainbow in the rain?! That’s pure Luang Prabang magic. We’re so glad you got to see it ✨Thank you also for the honest note about lunch. We’re sorry it wasn’t up to standard. We’ve shared your feedback with the restaurant team so they can improve the food quality while keeping those cold drinks and ice cream coming!We’re so glad that overall you’d highly recommend the tour. Hope the rest of your time in Laos was just as memorable, and we’d love to welcome you back someday.Warm regards,The Manifa Travel Team
This tour exceeded expectations! The falls in the morning is a MUST. You get to climb and walk at your own pace; all doable, and the winding roads towards the caves was worth it in my opinion as it was a trip lol but I am young and living through it alll! The buffet was vegan friendly and avoid the elephant if you can for their own protection :)
Thank you so much for this thoughtful review! 💚We’re so glad the tour exceeded your expectations! Kuang Si Falls in the morning really is a MUST — having time to climb, swim, and go at your own pace makes it so special. And yes, those winding roads to Pak Ou Caves are part of the adventure 😄 Glad you enjoyed the ride!Appreciate you mentioning the vegan-friendly buffet too. We always try to offer options so everyone can enjoy lunch comfortably.We also hear you on the elephants. Their wellbeing matters a lot to us. We work with sanctuaries that focus on rescue and ethical, no-ride interactions only. If you ever want info on fully observation-only programs, just ask us next time you’re in LPB.Thanks again for the 100% recommendation. Hope the rest of your travels were just as amazing!Warmly, The Manifa Travel Team
This was nice. They drop you off at the different places and give you free time to explore. It’s not a guided tour which I really liked. Lunch was at an ”elephant sanctuary” which I thought was questionable. They said that the elephants could live freely in the forest and only came to the fence for snacks. However, they were obviously trained to perform tricks for tourists, like putting a hat on a person etc.
Thank you for sharing your feedback. We’re glad to hear that you enjoyed parts of the day, but we’re sorry that the tour did not feel as guided as you expected. This itinerary includes several stops where guests are given free time to explore independently, but our guide should still provide clear background information and context at each place. We will review this with the guide team so future guests receive better explanations about the sites, the Mekong, and the flow of the day. Regarding the elephant camp lunch stop, we would like to clarify that our elephants are not kept for circus-style performances. They live in a forest-and-river environment under the daily care of experienced mahouts, and interactions with guests are meant to be calm, limited, and closely supervised. If you saw any moment that appeared staged or inappropriate, we take that seriously and will review it with our team. Thank you again for your honest comments. They help us improve both our guiding and how we explain the elephant care model more clearly to visitors.
a very good set of activities, properly organized. it looked beautiful! Waterfall 10/10 Boat 10/10 Cave 9/10 Lunch 7/10 Transport 9/10
This was an awesome tour! The day was filled with activities and the boat ride was very peaceful. The lunch was excellent and I also was able to see and feed the elephants. Ended the day with the waterfalls, rice farm and sunset cruise. Highly recommend! The tour guide Von was great and knowledgeable.
It was a really good tour. The cruise back to Luang Prabang was out of this world with the beautiful surroundings. Enjoyed myself thoroughly, thank you.
