Phuket: Hidden Forest Elephant Reserve Guided Tour with Lunch

We had the heads up on this sanctuary in Hong Kong and as we were visiting Phuket booked onto this tour. Wow ...it was such a special morning spent with the incredible team who work with the elephants they have rescued. Ironically one of them came from a place we had driven past and seen the elephants at the side of the road as tourist attraction. To hear about the sufferering they endure it was just magical to see these elephants back in a safe and natural environment. Although you can feed them food, visitors are not allowed to touch them but they have created a clever way for visitors to observe them from close up. We also were given a beautiful meal at the top viewing point and the opportunity to see the elephants bathe in the water and just be happy and be free. Highly recommend

Great experience! This is a fantastic place to go, where they care about the animals not about making lots of money from them. It was so nice to go to this sanctuary and see the love and care they provide to these elephants, who have already experienced the worst. Would highly recommend and please support them!!

We had an amazing experience at the Hidden Forest! We did a lot of research trying to find an actual ethical hands-off and elephant first experience in Thailand. Upon arriving it was clear that the organisation and staff were extremely anti unethical tourist experiences, this included no touching, no bathing, no riding or any other performance. We started off with a presentation where they explained the dark side of elephant tourism along with explaining all the elephants at the reserve and their names, personalities and backgrounds. After this we went down to feed the elephants in a small group, which was the only interactive and natural part of the tour. We then went onto observe the elephants whilst they travelled uphill to continue feeding, before finally observing them from a raised viewing area where they bathed, and whilst we ate a vegan Thai lunch that was homemade by the staff. We would definitely recommend this tour, you can tell the elephants are loved by the staff after their heartbreaking past treatment from their previous owners.

I had a truly amazing experience at Phuket Elephant Sanctuary. We did the afternoon half-day tour with pick-up included, and everything was extremely well organised from start to finish. What I loved most was that the experience was completely elephant-led. Each elephant had its own mahout caring for it, and the elephants were free to roam naturally without being forced to do anything — no bathing, no touching, and no performances. We simply observed them in their natural environment, at their own pace. I loved learning about each elephant’s rescue story, personality, and journey while watching them go about their afternoon. 🐘❤️ Our guides were friendly, knowledgeable, and genuinely passionate about the elephants and the sanctuary’s mission. They explained everything so well, making the experience both educational and incredibly enjoyable. And the vegetarian lunch? Absolutely delicious! 🌱 We ate while watching my favourite animals play with their friends in a natural pool. Sitting there, surrounded by nature, watching these beautiful creatures simply being elephants… I felt completely at peace. I was at peace in Thailand, and this experience was the cherry on top. 🇹🇭💚 A beautiful afternoon, a meaningful experience, and what felt like a truly ethical way to encounter these incredible animals. 10/10 — an experience I’ll never forget. 🐘✨

We did a lot of research for a genuine ethical elephant sanctuary in Phuket. This seems to be the only one. No bathing, no touching, elephants roam free and aren’t at the whims of tourists - they are put first. They also cap numbers and we had a very small group to observe the elephants. You can still get very close to observe. Some of the stories of the elephants life before were so sad; the obvious scars from previous mistreatment for one, to the elephant that came to them with broken spine from over-riding. This reserve is doing good things, and is run by very kind and caring people. Go here if you want to see an actual ethical sanctuary at work. Give this sanctuary your money.

Lovely to see the elephants eat and interact with each other. Watched the elephants bath while eating a delicious lunch.

Magical experience with the ladies. Very informative guides and interesting antidotes. Enjoyed the lunch and the mahouts interacting with their elephants. Would highly recommend this tour in beautiful rainforest surrounds.

What a wonderful experience. We got up close to the elephants, fed them, and watched them play. All while letting them be in their natural environment. The handlers were so gentle, never speaking to the elephants, only taking their cues from them. It was beautiful to watch. Everyone should experience elephants this way instead of the awful tourist way of bathing with or riding them, both of which are harmful to the elephants.

The morning tour was very informative and we got to feed th elephants and observe them. I valued th hands off ethical approach this organisation took with their tours. You could clearly see each elephant was loved and cared for to a high level. Learning about th personalities of each individual elephant made it much more special. Highly recommend.

Wow wow wow! Definitely a tour you need to tick off your bucket list. We had an amazing experience & learnt so much about these incredible elephants. The world needs to hear so much more about this sanctuary. Each part of the tour was informative & the lunch made by the family members was amazing. Definitely do this one. Wear runners & pack your mosquitoes spray!!