Coco Khao Sok Hostel

Unorganised from the get go- we were given an itinerary but it felt like the organisers just did what they want when they want, didn’t arrive at the bungalows until 2pm, given 15 mins for lunch then a botched afternoon tour ( the company also didn’t provide the equipment which had to be purchased from them) this also over ran as there was circa 80 people on said tour meaning we missed the evening activity completely with no explaination/apology The next day we opted out the sunrise sightseeing and glad we did, as we were told we had until 12:00 at the bungalows but at 9 am asked to pack our belongings and leave, topped off with a ‘picnic in the park’ which was a bus service station and cold rice to eat. Khao Sok is a beautiful place but I would highly recommend a different tour provider, the tour organisation was chaotic, way over booked and awful conditions around lake house and dining area. To top it off when arriving back at the hostel I witnessed a small group of girls raise their feelings about the trip towards the tour owner, and witnessed a barrage of abuse, swearing and aggressive behaviour.

The hostel itself was good and staff were friendly, HOWEVER, we booked our Khao sok national park tour (overnight) through Coco and we were left feeling very disappointed. I would NOT ever recommend anyone do this tour for the money they request. The website says 20 people - there was at least 60 with 3 tour guides only. It was messy and chaotic and extremely busy! We were unable to enjoy. Firstly, we arrived at the bungalow at 2pm when we were supposed to be there at 11am. The whole day was rushed, we were unable to enjoy a swim. Lunch was at 3pm when it was supposed to be at 12pm - they actually were not going to feed us. We then headed to the cave where we lost the group and tour guides in middle of the cave…we wore no helmets and a friend had a panic attack - no tour guide to help. We had to calm him down. We then missed the evening safari because of the delay already! We didn’t see the sunset and arrived back at 8pm. The man during the walk told us to be quiet and walked off without us. The main tour guide was very rude and made us feel like school kids! Next morning, breakfast was honey and pancakes which was covered in flies (see photo attached). We couldn’t eat breakfast! We were able to swim for half an hour in the lake altogether then left. We were promised a 2 day bungalow stay and we ended up getting there at 2pm and leaving next day at 10am. When we requested a partial, the tour gyide man was laughing at us and mentioned how the ‘flies needed breakfast’ when we showed him the picture of breakfast. He denied a partial refund and walked off. This cost us £67 for the whole thing and as someone on a budget for 6 months, I was disappointed and would not recommend. Please book through someone else…it’s so disappointing and the whole tour felt the same!

Couldn’t recommend this place enough. We did the 1 night at The floating bungalows package and it was amazing. Funny and friendly guides made it enjoyable and beautiful scenery and so much fun. We didn’t want to leave! Tour through the caves and morning safari and delicious food. Spent the evening playing cards and stargazing. Easy to socialise and make friends too. Loved every minute.

We booked the tour through our hostel (2d1n). Once we arrived at the pier, we had a two hour delay because the organization didn’t arrange enough boats for the amount of people. The tour was overbooked. After a two hour wait (without getting any updates or futher information) we finally could get to the bungalow. Because of the delay we weren’t able to have any time for lunch or to get ready. (They forgot people at the boat, so these people weren’t able to join the activities, because the staff didn’t care about them) This way we went on a hike including the cave and this all had to happen in a rush. Non of the staff was guided us during the hike, so we could have gotten lost. The whole trip wasn’t arranged well and no one new what the planning was. Whenever they set up time for any activities they would just delay with 30 minutes. The tour guide was rude and impatient. They put us in dangerous ga situations. After talking to the tour guide about our disappointment he started laughing at us, as if we, the group, were the problem I would definitely not recommend.

Nice hostel with good beds, all areas clean and really great staff work there. Wish I had booked my transfer through then instead of 12go Asia, sure it would have been a better experience. After I had checked out I went for a long walk in the national park and got really sweaty, they allowed me to have another shower for free and even provided me with another clean towel. There is good food in the restaurant. Did the overnight tour to the bungalows with night safari the night prior. As they say you get what you pay for but knowing what to expect made the tour good. Only complaint is the wait at the pier for the boats which then makes the rest of the day a rush, but didn't really notice it at the time because you are chatting to new people you have just met. Had downtime to swim in the lake twice and saw animals on the early morning safari, the cave is good fun also, just a shame that was a bit rushed due to delay in boats. The two guides were really good. Overall though worth it for the experience. Going for the tour with the night safari is well worth adding to the itinerary as well.

Firstly, I read a lot of reviews on this hostel both on tripadvisor and on hostel world. The dorms don’t have top bunks and probably the best i’ve slept since being in Thailand as the beds are very comfy. We did the 2 night 3 day khao sok lake tour. It was 3400 baht but that included 2 nights accomodation, 5 meals and transport from the hostel to and from the lake. We expected the floating bungalows to be very basic as that’s what we had seen online. I don’t know if coco hostel ahve multiple resorts they use however the resort we went to was incredible. One review on tripadvisor said the rooms were really basic, which in a sense was true but we had one double and a single bed, glass bottom floor in our room, a balcony with 2 chairs, shower, toilet, sink, free drinking water. Another review said there was about 3 kayaks for everyone, but each room had their own kayak which was really good. It was 100 baht deposit for an ore each. Drinks are slightly pricey but you are in the middle of a lake. Dinner was some of the best thai food i’ve had. A lot of the reviews said avoid the cave walk, which we did but because we were exhausted- nice to have an afternoon by the lake. The people who did go on this cave hike said it wasn’t dangerous but you kinda do it at your own risk. Photos from the cave hike looked amazing too. Highly recommend doing the overnight stay on the lake house with coco hostel. You leave your big bag at the hostel and take just a small day sack for the overnight lake trip. We got taken on a night safari and then a morning safari which I highly recommend going on!!

We did not stay at the hostel but booked our overnight trip to the lake through them. It was just terrible on all counts. I do not often write reviews on trip advisor but I do not want others to waste their time and money on this terrible experience in such a beautiful national park! 1) The tour is mis-advertised. - the information states that the tour will be in small groups of 8-10, however there were over 80 on our tour (maybe 50 from coco and the rest from other accommodation) - the itinerary was vastly different from what was advertised. In particular, there was much less time to relax at the bungalows - they advertise that you can kayak at the bungalows, however there were maybe 3 kayaks and 2 paddles (1 of which was barely useable due to damage) 2) Just far too many people, leading to the issues below….. 3) safety - there were only 3 guides for 80+ people - I think there were only 2-3 headcounts during the trip - while walking in the jungle I had no idea where any of the guides were. Probably went a good 40minutes without seeing a guide. - going through the cave is very dangerous. Honestly the 3 guides that we had made an honourable effort to help everyone, but in my opinion they would need at least 5 more guides for this to be safe - very cramped on the boats and not enough life jackets for everyone despite this being a mandatory requirement from the park - not enough seats on the bus on one leg and people sitting in the aisle 4) Because the guides were so stressed just trying to get the hoards of people vaguely in the right place they did not give ANY information about the places we went and did not point out things in the jungle in regards to wildlife etc. Honestly it just seemed like they were trying to get through 5) The experience was chaotic and rushed. The exasperated guides struggled to shout out information to the 80+ people about what was happening. The trek was rushed as we started late and had to get back before dark. We also left the bungalows earlier than advertised, presumably to allow time for getting all those people back. 6) Our guide pointed out that probably we saw very little on our morning safari “because we have so many people and it is noisy”. If they know this then why do they bring such a big group?! 7) Such a large group descending on the Guilin viewpoint meant that it was challenging to get a nice photo without others in it. The night safari the previous evening was good though! There are lots of tours operating from Khao Sok. It is worth looking around a bit either in advance or once there to make sure you really pin down whoever is selling the tour on how many people will be on the tour with you. Often the agents/ accommodations go through another tour company- for us this was “Jungle Huts”. If several accommodations/ agents book people on these tours then the numbers can build up! We had been seriously considering a private tour, just myself and my partner. This would have cost 4x what this tour d

My friend and I signed up for the 2 night 3 day lake tour in Khao Sok National Park with Coco Hostel. On Coco's website, this tour was advertised as a group of 8-10 people per guide. Much to our surprise, we were boarded onto a coach bus with SIXTY PEOPLE and ONE single guide. THEN were joined by even more people when we arrived at the bungalows. Here are the several issues we encountered because of being in a group of 86 that made it both an unpleasant and unsafe tour. 1. The itinerary stated that we would arrive at the bungalows at 12 pm. We were an hour and a half late, and were just waiting around to board buses/boats in the heat for an hour. 2. It was made clear the tour was overbooked when they didn't even have enough life jackets for everyone on the boats. They said life jackets were mandatory for everybody, and then just gave up on some people having them when it was holding up the boats. 3. There were not enough beds for everyone to sleep on in the bungalows. 4. There were not enough tables/plates set up for people to sit and have lunch and dinner. 5. We understand that we were in an outdoor living situation and the toilets were going to be a more "camping" experience, however, they had not been cleaned in who knows how long, and they were all backed up and were not designed for 86 people to be using in 24 hours. 6. The excursion to the cave was SO DANGEROUS. They made it sound like a walk in the park, did not set clear expectations for what we'd be doing on the hike. Then, we were a group of 70ish people, no count was taken when trekking in the jungle, no explanations on what we were seeing, and most of the time, we had no idea where the guide was. By this time, a few more guides were with us, but we honestly had no idea who they were as they were never introduced to us. When we got to the cave, some more people opted out, and again, the guides did not take ANY count of how many people were entering. We were hiking in complete darkness (some people had headlamps, others did not), there was a continuous river flow through the cave (people did not have proper shoes or clothes), and my friend and I had no idea where any guide was for 95% of the cave and relied on a complete stranger that was part of our group to help us through. It was unbelievable how dangerous it was. We have looked up this cave since, and saw that several people have died doing this trek through the cave. 7. They advertised leisure time at the bungalows to swim and kayak. Beyond there being very limited time because of lateness, there were a total of 3 double kayaks and 2 oars between 86 people. 8. Overall, the entire itinerary was completely disorganized and changed constantly. We were told different times to be ready for the hikes/boat rides/departures. It did not match what we signed up for at all. We not only arrived late to the bungalows, so had limited time to relax by the lake, but they also decided we were leaving 2 hours earlier the next morning. 9. Because

This hostel is so so lovely. The rooms were very spacious, clean and cozy. The beds were comfy and had black out curtains which was great for privacy. The showers and toilets were fantastic. There was plenty of soap, shampoo and body wash- all a great perk! The showers were fab, could have stayed in there all day! The staff were delightful. They were so friendly, helpful and kind. It felt like home. They turned out laundry around in 3 hours and only for 70THB/kg too! The little restaurant downstairs is so fab. The food is lovely, the coffee is fresh and it is all great value for money. I really enjoyed my stay here and would 100% recommend to anyone.