An Instagrammer’s paradise (and most other people to be fair), Kuang-Si Waterfall is a must visit while in Luang Prabang. The vibrant turquoise waters, the combination of dramatic falls, swimming and jumping places, and tranquil pools make it perfect for anyone who enjoys a waterfall.
Everything you need to know to have the best time at Kuang-Si waterfalls, the best ways to get there, cost and how long you’ll need. Plus all the things we found out when we visited below.
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Why visit Kuang-Si Waterfall?
If you even have a passing interest in waterfalls then Kuang-Si is worth going to.
- The water is the most beautiful shade of turquoise
- The main drop is a very impressive 60m high
- It has multiple levels of falls giving lots of opportunities for swimming and jumping into the water…. and cool long exposure photos if that’s your thing!
- The various pools are dappled with light from the canopy for a peaceful and enchanting atmosphere
The stunning colour is down to the limestone rocks. They slowly bleed calcium carbonate into the water which reflects the sunlight making the water look impossibly blue. For the most impressive views, you need to go in the dry season when the water moves more slowly and picks up a higher density of calcium carbonate. But this is also when it’s busiest!
In the wet season, the water can go brown from run-off and the flow can be so fast that it can dangerous to swim in. Plus the paths become slippery so it’s a totally different experience.
Kuang-Si Waterfall Entrance Price
To get in, it costs 65,000 Kip/$2.95 per person (as of July 2024). Though the Lao currency isn’t that stable so they change the price in Kip pretty regularly to keep it in line with global exchange rates (so it doesn’t actually cost you any more).
The price includes an electric shuttle from the car park to the falls, and entry to the Tat Kuang-Si Bear Sanctuary.
It opens 7 days a week from 8am to 5pm.
How to get to Kuang-Si Waterfall
As the most popular out of town attraction, there are no shortage of transport options for getting to Kuang-Si from Luang Prabang. Depending on your budget and travel style the best option is different for everyone so we’ve gone through each with pros and cons.
Scooter
Across much of SE Asia, renting a scooter is the best way to get around so you can go at your own pace, and often save money. Laos is a little different in that scooter rental is actually quite expensive compared to other countries in the region, often around $20 per day.
The roads are also poorly maintained with huge pot holes and are busy with all sizes of vehicle going about their day. Unless you’re a confident and experienced motorcycle or scooter rider we wouldn’t hire one here. We met one very experienced motorbike rider who had 3 accidents in 2 days.
If you do decide to rent one, its best to get one from your accommodation or take a recommendation from them as motorbike scams are common in Laos and many bikes are in bad condition. Parking your scooter at Kuang-Si costs around $0.25.
As with all 2 wheeled vehicles, wear a helmet and be cautious. In Laos, life happens on the streets so you never know what’s going to appear in front of you.
Shared TukTuk
They’re really pick-up trucks with a roof over 2 benches rather than the 3 wheeled vehicles you might think of when you hear “tuktuk”. But as you walk around Luang Prabang drivers will shout “TUKTUK” and “WATERFALL” at you constantly.
The price is pretty high if there’s just 1 or 2 of you. So your best bet is to buddy up and share with some folks from your hotel/ hostel or hang around on the main street and wait for a driver to collect enough people to go. You can expect to pay $3-7 each for a round trip depending on the group size and negotiating skills.
Generally the drivers will give you 3-4 hours at the falls which is a nice amount of time to really enjoy them. Just remember which driver/tuktuk you arrived with so you back in the same one!
Private TukTuk
You can, of course, just negotiate with the driver to just take you to the falls instead of waiting for other people.
On our first visit, we wanted to get there as the falls opened as it was peak season (January 2024) and we’d heard it gets crazy busy from 11am. So we paid 600,000 Kip ($28) for a private TukTuk. We likely could have negotiated it down but we just went with it.
We were happy with the decision as it was so peaceful when we arrived – we had the waterfalls entirely to ourselves for a while. It also meant that we could leave whenever we were ready rather than waiting for other people. The driver gave us 4 hours but we could have negotiated for longer if we’d wanted to.
This is a good option if money is less of a concern and you want to experience the best of Kuang-Si Waterfall.
Shared Van
With the road to Kuang-Si being a little better now than even just a year ago, more and more shared vans now take people to the falls. These are usually run by hotels or tours and will wait until the van is full before heading off.
These are more comfortable than the tuktuks, and have AC which is a huge bonus if you’re travelling Laos in the Spring into Summer.
Just be careful as you may not get that much time at the falls. If the van needs to be back in 2 hours then that’s when its going to leave. All the vans tend to arrive at the same time too so it will be *busy*.
Bicycle
Its 30km to Kuang-Si from Luang Prabang Old Quarter on not great roads that are busy and in the Laotian climate. For us, that makes cycling a hard no. But if you’re very fit and an avid cyclist then this could be an option.
Renting a bike costs around $10 a day for a good one. You absolutely do not want to try this on a basic one, so its not that cheap an option.
Generally I wouldn’t recommend it. There’s too many other vehicles to make it a nice ride, the roads are full of potholes, and it could be hot as hell.
But I also don’t really cycle. So I respect anyone who wants to do it and you can always stop for buffalo ice cream or at one of the various cafes on the way to and from the falls too.
Boat Tour
A relatively new addition to the Kuang-Si Waterfall transport repertoire. You can now do a tour that takes you an hour by boat down the Mekong River then the rest of the way by tuktuk to the carpark.
A nice cruise down the river is certainly preferable to bouncing around in a tuktuk or van. But you’re constrained by the timings of the tour so make sure you’ll get enough time to properly enjoy the falls.
Be prepared that the boats are LOUD too!
Kuang Si Lower Pools
The lower pools are where you’re allowed to swim at Kuang-Si Waterfall. You’ll find lots of people hanging out down here, cooling off in the water or taking photos for the gram.
There are changing rooms available so you can get out of your wet clothes before heading back into town. Though we didn’t see any lockers so make sure to keep an eye on your valuables.
Around the water, there are various rocks and trees you can jump from. Just double check the depth before you do as there’s no one around to help you if you get hurt.
As you walk from the lower pools to the main event, there are lots of beautiful small waterfalls. So you can really take some time to enjoy the gorgeous jungle/waterfall scene. We spent a lot of time taking pictures and enjoying the atmosphere of the early morning light through the trees on the blue water. There are signs telling you not to swim in these other pools so please be respectful.
The Main Falls
The stunning main drop is around 60m and has a few smaller waterfalls in front that make for an incredible scene (and noise and spray). You can’t swim in this area, just stand and take it all in.
They’ve helpfully constructed a nice bridge in front of the falls so we spent some time finding our favourite angles to take photos from.
Annoyingly the bridge moves a lot when people walk on it so we struggled getting long exposure shots with our camera.
There are also viewpoints on either side of the bridge so you can get all the angles to best capture the waterfall and avoid any of the bigger tour groups.
Top of the Falls
There are 2 routes to the top of the falls.
When we visited, the easier one was still under construction. So we had to use the path on the far side of the bridge which is steep and slippy. Katie’s Birkenstocks did not have sufficient grip and she had to walk down barefoot.
On the near side of the bridge there is now a set of 542 stairs. This makes reaching the top of the falls and the cafe, which is imaginatively called “The View”, much easier.
It’s from here that you can also do the new zipline course that winds round the far side of the falls. It ends down the bottom with a zipline that has amazing views of the falls itself. We didn’t have the chance to try this as it wasn’t open yet but it looks spectacular and is $25 per person. Which is expensive for Laos but cheap for ziplines.
There’s also the chance to go swim a little further up river by some caves. A nice man with a small boat will take you to the spot where you can swim in the calm water and he’ll take your photos if you want too. He also has a cooler so you can buy some beers to take with you. It was around 50k kip when we were there but will almost certainly have gone up due to inflation since January 2024.
Kuang Si Secret Pool
To get to the “secret pool” you need to jump a fence that clearly says “No Entry”, so we didn’t do it. Rule followers to a fault.
Generally I would always suggest following the signs as they’re there to keep you safe, not gatekeep cool stuff. An insta photo isn’t worth a trip to a Laotian hospital.
Tat Kuang-Si Bear Sanctuary
At the entrance to Kuang-Si you’ll find one of the two Laos bear sanctuaries run by Free the Bears – a non-profit organization who rescue bears.
At first glance, it looks like a small and not great place for bears to live but if you take the time to read the signs you’ll find that this is a vast improvement on where the bears were rescued from.
Free the Bears was first registered as a charity in 1995 in Australia by Mary Hutton. Having seen a documentary on the bear bile industry, she started fundraising and lobbying to end this horrible practice.
The first sanctuary was built in Cambodia and the one at Kuang-Si is the second which opened in 2003.
Unable to expand due to the waterfall being a National Park and having reached their 25 bear maximum capacity, they have since built a much larger, multi-species facility. It’s just outside Luang Prabang though takes the same length of time to get to as the waterfall and is absolutely worth visiting. You can read about our experience on their Bear Care Tour, here.
This sanctuary is vital for raising funds and awareness to help more bears due to the volume of visitors to Kuang-Si. It’s not perfect, but it’s a million times better than the lives the bears had before.
Kuang Si Butterfly Garden
Set up by a Dutch couple who came to Laos in 2013. It has been designed and cultivated to be a haven for local butterfly species and the staff are all been trained to answer questions about the insects. It costs $10, with coffee and apple pie, to visit.
We didn’t visit and have never spoken to anyone who has visited. But butterflies are nice and it sounds like it could be a very pleasant way to spend an hour or so particularly if you travel with young kids.
When to visit Kuang-Si Waterfall
The season, day and time will make a big difference to your experience at Kuang-Si Waterfall. As with all huge tourist attractions, it can feel crowded and a little like a theme park, which isn’t ideal for enjoying the tranquillity. But also the glorious blue water goes an attractive shade of brown in the wet season.
Best months to visit Kuang-Si
The dry season December-May is the best time to visit Kuang-Si waterfall, and Laos in general. The slower waterflow makes the pools that stunning blue colour you’ve seen in all the photos. We went in late January 2024 and that is what it looked like then though the water was pretty cold!
June-October is the wet season and monsoon rains can turn the waterfall into a raging brown torrent. You can’t swim in the lower pools as the rapids make it too dangerous and your photos won’t pop with the brown in the same way as the blue does.
That said, we also visited Luang Prabang in mid-June 2024 and spoke to people who visited Kuang-Si and it was still blue, beautiful and swimmable. So you might get away with it if you’re early enough in wet season but don’t take that as a guarantee.
Best time of day
I am sad to report that earlier is better. Not that sad because we’re early risers but if you’re a night owl then it’s not ideal.
We arrived around 8.45am and it was extremely quiet, this was in peak season too.
Most of the vans start to arrive around 10-11am and the Chinese tour groups on their 2 day trips will start to pitch up between 11 and 12noon. This is when it gets crazy busy, even with such a large area.
It’s also cooler to walk around and hike to the top earlier in the day, which is nice.
Avoid weekends if at all possible. The China-Laos Railway means lots of extra weekend tourists down from China. As one of the most popular things to do in Luang Prabang, it’s going to be busy every day in peak season. But early on a weekday will give you a much more serene experience than midday on a Saturday.
Eating at Kuang-Si
It’s a tourist attraction so yes the food is more expensive and not quite as good compared to the restaurants in Luang Prabang proper. Its probably about as good as the night market and costs a little more.
But it’s still Laos so it’s not expensive by any stretch of the imagination (for tourists) and is absolutely fine. If in doubt you can always just buy cold drinks and crisps to keep you going until you get back to town for the good stuff.
Remember to wait 45 mins after eating before swimming or you’ll get cramp and die… Or so we were led to believe for basically our entire childhood.
What to bring to Kuang-Si
- Camera (if you have one that isn’t your phone)
- Go Pro (if you have one and want photos in the water)
- Phone with waterproof casing (if you don’t have the first 2)
- Swimming gear
- Towel
- Sunscreen (always)
- Bug spray (always always)
- Water
- Snacky-snacks (if you’re cheap like us and hate overpaying for food)
- Bag to keep all your belongings in 1 place when your swimming
Should you visit Kuang Si Waterfall?
Yes, we absolutely love Kuang-Si Waterfall. It’s a stunning waterfall that absolutely lives up to the hype. To get the best from this amazing natural wonder, we recommend going early on a weekday in dry season, if you can. Just make sure you have space for all the photos you’re going to take.
Laos
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