Kampong Phluk Boat Tours Compared: Which One to Book (and What the Canoe Costs Extra)
6 min read
The short answer: for most people the Kampong Phluk Floating Village Sunset Boat Tour is the one to book. It costs €16.04 per person, is rated 5.0/5 from 3,913 reviews, and you choose a morning or an afternoon start. If you would rather go with the crowd, the most-booked tour has 8,750 reviews and costs €15.24. If you want a small group, there is one limited to 10 participants for €21.38, with morning and afternoon departures; its shared option is not suitable for children under 12. Whichever you pick, the flooded-forest canoe is an extra payment on the day.
Almost every Kampong Phluk offer is the same trip: a minibus from your hotel, a boat through the stilt village, then out onto the Tonlé Sap lake. They look interchangeable, and they are not quite. The differences are small, but they decide whether you see the village in good light or sit in the sun at noon.
The four side by side
| Tour | Duration | From | Rating | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kampong Phluk Floating Village Sunset Boat Tour | 5 hours | €16.04 | 5.0/5 from 3,913 reviews | most visitors; a choice of morning or afternoon |
| Kampong Phluk Floating Village Tour with Boat | 4.5 – 5 hours | €16.48 | 4.9/5 from 4,244 reviews | an afternoon start with sunset built in |
| Kampong Phluk Floating Village Tour by Boat | 6 hours | €15.24 | 4.9/5 from 8,750 reviews | readers who want the most-booked option |
| Kompong Phluk Floating Village Half-Day Tour | 5 hours | €21.38 | 4.8/5 from 1,005 reviews | a small group of up to 10, morning or afternoon start |
The sunset boat tour: the flexible one
This one lets you choose your slot. The booking page offers two departure schedules, morning or afternoon, and a sunset option on the lake. It lists about an hour on the road each way, an hour and a half in the village, two hours on the boats and about 45 minutes on Tonlé Sap for the sunset. It also says you can walk along the village’s main street, which matters in the dry season when the water is low.
The minibus has air conditioning, and cool water and a wet towel are included. Private or small-group formats are offered. The canoe through the flooded forest is not included: the page puts it at 5 US$ per person. The page lists pregnant women, children under 2 and people over 95 as not suited. The floating restaurant on the lake is where you will spend a little more.
Check availability and prices for the sunset boat tour
The afternoon tour with a fixed time
This one is the least flexible and the most predictable. The booking page gives a departure of 14:30, with pickup 30 minutes earlier, and an end time of 19:30. That is a proper sunset slot: village in the late afternoon, then the lake. Water and a guide are included, boats have roofs and life jackets, and the page describes a stop at a floating restaurant.
The canoe is again extra, at 5 US$. The page lists wheelchair users, babies under one year and people over 70 as not suited to the tour, so it is worth reading before you book for a multi-generation family.
Check availability and prices for the afternoon Kampong Phluk tour
The most-booked tour: the longest day
With 8,750 reviews it is the one most people have taken, and the booking page describes the classic sequence: hotel pickup, a minivan to the pier, a private boat to the village with its stilt houses, the floating hospital and a fishery, an optional canoe through the flooded mangroves, and sunset over the lake. It is also the longest, at six hours.
Two honest caveats. Check the departure times when you choose a date on the booking page. And ask what the optional mangrove canoe costs before you board. The page lists only pregnant women as not suited.
Check availability and prices for the most-booked Kampong Phluk tour
The small group: morning or afternoon
Its small group is limited to 10 participants. The itinerary starts with a stop at the Roluos market and an optional look at a pagoda, then the village by motor boat, and then the lake. On the morning departure you are back at your hotel around 13:30, which leaves your afternoon free and keeps you out of the worst of the midday sun; the page also offers a 14:30 afternoon departure. The price covers the entrance fee, the motor boat fee, life jackets, cold water and face wipes. The rowing boat to the flooded forest is extra: the page gives 6 US$ per person in one place and 5 US$ in another, and says it runs October to January.
The morning departure has no sunset, the page lists people with mobility impairments as not suited, and it says the shared option is not suitable for infants or children under 12. For that reason I would not book the morning slot for sunset photos, but I would book it for a quiet morning with a small group – just not on the shared option with children under 12.
Check availability and prices for the small-group morning tour
Which one is not for you
If you only have one day in town and want to see Angkor Wat at sunset, the afternoon tours collide with it. Pick one or the other, or do the village in the morning. If you are travelling with a wheelchair user, note that two of the four list wheelchair users or mobility impairments as not suited; ask the operator about the other two before you book. And if you have never been in the wet season, read when the water is high and when it is low before you choose a month, because the village looks different in April and in November.
The full range is on the floating villages page.
What I would book
The sunset boat tour at €16.04: rated 5.0/5 from 3,913 reviews, with a choice between morning and afternoon. Pay the extra 5 US$ for the canoe if the water is high enough; it is the part that makes the village feel real.
