River · Full Day
Private Mae Wang Jungle Kayak.
- Full day · 8:30 am – 5:30 pm
- Mae Wang Valley
- 17–20 km · Class I–II
- Beginners welcome
- Private departures
The Experience
A jungle river under Thailand’s highest mountain.
Forty-five minutes from Chiang Mai, the Mae Wang Valley sits in the shadow of Doi Inthanon. The river runs jungle-fringed and shallow, and the upper section is gentle enough that a first-time paddler can read it within the hour.
After instruction on the bank you choose your boat — a manoeuvrable sit-on-top, or a white-water kayak with a spray skirt — and put in. Seventeen to twenty kilometres follow over three or four hours, Class I and II throughout, with long easy stretches between the rapids.
Watch the banks. Elephants come down to the water here, and the forest carries more birdsong than any road in the valley.
Impressions
Scenes from the river
The Day
How it unfolds
01
Into the Valley
An 8:30 pickup from your hotel, then a 45-minute drive through open countryside to Mae Wang.
02
On the Bank
Kayak technique and river-reading basics, then choosing the boat that suits you.
03
The River
Three to four hours and up to twenty kilometres of Class I and II water, with time to drift between the rapids.
04
Back by Evening
Lunch on the river, then the drive home to arrive at your hotel around 5:30.
Included
Every detail, handled
Motivated beginners are welcome; no experience is required. Children from fourteen may join in a single kayak. Bring a change of clothes, sunscreen and a hat. In low-water season we move to a river better suited to the conditions.
— Private expert guides
Instructors and safety kayakers on the water with your party alone.
— Full outfitting
Sit-on-top and white-water kayaks, spray skirts, buoyancy aids, helmets and gloves.
— Lunch on the river
Lunch included and vegetarian catered for, with drinking water throughout the day.
— Hotel transfers
Door to door, 8:30 am to roughly 5:30 pm.