I Took the Koh Samui 4×4 Jungle Safari Tour (Honest Review)

If you think Koh Samui is all beaches and beach clubs, this 4×4 jungle safari will change your mind pretty quickly.

I did the tour with my family, and somewhere between bouncing along jungle roads and our guide stopping to pick me a flower after finding out it was my birthday, it became one of my favourite days in Thailand.

It felt personal, fun and completely different from the rest of our time on the island.

If you are thinking about booking the same tour, here is exactly what we did, what surprised me and whether I think it is worth giving up a full day in Koh Samui for.

How to Get There for the 4×4 Jungle Safari Tour

The tour picks you up straight from your hotel, so you don’t need to organise your own transport.

Our first stop was a temple, where we had a look around before swapping over to the 4×4 for the rest of the day.

What the Day Was Actually Like

Once we were in the jeep, we headed up into the hills that run through the middle of Koh Samui.

There are seats up on top of the 4×4 as well as inside, and the group swapped seats roughly every half an hour so everyone got a turn.

We stopped at a rubber plantation partway up the hill and watched how the rubber is actually tapped from the trees, which I’d never seen done before.

Further along, the tour stops at temples including Wat Khunaram, home to a mummified monk, and a couple of the island’s other well known temples, along with the Na Muang waterfall and the Secret Buddha Garden with its hand carved statues.

Right at the top of the main hill, we stopped for a lunch of traditional southern Thai food, buffet style, with a proper view out over the forest below.

The tour runs in a convoy of three 4x4s, and our group was around 11 to 12 people, so between the temples, the waterfall and the jungle drive itself, it’s a genuinely full day out.

What I Enjoyed

Getting up into the hills and jungle was the highlight for me, because it’s such a different environment to the beaches everyone associates with Koh Samui.

Seeing the small villages along the way gave us a much better sense of how people actually live on the island, rather than just the resort side of things.

And obviously, having our guide stop to pick me a flower when he found out it was my birthday made the whole day feel personal rather than like a standard group tour!

What I Didn’t Like

With three jeeps travelling together, some of the more popular stops like the Big Buddha temple can feel a bit busy once every group piles out at once.

It’s a minor thing, but worth knowing if you’re hoping for quiet, empty photos at every stop.

Anything I Wished I’d Known Sooner

I wish I’d known just how much more there is to Koh Samui beyond the beaches before this trip, because it changed how I’d recommend people spend their time on the island.

If you’ve got the time, I’d build at least one day like this into any Koh Samui itinerary, rather than treating the whole trip as a beach holiday.

Top Tip

💡 Top tip: Take a jacket or light layer for the ride up into the hills, it’s noticeably cooler up there than down on the coast, and grab a spot up on top of the 4×4 when it’s your turn, the views over the plantations are worth it.

Is It Worth It?

For the temples, the jungle, the waterfall and a proper Thai lunch all in one day, I think this is one of the best value tours you can do on the island.

It’s not a relaxing beach day, it’s an active, full day out, so go in expecting that rather than something low key.

👉 Check availability for the Koh Samui 4×4 Jungle Safari Tour →

If you’re staying in Koh Samui and want one day that isn’t spent on a sunbed, this is the tour I’d point you to.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand has more on what else the island’s interior has to offer if this gets you curious for more.