Asia
Cambodia
Siem Reap Province
Siem Reap
Places to visit in Siem Reap
Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary
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Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary

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Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary
4.5
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
4.5
47 reviews
Excellent
34
Very good
7
Average
3
Poor
2
Terrible
1
TheHumbleTravellers
Greater Noida, India687 contributions
Beautiful sanctuary ruined by bad infrastructure. Lot of improvement required
Dec 2019
It was our first visit to water bird sanctuary anywhere and we were very excited but things didnot went as per the plan. But before going into detail, want to update few things:-

a) This is a quite remote place to visit and there is no comfortable source of travelling available to reach here

b) You will start very early in the morning and reach one of the river docks, our route was all countryside and with almost zero roads, so it can be a bumpy ride in middle of no where

c) Post reaching dock, you will get into a boat which will take you to Prek Toral floating village. This boat is common motor boat and completely open so you might feel cold as its early in morning with wind coming at you at super speed, so do carry some jacket

d) Once you reach village, your guide will give you some knowledge of area.

Above all is for guidance for others and not issues.

Now issues I had:-

a) Language, she was just speaking with 50% things going above my head and i tried to check couple of times but accent is big problem. Still its not a big problem

b) We started journey to bird sanctuary in a kind of a local jet boat which create noise may be more louder than an airplane. This was the most terrifying part of our journey. How can we have such loud motor boats in natural reserves??

c) Boat driver and guide were just driving and driving and I had to shout among this loudiest boat to stop so that I can take few pics

Also there is a big man made bamboo/wood watch tower and you can climb it you want. It gives a good bird eye view of area but not necessarily view of birds

I was expecting a more calmer and trip with naturalist which will guide slowly and let us enjoy and capture nature.

Overall was able to take some good pics but nothing outstanding. It gave me more headache then pleasure.

Cambodia government in collaboration with locals need to treat this area with more care and love. Naturalists need to be more trained in accent so that foreigners can understand things better. Lot of things to be done here
Written 24 May 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
tony-travller
england49 contributions
A must visit
Jan 2020 • Couples
It’s bit of. mission to get to the bird sanctuary. It takes about a couple of hours . From where you catch a boat which is over 20 mins fro Siem Reap it a good hour plus across the northern tip of Tonlie Sap lake . Then it’s a transfer into a small boat . But it’s so worth it . From that moment on its a paradise for bird watchers and non bird watchers ! Different types is storks , pelicans , fishing eagles , cormorants of all sorts and egrets are in great numbers . It’s incredible . Bring cameras , binoculars and loads of sunblock for a fabulous day out. Don’t forget lots of water too ....some of the best birdwatching I’ve seen from many parts of the world .
Written 2 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Justin K
3 contributions
Creative traveling in the future
Sep 2019
I'm amazed how expensive some of these activities are in around Siem Reap. I am actually quite excited to go and find alternative cheaper options by hiring a local with a boat. Would this not be a more responsible idea? Then the money goes to a local?
Written 11 September 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Meg S
Puno, Peru28 contributions
Peaceful beauty
Jan 2019 • Friends
We took a tour that had been hand-crafted by our Air BnB host and his driver. It was a beautiful journey first to the lake, then by mid-sized boat out to the floating village, and finally through the narrower waterways on a smaller boat. The floating village was picturesque and peaceful. Then we arrived at the lookout, which was a two-story structure made of saplings. We saw a range of water birds (including young pelicans being fed in their nests), learned about their breeding and nesting habits, and also learned about the cultural shift that is happening as locals learn to protect rather than eat the eggs and the birds themselves.The setting was exquisite. This was a great counterbalance to the crowds at the temples. After our bird watching we had a simple, tasty meal at one of the floating eateries, and then visited the small store that sells items crafted from the water hyacinths that are otherwise clogging the waterways.
Written 15 January 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
postscript65
Hermanus, South Africa1,124 contributions
Valuable tour
Dec 2018 • Couples
This 22,000 hect area on the Tonie Sap lake provides protection for some of SE Asia’s endangered bird species. We visited at breeding time when huge flocks of giant maribou, painted storks, asian openbills and spot billed pelicans can be seen in vast numbers. They crowd the foliage or swirl in the thermals.
We spent several hours on a long tail and on the tree platforms. It is a very special experience as these birds have been hunted to near extinction.
Firstly take a taxi/boat to Prek Toal floating village then transfer to a guided boat into the sanctuary.
Allow half a day. It is an enriching experience.
Written 9 December 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sok K
5 contributions
Amazing
Jul 2018 • Family
We had been there one day trips took Siem Reap by boat .So many bird and nutural places .hightly recommend to place .
Written 6 July 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
viajeracuandopueda
Medford, OR58 contributions
Birds everywhere
Jan 2018 • Couples
We went to the Sanctuary in January, which is dry season. Getting to the sanctuary involves a long drive from Siem Reap to a somewhat challenging "port" on a canal, a boat trip across Lake Tonle Sap, and up a river to a floating village, and transfer to a small canoe-type boat with an outboard motor for another 30-45 minute trip through flooded wetlands and forests. Many birds to see along the way. The reward is a climb to a tree-top viewing platform with a powerful spotting scope from which one can see literally thousands of nesting and flying birds of various descriptions. If possible, combine the trip with a visit to the floating village and the women of the Saray water hyacinth weaving cooperative.
Written 16 February 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Robert B
3 contributions
Sam Veasna tour
Jan 2018 • Couples
We hired the tour and began the tortuous ride to the nearby floating village with super-guide Mr. Sam Mony. A larger flat-bottomed boat carried us through the canal/grasslands/swamp to a smaller floating village. We changed to a small long-tailed boat... and cruised the grasslands to our lookout point. We were tested to thousands of stokes, hundreds of pelicans, and a variety of herons, egrets, kingfisher, beecatchers and a fish eagle. We witnessed hundreds of birds riding thermals in a slow-motion tornado. And we finished with an awe inspiring sunset over the lake.

Angkor Way is great... but the birds were equally memorable.

Thanks to expert guide Mr. Mony for a fantastic start to 2018!
Written 2 January 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Marjorie P
Alameda, CA56 contributions
Glorious day on the water watching birds
Dec 2017 • Couples
We spent a day birding at the Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary and Reserve in December, which is the start of the dry season, after making arrangements by email with the Sam Veasna Center for Wildlife Conservation. I've included the Center's web address. Our guide, who spoke good English, and driver picked us up before dawn at our hotel and before sunrise we transferred into a boat with about 8 seats maneuvered by the owner's son. We watched the small fishing boats arrive to negotiate with the wholesalers as we headed along a river into the marsh area at the northern end of the Tonle Sap Lake, ending at a floating fishing village. There we climbed to the rooftop viewing platform to look for birds while we ate our to-go breakfast. Our guide, while looking for and pointing out birds perched below us or flying in the distance, explained that the Sanctuary hired local bird hunters and trained them to serve as rangers; they now patrol the Sanctuary to protect the birds from hunters.

Then in a smaller wooden canoe we went into the sanctuary, moving through pathways between reeds and marsh bushes; sometimes we seemed to be creating a new path, but we saw birds along the way, many of them new to a birder from north America. We arrived at the destination, a viewing platform high in a tree, reached by climbing a ladder of branches roped together. With the scope our guide brought, we could see hundreds of birds circling, roosting in the treetops, and sitting on nests. The Painted Storks, Asian Openbills and Spot-billed Pelicans seemed to be everywhere, although they were actually clustered separately on their tree tops.

Another group of visitors arrived, so we reluctantly gave up our spaces on the tree-top platform for the return trip through the marsh, again seeing storks, openbills, herons, darters and bee-eaters. At the floating village we explored a workshop where local women weave floor mats, baskets and numerous other containers from dried and dyed stalks of the ubiquitous water hyacinth. Stalks were drying on the walkway outside the workshop. Lunch was served next door, in another floating building. Then we climbed back into our first, larger, boat for the trip back to our waiting driver and the ride back to the hotel. Our pictures do not do justice to the memories of a glorious day on the water looking at birds.
Written 30 December 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Andrea W
Sydney, Australia191 contributions
As with the river dolphins, pick your season
Oct 2017
We travelled in October, when the Mekong is in full flow, and the Tonle Sap lake is in full flood. This means that the birds have far more territory to spread out over, and the diversity is not as compelling if you are a serious twitcher. Very glad we went: organised a private tour through our hotel and had a boat to ourselves. It's a long river/lake trip in a local boat and it's fantastic to motor through the villages that are situated on the lake. We didn't in fact go into the sanctuary itself - maybe that was a mistake, but with the water level in the lake as high, I suspect the birds were out and about foraging. Well worth the effort, and with planning, you might get a time when the birds are really concentrated, and in the sanctuary as well.
Written 1 December 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary (Siem Reap) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos) - Tripadvisor

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