How to See Kuang Si Falls Without the Crowds

The Kuang Si Falls attract millions of tourists to Laos every year. They’re situated near the city of Luang Prabang and attract a wide variety of visitors, from tour groups to backpackers. However, did you know that you could visit the Kuang Si Falls without being bothered by the crowds? Keep reading to find out how!

Get there early

By far the most important thing is getting to the falls early. They open at 8AM and the crowds increase steadily during the day, but as long as you’re there before 11AM you should be fine. The easiest way to beat the crowds is to rent a motorcycle and come by yourself at opening time. If you manage to do this you can be sure to be alone. But what if you don’t want to or can’t rent a bike? Are you doomed to watch the falls surrounded by hundreds of people? Absolutely not.

We did not want to rent a motorbike . We had no idea how to ride one and didn’t love the idea of trying to learn in Southeast Asia. For this reason we booked a van from our hotel. Just about every office offering van transfers from Luang Prabang operates at the exact same times of day – vans leave at 9 am, 11:30 am and 1:30 pm. Obviously this being Laos they won’t be exactly on time, but you will still beat most of the crowds by taking the earliest one.

kuang si falls luang prabang bus minivan tuk-tuk schedule — The image quality isn’t ideal but I hope you can read it nonetheless. These are the prices offered by our hotel in January 2020. They seemed coherent with other prices we had seen in Luang Prabang.

You can also go by tuk-tuk. The price announced at our hotel seemed very expensive so we decided to go with the van, even if that meant sacrificing a little in terms of privacy. Nonetheless, if you’re traveling with a group it can be worth it. You can even go to the night market and ask people to go with you! It can really be worth it to arrive early and make some new friends in the process.

Climb on top of the waterfall

You can see a path going from the bottom all the way to the top of the waterfall. You’ll need to climb some stairs which can get slippery, but the view from the top is beautiful. If you’re visiting in the rainy season or the stairs don’t look safe for some reason, please put your own safety first.

kuang si falls stairs — The stairs to get to the top were very wet and slippery – be careful.

The real payoff, however, is when you come down. The path to go up and the path to come down are actually two different paths, each one going on one side of the waterfall. When you come down you’ll see that you can walk to the right, toward the water. After some climbing you should find a small pool with water cascading over it. We were amazed to find this little gem. There were a few people when we got there but nothing compared to the crowds near the main pools.

secret hidden spot kuang si falls — This little slice of paradise was practically empty when we got there!

There is also the not-so-secret “secret pool” that many pride themselves with having found. Again, to find it you just have to take one of the small roads to the right and climb a little. However, we want to strongly discourage you from swimming in this pool. When we visited, a broken wooden fence blocked the road. From the fence (where we stopped and decided to admire the pool from afar instead of going further) there is a steep descent to the edge of the pool where you’ll see another fence – barbed wire this time.

kuang si falls secret pool — The “secret pool” from afar. If you look closely you can see the barbed-wire fence.

In my opinion these fences are there for one of two reasons. Either there have been accidents and they don’t want people to go there so nobody gets hurt (or worse), or this pool is sacred. Many of the pools at Kuang Si are very sacred to the locals and you are not allowed to swim in them. Either way, respect the wishes of the locals.

Swim in the water

Even though some pools are sacred, you can still swim in most of them! You will, however, soon notice that very few people are actually swimming or spending more than a couple minutes in the water. The secret here is that the water is usually absolutely freezing! If you’re ready to sacrifice some of your comfort you can get gorgeous pictures without being bothered by anyone.

kuang si falls water — You can see a couple people swimming in the background, nothing compared to the crowds right next to the pools.

Please remember that Laos is a very conservative country and the way you dress when swimming can be very disrespectful. There are signs like this one in many places near the entrance.

Instead, I would recommend either shirts made of swimsuit material, a dress-swimsuit (monokini with an attached skirt) or even regular clothes that you can swap for other clothes before heading back to Luang Prabang.

Go during the low season.

I chose to put this one last because it’s not foolproof. Firstly, going in the low season doesn’t always mean there will be less tourists. Everything tends to be cheaper, which attracts visitors. Secondly, the low season almost always means the rainy season. While I went during the dry season, during the rainy season the falls lose their blue color and turn into a brown mess. You might go in the rainy season and get lucky and see blue waters with no tourists, or you might get brown-ish torrents of water and disappointed crowds. I encourage you to judge this one for yourself.

Have you ever been to the Kuang Si falls? Did you notice any hidden pools or passages and did you manage to avoid the crowds? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

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