Activities

Tutong hosted Dusun food and culture visit

Tutong

Arrange a hosted visit at Alai Gayoh Anak Pulau to learn about Dusun food, music and local traditions.

Village cycling in Cipta Karya

West Kalimantan

Cipta Karya's Biking Eco Friendly activity explores the rural setting at bicycle pace. The village lists it separately from mountain-bike cross-country, an important distinction when choosing equipment and effort. This page concerns a locally arranged village ride, not a technical trail challenge.

Visit Batu Punggul with a local guide

Travel by longboat into the Sapulot landscape and consider an optional, demanding climb on an exposed limestone pinnacle.

Cattle grazing at Desa Dairy Farm in Mesilau, photographed in 2022.

Visit Desa Dairy Farm in Kundasang

Make a planned visit to a working dairy farm in Mesilau, with a focus on milk production and the visitor activities available that day.

Bfyhdch · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped · Original

Keningau Heritage Museum, photographed in 2013.

Visit Keningau Heritage Museum

Use a former government rest house to explore the history and cultural life of Sabah’s interior.

CEphoto, Uwe Aranas · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cropped · Original

Entrance to the weekly tamu market in Kota Belud, photographed in 2023.

Visit Kota Belud’s Sunday tamu

Explore the weekly trading market, meeting local sellers and looking at produce and handmade goods.

Syafiq.y · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped · Original

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Entrance to Kundasang War Memorial, photographed in 2012.

Visit Kundasang War Memorial

Make room for remembrance in the highlands at a memorial to prisoners of war and the people of North Borneo who tried to help them.

CEphoto, Uwe Aranas · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cropped · Original

Entrance to Sandakan Memorial Park, photographed in 2012.

Visit Sandakan Memorial Park

Spend time at the former prisoner-of-war camp site to understand a difficult chapter of Sandakan’s history.

CEphoto, Uwe Aranas · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cropped · Original

Visit a fishing bagang with Sarang Tiung’s hosts

South Kalimantan

Join Sarang Tiung’s fishing community for a locally arranged sea outing to a bagang, a fishing platform off Pulau Laut. The experience centres on meeting the fishers and understanding their work, with the boat journey, net activity and return agreed around conditions at sea.

The limestone hill at Agop Batu Tulug, photographed in 2012.

Visit the burial caves of Agop Batu Tulug

Explore an archaeological museum site near Batu Puteh, where carved wooden coffins connect the limestone landscape with earlier communities.

CEphoto, Uwe Aranas · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cropped · Original

Visiting Huma Hai in Sei Gohong

Central Kalimantan

Explore a heritage house associated with Sei Gohong’s early settlement, with local guidance that places the building within the village’s continuing Dayak Ngaju cultural life.

Sarawak Cultural Village near the Santubong coast.

Visiting Sarawak Cultural Village

Santubong & Damai

Explore Sarawak’s cultural diversity through exhibition houses and demonstrations at Damai, with time to look beyond the stage programme.

Tys · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cropped · Original

Entrance walkway at Gomantong Caves, photographed in 2008.

Walk into Gomantong Cave

Explore the public boardwalk at Simud Hitam and learn how swiftlets, bats and nest harvesting connect with this limestone landscape.

Laura · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · Cropped · Original

Walk the Crocker Range Salt Trail with a guide

Follow a village route across the Crocker Range, combining demanding forest walking with overnight arrangements made through the communities along the way.

Sandakan old town seen from Harbour Mall.

Walk the Sandakan Heritage Trail

Explore Sandakan’s streets, memorials and hillside history on a town walk that gives the east-coast gateway a story beyond wildlife transfers.

CEphoto, Uwe Aranas · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped · Original

Bamboo and a footbridge beside the Mahua River in the waterfall visitor area, photographed in 2014.

Walk through rainforest to Mahua Waterfall

Visit the Mahua substation near Tambunan for a short forest approach and time beside a waterfall.

CEphoto, Uwe Aranas · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cropped · Original

Kipungit Waterfall at Poring, photographed in 1989; a historical view.

Walk to Kipungit Waterfall at Poring

Add a focused lowland forest walk to a Poring visit, with Kipungit Waterfall as the destination rather than a longer mountain trek.

sussexbirder · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · Cropped · Original

The coastal monument at Tanjung Simpang Mengayau, photographed in 2012.

Walk to the Tip of Borneo viewpoint

Follow the coastal viewpoint visit at Tanjung Simpang Mengayau, beyond Kudat on Sabah’s northern peninsula.

CEphoto, Uwe Aranas · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cropped · Original

Walking Sibu's riverfront and heritage streets

Sarawak

Connect Sibu's river setting with its heritage buildings, public spaces and museum interpretation. Choose a manageable walking route, allowing each place to explain a different part of the town's story.

Cerevisae · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped · Original

Walking through Tarakan's mangrove conservation area

North Kalimantan

Tarakan offers an unusual nature stop within an urban stay: a walk through the city's mangrove and proboscis-monkey conservation area, commonly known as KKMB. Raised walkways bring visitors into a tidal forest setting where roots, mud and vegetation create a different landscape from the streets nearby. The interest is both ecological and local: this is a managed conservation site within a working island city, rather than a remote rainforest expedition. It is particularly useful for travellers with limited time in Tarakan, families who enjoy observing animals quietly and visitors curious about mangroves. Give the walk enough time for pauses. Looking at the structure of the roots and watching the forest edge can be as rewarding as moving directly towards an animal sighting.

Ezagren (Arief R. Randan) · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped · Original

Walking to Riam Barawatn waterfall from Sahan

West Kalimantan

Plan a village-arranged waterfall outing in Bengkayang Regency, with a road journey to Sahan, a local motorcycle stage and a final walk to Riam Barawatn.

Sunrise view over the Riam Kanan reservoir from Bukit Matang Keladan, photographed in 2017; access before daylight must be checked separately.

Walking up Matang Kaladan above Riam Kanan

South Kalimantan

Climb from the Tiwingan Lama area to a hilltop view over Riam Kanan’s small islands, with time to look at the landscape rather than simply collect a photograph.

Dwi Siaga Wanto, S.Mat · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped · Original

Watching traditional boatbuilding at Sewangi

South Kalimantan

Discover the craft behind the riverboats of South Kalimantan through a carefully arranged visit to Sewangi’s working boatbuilding community.

The Kinabatangan River at Kampung Sukau.

Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary

Wildlife watching on the Kinabatangan River

A small boat moving along the forest edge is the defining Kinabatangan experience. From the water, you can scan riverside trees for proboscis monkeys, watch birds crossing between banks and see how the river connects patches of lowland and swamp forest. Most visitors stay at a river lodge and take several outings rather than attempting one long excursion from Sandakan. Dawn and late afternoon bring different light, sounds and animal activity, while time between cruises lets you rest or join an available nature walk. This is an appealing choice for wildlife travellers and photographers who prefer boat-based observation to continuous jungle trekking. Its particular strength is the repeated opportunity to watch the same river landscape over several days, with a guide interpreting what is happening around you. The river is a habitat, not a scheduled animal show.

CEphoto, Uwe Aranas · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cropped · Original