5 Reasons to Visit Borneo
On New Year’s Day, we set off to explore a new place: Borneo. This revelation has left many friends and family members scratching their heads asking, “What is Borneo?” “Where is Borneo?” and “Why Borneo?”
Well, Borneo is the third-largest island in the world (not counting continents), and it’s off the east coast of Malaysia. It’s bigger than I ever knew! Our two initial reasons for going were: 1) It’s one of the last places on Earth where you can see wild orangutans, and 2) Bryan’s cousin has been living there for the past two years. The decision felt obvious; we had to go.
As we were planning and once we were there, we figured out some other great reasons to visit Borneo. It’s definitely worth a trip if you’re over on that side of the world; it even warrants a visit all its own.
Wild Orangutans
In Borneo, you can see attempt to see wild orangutans in a number of ways. There are options for multi-day treks and river cruises where you have the best chance of seeing them in their natural habitats. Most of these options require an additional flight, and the number of days you spend on the trek or cruise greatly increases your chance of spotting wildlife.
Being working people, we had limited time, so we chose to try seeing the orangutans in a semi-wild environment. We visited the Semenggoh Nature Reserve just outside the city of Kuching where orangutans roam freely from the wild into the reserve for feeding times. When we arrived, the employees told us it was unlikely we would see any orangutans that day. Because fruit season had begun. The orangutans wouldn’t need to come for feeding if they could find abundant fruit on their own. We opted to try our luck anyway.
We were meandering down to the viewing platform when we heard a rustling above us in the leaves. We looked up in awe to see an orangutan perched at the top of the telephone pole. She seemed to know the drill better than we did, and she waited until the guard crossed by to begin her descent. She steadily worked her way down to the platform, us tourists following her carefully behind.
They told us she was older (52!) and had recently been sick. She stayed on the platform in close view the whole time we were there, munching on jackfruit, durian, and sipping fruit juice from a bottle in the guard’s hand. We would see one more orangutan that day – a massive, younger male who came out of the forest for bananas and to show off his prowess at swinging from the vines. We kept our distance from him, but watched on wide-eyed.
2. National Parks
Borneo has a ton of national parks. There are 30 in the state of Sarawak alone (where we stayed when we visited Kuching.) There are dry and wet caves, beaches, jungles, and interesting rock formations. We learned there is a lot to see and do. More than we could ever fit into a one week trip.
We decided to start at the tip of Borneo, the meeting point between the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea. We flew from Singapore into Kota Kinabalu and drove up north for some beach time. After three days at the tip, we spent a night in KK before catching another flight to Kuching (where Bryan’s cousin lives.)
We chose to visit Baku National Park for its scenic views, wild bearded pigs, and the promise of monkeys. We were not disappointed in any category. It was a bit tricky navigating the boat schedule to get to the park – the tide was too low so we spent an unexpected hour waiting to depart. But once we arrived, there was much to see.
About a minute into our trek, a female wild pig and her babies crossed our path. We stepped around them hesitantly, but they didn’t seem to notice us. The monkeys on the other hand gave us a bit of trouble when we got in their way. We spent about 30 extra minutes frozen on the trail, hoping they would let us through. We made it out unscathed (and un-bitten!) to cloudy but gorgeous views of the beach.
3. Culture and Cats in Kuching
We learned from our local guide that Sarawak, the state where we visited the city of Kuching, is sort of an “it place” to be from if you’re visiting the area. Sarawakians have a certain state pride and enjoy a number of benefits, including discounts and priorities. When the Malaysian flag is hung, the Sarawak flag is placed right beside it. (Fun fact: Borneo is owned by three different countries – Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. We stayed in the Malaysian region, but we heard it’s actually fairly easy to pass through customs between the regions if you’re up for a lot of driving.)
Kuching is, literally, the city of cats. Legend has it that when British explorer James Brooke first arrived in Kuching and asked the name of the town, his local guide thought Brooke was pointing towards a cat. The guide answered, ‘kucing’ which is Malay for cat.
There are cat statues all over the city, and cats are deemed highly respected creatures. There’s even a sizable cat museum that my boyfriend was kind enough to accompany me through. And the city itself is impressive. The Sarawak River river runs through the center, providing a picturesque landscape for the unique Darul Hana bridge and a beautiful golden mosque. We met kind people and sampled some delicious, multicultural food throughout the week.
4. Beach Time
Borneo is probably not the first place you hear about when it comes to beach vacations, but maybe it should be. We were there during the rainy season, and it rained heavily one of the days we were there, but the beaches were otherwise nice and uncrowded.
When we planned our trip, we considered Vietnam or Indonesia for better surfing, but we squeezed it in at the tip of Borneo instead. We rented boards from Blue Fin Surf & Dive and stayed at both the North Borneo Biostation and Tommy’s Place. There wasn’t too much information about surfing there online, so we were going in a bit blind with pretty low expectations. We had rented a car in Kota Kinabalu for the four hour drive north and arrived to the biostation late at night. The manager, Jonathan, stayed up to warmly greet us and show us to our room. It was a really nice little bungalow and Jonathan was a fantastic host. The hotel seemed a bit deserted post-Covid but for no reason – it was really nice and I hope someday soon returns to its full capacity!
Tommy’s Place was busier, with more families and travelers coming through. There is not much else nearby, so we were happy to eat most of our meals there and get a surfboard rental from just down the road. The surfing was small, but fun. I’m still a beginner, so I enjoy when it’s small and Bryan didn’t seem to mind. It’s worth mentioning that we made a 40 minute drive in total darkness twice to eat at and return to this small, family-owned restaurant called Hock Choeong. Jonathan recommended it and it’s that good.
5. Adventures Everywhere
We were excited for the many adventures of Borneo, but we really didn’t know what to expect. It turned out to be a little bit of everything – beach, surf, warm rainstorms, multicultural cities, national parks, wildlife, luxurious hotels (for super low prices by our standards), fun bars, and nice people. We stopped for wild monkeys on the road and visited a town full of gong factories.
Every day was a new adventure, and there’s so much more we didn’t see. I would happily go back for more.
