Things to do in Sarawak. Responsible travel guide to things to do in Sarawak

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Things to do in Sarawak

Monkey around at Bako

There’s a lot of hype about Sarawak’s exotic wildlife and it doesn’t disappoint. Better still, a lot of the State’s land is protected, making it one of the best places to see wildlife in a natural setting.

Long-limbed orangutans are a huge draw to people visiting Borneo and Malaysia, but sightings of them swinging around their natural habitat are rare. It’s proboscis monkeys – a species only found on Borneo – that are the star of Sarawak’s show and are perpetual crowd pleasers, regularly seen along the wild shoreline of mangrove swamp at Bako National Park. The chance of spotting the more elusive clouded leopards, tiny tarsiers, slow lorises, and sun bears will keep wildlife fans on their toes day after day, and wildlife is most active at dawn and dusk, so overnight trips give you the chance to spot flying lemurs and pangolins.

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A walk in the park

Nobody does national parks quite like Sarawak. The state plays host to a whopping 30 national parks, four wildlife sanctuaries and ten nature reserves – oh, and a rainforest the same size as Austria.

Gunung Gading sprawls across four jungle-clad mountain peaks with a dense primary rainforest that’s traversed by crystalline streams and tumbling waterfalls and is one of the best places in the whole of Asia in which to spot the giant Rafflesia plant. Bako is Sarawak’s oldest national park and a wildlife-lovers dream packed full of pendulum-faced proboscis monkeys, monitor lizards, otters, bearded pigs and long-tailed macaques. And the Gunung Mulu, a park that became a UNESCO Site in 2000, in recognition of its natural diversity, beauty and geology, is famed for its extraordinary caves – the monumental limestone karsts are striking, with deep gorges and blade-like peaks.

Live like a local

Nicki Hollamby, from our supplier Audley Travel, shares her favourite thing to do in Sarawak:
“We stayed with a small Iban community in their longhouse, which had 12 families under one roof. We spent the evening with them, cooking and eating and slept in the communal area of the longhouse, on a mattress under a mosquito net. We got up the next morning when at 5am with the tribe and their chickens to see how they cook and learn how they used to hunt. Considering it is set up for tourists, it’s really good, they laugh and joke and you get your hands dirty – I loved it.”

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The jewel in Sarawak's natural crown, Mulu National Park is a lively verdant mass of green against limestone precipices and rugged mountains

Tarzan or Jane?

The jungle – an almost mythical expanse of nature so dense that even the trees lose track of whose vibrant green leaves belong to who and in which man is most definitely bottom of the pecking order – is alive and kicking in Sarawak. Hikers can explore the trails across the four jungle clad peaks of Gunung Gading NP. Or there are sixteen trails in Bako NP which should keep any hiker happy as will Telok Limau, a seven-hour rainforest trek which takes you right into the hot and steamy heart of it all. You can also cycle through the Sarawakian jungle covered mountains, ancient trails and back roads of the Penrissen Highlands. Or swap saddle for paddle for the ultimate jungle experience, canoeing the Sarawak River under the trusty guidance of an indigenous Bidayuh expert.

Orangutan conservation

If you are interested in volunteering with orangutan conservation organisations, Sarawak has several on offer. But be warned. This is far from a world of cuddly conservation. Touching orangutans is not allowed, due to their vulnerability to human disease. But there are many other ways to help, cleaning cages of rescued orangutans, planting fruit trees to re-establish all important habitats, building structures for them to swing on and helping with ongoing conservation education programmes within local communities. Such volunteering trips take place at the Matang Wildlife Centre in Kubah NP, Semenggoh Orangutan Centre and, working with the Iban indigenous people, at Ulu Menyang Wildlife Conservation Area. Find out more about orangutan conservation in Sarawak .

It wasn't the festive season when we spotted the gorgeous Christmas frigatebird in Sarawak. but spotting it along the Kuching coast certainly made for a happy vacation.

Birdwatching

The beauty and ecological importance of birds has long been recognised in Sarawak, as the indigenous Iban people have always worshipped the bird-god Sengalang Burong. And this is why you will often see exquisite carvings of them when you are here. The real things are beyond exquisite too, however, with a bonanza of birdlife here, as celebrated in the state’s 22 designated Important Bird Areas.

Find out more about birdwatching in Sarawak

Responsible Travel would like to thank the Sarawak tourist board for their sponsorship of this guide

More about Sarawak

Best time to visit Sarawak

A quick glimpse at our temperature & rainfall chart will tell you the best time to visit Sarawak in terms of the weather however, delve a little deeper and you’ll discover a month by month guide, expert recommendations and our cultural pick from the Sarawak calendar.

Sarawak travel guide

If you’re looking to learn all about Malaysia’s largest state then our Sarawak travel guide does just the job with a brief history of Sarawak as well as a 2 minute summary to help you travel like a local on your Sarawak vacation.

Where to go in Sarawak

Make the most of your time on your travels by checking out our interactive map of highlights, travel times and suggested itineraries which will give you a much better idea as to where to go in Sarawak and what to do when you get there.

Community tourism in Sarawak

If you travel into the Central Highlands of Sarawak, you should take the opportunity to stay with the Lun Bawang people.

Sarawak National Parks

Sarawak’s national parks are a revelation.

Sarawak adventure vacations

Adventure amongst a place of dense rainforest and vibrant green plateaus snaked across by the toffee-coloured waters of the Sarawak

Rainforest World Music Festival

If the late, great Ella Fitzgerald were still singing on our mortal coil, she would almost certainly have graced the stage of the Rainforest World Music Festival in Sarawak.

Orangutan conservation in Sarawak

Orangutans are eerily human and, ironically, many conservationists believe that it is this similarity to humans that has endangered them so.

Bird watching in Sarawak

There are over twenty Important Bird Areas in Sarawak alone.

Travel to Batang Ai National Park, Sarawak

An unsurpassed destination to see the highly endangered orangutan in the wild living symbiotically with the local Iban community which contribute to it's protection.

Culture in Sarawak

Sarawak has developed its own very distinctive culture, completely different to what you would find in mainland Malaysia.

Kuching

Discover the gateway to Sarawak and Malaysian Borneo.

Traveling in Sarawak with kids

Traveling in Sarawak with kids is all about finding what to do with little ones that they’ll enjoy and learn from at the same time with cultural villages, Kuching Cat Museum and the Sarawak Caves in Gunung National Park all perfect activities for families in Sarawak looking to inspire future responsible travelers.

Sarawak travel advice

If you’re searching for Sarawak travel advice then make sure you pay attention to the tips from our friends in Sarawak as from Stef Studley to Harriet Whitmarsh, we’ve published a few pearls of wisdom to help you travel safely with kids, and without.

Responsible tourism in Sarawak

There are some major wildlife & environment issues that may come to the fore when researching responsible tourism in Sarawak.

Benefits of a short tour to Sarawak

It’s easily reached from both Kuala Lumpur and Singapore by air, and there is a great deal to see – including orangutans! – in a fairly compact area, so the benefits of a short tour to Sarawak are as clear as the waters of its many dive sites.