Bako National Park

Bako, established in 1957 as Sarawak's first national park, packs an improbable amount into a small peninsula that can only be reached by a boat ride across a shallow bay, where the skipper may have to wait for the tide. Behind the beach, a network of well-marked trails climbs from mangrove and dipterocarp forest onto a plateau of scrubby heath called kerangas, thin-soiled and dotted with pitcher plants, and down to hidden coves and sea stacks carved into pink and ochre sandstone. The wildlife is the reason most people come: proboscis monkeys are common and often seen from the boardwalks near the headquarters, along with silvered langurs, bearded pigs rooting on the beach, monitor lizards and flying lemurs at dusk. It is easily done as a long day from Kuching, though staying overnight buys the dawn and night walks, which is when the forest is best.

Highlights

• Proboscis monkeys - reliably seen near the park headquarters and along the boardwalks.
• The sea stacks - eroded sandstone pillars off the coast, seen from the boat; the most famous, shaped like a cobra's head, collapsed in February 2024.
• The kerangas heath - the thin-soiled plateau with pitcher plants and stunted trees.
• Bearded pigs and night walks - the beach-foraging pigs and the guided evening walks.

When to go

Open year-round; March to September is generally drier and the sea calmer for the crossing. Boats depend on the tide, so departures cluster around high water, and rough seas can cancel them. Dawn and dusk are the best wildlife hours, which favours an overnight stay.

Things to know

Access depends entirely on tide and sea state, and boats are sometimes cancelled or delayed, occasionally stranding day-trippers; build slack into the plan. The trails are hot, humid and steeper than the small map suggests, and some involve scrambling over roots and rock. Accommodation is basic hostel-style and books out well ahead. Macaques here are bold thieves, so nothing edible should be left loose.

Nearby

Kuching and its waterfront are an hour away; the Semenggoh orangutan centre and Sarawak Cultural Village are nearby.

Key facts