Best time
April to September is the drier half of the year. November to February is the wettest, when Bako boat landings and park trails are most often disrupted.
At a glance
- Eat
- Sarawak laksa, €24 Rate 2026-08-26. A morning-only stall in one of the old coffee shops; it sells out before noon and tastes of sambal and coconut, not curry.
- Book ahead
- Book Bako park accommodation and the boat a week or more ahead in dry season; the Semenggoh feeding times are fixed and do not need a ticket in advance.
- Skip
- A staged longhouse visit sold as a half day from town. If you want one, give it an overnight upriver or leave it out.
Kuching is the gentlest city in Malaysia to spend a few days in. The old town runs along one bank of the Sarawak river, with a Chinatown, an Indian street and a waterfront promenade you can walk in an evening; the sampan across the water is about 20 cents. The Borneo Cultures Museum is the best single museum in the country outside Kuala Lumpur at roughly €10 for foreign visitors, and it does the job of explaining Sarawak before you go into it.
Bako National Park is the day everyone remembers. A bus or Grab out to the jetty takes forty minutes, the boat in is €8 to €12 return per person plus a park fee of about €4, and the boat only runs when the tide allows, so the return time is set by the sea rather than by you. Proboscis monkeys, bearded pigs and macaques are close to certain along the coastal trails; take water and expect mud.
Semenggoh, twenty-five minutes south, has feeding sessions morning and afternoon where semi-wild orangutans may or may not appear — in fruiting season they often do not, and that is a sign the forest is doing its job. Entry is around €2. A dorm bed in the old town is €6 to €10, a boutique double is €25 to €50, and flights from Kuala Lumpur take under two hours and run cheaply if booked ahead.
Sources
- Malaysia travel guide, Tourism Malaysia, accessed
- Weather phenomena and the monsoon seasons, Malaysian Meteorological Department, accessed