[MALAYSIA] Sarawak - Day Trip to Bako National Park from Kuching (Map Included)

09:27 Travel Bunny 0 Comments

Bako National Park is Sarawak's oldest national park. It is famous for its dramatic sea stacks, diverse ecosystem and for being home to the endangered Proboscis Monkey. It is easy to take a day trip to Bako from Kuching.

Getting there:

The journey to the national park involves a 37-kilometre car or bus ride from Kuching to Bako Jetty Terminal and a 20-minutes boat ride to the park. 

Everyone has to enter the park by boat. So the only difference is how you get to Bako Jetty Terminal.

There are several ways to visit Bako National Park:

1) Join a local tour is the easiest way to visit the park and also the most expensive one. It costs about RM 300 per adult including all transport, entrance fee and guide fee.

2) Take a local bus route no. 1 or 6A from the Kuching Open Air Market to Bako Jetty Terminal, then take a boat to the park. The bus fare is only RM 1 per person. The bus journey takes about 45 to 60 minutes depending on traffic condition. The last bus from Bako is 4.30pm. See the bus schedule here.

3) Grab taxi is another convenient way to get to Bako Jetty Terminal. It costed me RM 28 from the hotel to the jetty terminal. However, take note that most probably you won't manage to hail any taxi on the return trip. The only option would to be take the local bus back to the city.

4) Drive to Bako Jetty Terminal. Bako Jetty Terminal has a carpark area for those who drive to the jetty terminal.

Bako Jetty Terminal

Visitors will have to register and pay for the entrance tickets and boat tickets at Bako Jetty Terminal.

First, visitors will need to present IC (Malaysian) or Passport (Non-Malaysian) for the registration to enter Bako National Park. Then, make payment for the entrance ticket. Visitors will need to register again and show the entrance ticket to the park staff at the park HQ after the boat ride.

I paid RM 200 for the return boat tickets since we were not sharing the boat with other visitors. If you are sharing boat for other visitors, the boat ticket will be cheaper, RM 30 per person each way.

The boat departed right after we bought our tickets. 

The boat man passed us some life jackets to be worn during the boat journey. 

The boat ride was quite smooth except the last leg of journey where we faced some rough waves at the sea. 

When we arrived the beach of Bako National Park, we took off our shoes to walk in the shallow waters towards the park HQ. It is advisable to bring a bag to put your shoes and some tissue papers to wipe your legs upon arriving the dry land.

You can wash your feet at the designated area upon arriving.

Bako National Park sign.

Remember to to register again at the registration counter and show the entrance ticket to the park staff. The staff will show the map of trekking trail and advise you on which trekking trail is open.

There are a total of ten trekking trails open for visitors. The staff recommended us to take Trail No.3, 5 or 6. Trail No.3 (T. Paku) is where you'll likely encounter the Proboscis Monkeys. It takes 1 hour one way to complete the trail. Trail No.5 (T. Pandan Besar) is where you'll hike up to a viewpoint and the journey takes 1 hour and you can continue on Trail No.6 which will take another half an hour to reach the beach. At the end of Trail No. 6, you can see the sea stacks by the beach. Click to see enlarged map.

Some of the wildlife found in the park.

Visitors can choose to stay overnight in these forest lodges. Effective 1 February 2019, tourist has to pay RM 10.00 per room per night for Tourism Tax.

We decided to take Trail No.5 and 6 to see the sea stacks. Then we began walking towards the trails. The first part of trail is easy as we just needed to follow the wooden plank trail. It is not advisable to stray from the designated trail as you might encounter crocodiles in the wetlands.

The mangrove forest has many tiny fiddler crabs with one claw.

The forest trail began to become challenging once you reach the forest, especially if you're bringing young children. In addition, the forest floor would become wet and slippery during rainy season.  Trail No. 5 involves climbing high steps. It was then my seven-year-old son got scared of the height and I had to take him back to the visitor center. It is more for experienced jungle trekkers. 

My hubby and my eldest son continued on to explore the park. They switched to Trail No.3 but unfortunately, they did not see any Proboscis Monkey. They had to head back when it started raining heavily.

Tip: Do pack adequate water and food, sunblock, insect repellent, wear good hiking shoes and bring raincoat in case of rain.

My son and I managed to spot a family of bearded pigs around the visitor center. It was quite memorable for my son as he has never seen such big wild pigs.

Back to the boat.

Due to weather and sea condition, we couldn't see the sea stacks by boat.

We had lunch at Bako Seafood Restaurant which is nearby the jetty. Do come here early if you have no reservation as the restaurant is popular among local and tourists. We ordered some of the popular dishes of the restaurant including deep fried squid, sea clam soup with homemade fish balls, steamed prawns and signature seafood tofu. The seafood was really fresh and the portion was generous. The bill came up to be RM 125 including drinks. They accept only cash or Boost Pay.

We couldn't hail any taxi on our way back from the jetty terminal. So the only way was to wait for the bus at this road junction.

The bus fare is RM 1 per person. My son was so exhausted that he soon fell asleep after getting on the bus.

The stop that we got down was at the Open Air Market. The tower was previously a drying tower and is remnants of the old Kuching Fire Station.

Besides the open air market, there are some interesting wall murals.

We continued to walk over to the India Street. The India Street was closed to vehicular traffic and converted into a pedestrian mall in 1992. And this marked the end of our half day trip to Bako National Park. Next, we visited the Borneo Cultures Museum.

Bako National Park

Opening hours: 8am - 5pm daily

Admission fees: 

Malaysian - RM 10 for adult, RM 5 for senior/disabled, RM 3 for child, FOC for child below 6

Non-Malaysian -  RM 20 for adult, RM 10 for disabled, RM 7 for child, FOC for child below 6

Official website: https://bakonationalpark.my/