Tanjung Datu National Park
Staying at the Tanjung Datu National Park was the best part of my Borneo experience. It is one of the smallest (14sq km) and most secluded National Parks in Sarawak. But the fact that it’s not easily accessible means that it’s practically unspoilt and you can have it all to yourself once you get there.
Tanjung Datu
The journey
I went to Tanjung Datu with a group I met at one of the hostels in Kuching. We managed to figure out the route and make arrangements for the trip with the help of the tourist information center. The journey involved taking two buses from Kuching to Sematan, and then a pre-arranged boat from Sematan to the park. The fee for the boat, the biggest chunk in the cost of the whole trip, was skilfully negotiated by one of my companions and then divided between the six of us (let me tell you, unless you’re in a group, the trip is gonna cost you).
We also had to get food and water for the 2 days we would be staying in Tanjund Datu, since there are no shops there, obviously. But we did get fresh coconuts delivered by the fishermen from the nearby village (how do you beat that?).
Roof or no roof?
There were two accommodation options at Tanjung Datu. One was staying in shared rooms in one of the park’s wooden houses, and another was open-air camping. I went for the former, and all my companions went for the latter. Go ahead, call me a princess, but sleeping outside in a tropical forest inhabited by all sorts of wild and exotic creatures is not exactly my idea of fun.
Funnily enough, in the morning we saw that ‘someone’ has clearly been playing with the bins (big, metal ones, mind you), and the remains of our dinner were scattered around the whole kitchen area (on top of that, all the coconuts left from the previous day were gone). Proof enough for me that I hadn’t been overly cautious by choosing the safety of four walls and closed doors for the night.
The beach (but of course)
During the day, when my companions went trekking, I had a gorgeous and unspoilt beach completely to myself. I also managed not to fall victim to any venomous coral snakes, stonefish or cone shells that supposedly form part of the Tanjung Datu Park’s ecosystem (not that I even worried about it at the time, walking around barefoot). As usual, I took loads of photos, too.
Tanjung Datu
Tanjung Datu
Tanjung Datu
Tanjung Datu
What’s your view?
Right before we had to get on the boat that took us back to Sematan, we did a trek to the park’s view point, which is probably better described with images than with words. Stunning.
Tanjung Datu view point
Tanjung Datu view point