The port town of Kumai, in the southern region of Kalimantan, is a heavily Muslim city that makes a great base for exploring the natural highlights in the area. If you’re looking for a close-up encounter with orangutans, or other primates, then Kumai is your place.
One of the most enjoyable excursions in Kumai is to hire a traditional klotok riverboat with a captain and cruise up the scenic Sekonyer River. There are countless riverside villages to check out, as well as plenty of wildlife and the exquisite Tanjung Puting National Park.
By traveling to Tanjung Puting by riverboat, you can access one of the orangutan preservation areas such as Camp Leakey, which is dedicated to protecting and rehabilitating adult orangutans. A great way to immerse yourself in this environment is to stay overnight at the Rimba Orangutan Eco Lodge. This place is one of few spots in the world where you can observe orangutans, proboscis monkeys, gibbons, and tarsiers in the wild.
Also worth exploring is the Bugam Raya countryside, which encompasses the coastal highlights of Kubu Beach, the Bay of Bogam, Keraya and Sungai Umbang. Patih Mambang Waterfall is a lovely cascade that runs right into the sea. It’s a popular spot for scuba diving, surfing and fishing.
Other great beaches around Kumai can be found at Sungai Rengas and Sungai Cabang, which has incredibly clean white sand and is a dedicated conservation area for green turtles. There is also some unique music and dance in Kumai. Visitors can enjoy a performance of traditional Hadrah Islamic music or Japin dancing from the ethnic Melayu people at one of the cultural venues in town.
Getting There & Away
The nearest airport is just minutes away in the town of Pangkalan Bun. There are regular flights from Jakarta that stop over in Semarang (Java), taking just over an hour. Visitors from Java can also take a ferry from Semarang right to Kumai’s port, though the odyssey takes up to 20 hours. The main gateway to Indonesia is Jakarta.