Blog: White water rafting in Malaysia

Benjamin

• have yet to canoe in Malaysia, though it can’t too far off my schedule. I’ve identified a number of rivers that seem worthy candidates. As you may know Malaysia is split - with its sovereign territory occupying the Malay Peninsula (extending south of Thailand, but excluding the island of Singapore on the southern tip) and the northern portion of Borneo (where the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak abut the southern Indonesia territory of Kalimantan). Anyway, Sarawak and Sabah are very rugged, remote wildernesses, and I’d say there are some adventures there.

The ranges of the Malay Peninsula and the mountains of Borneo offer some of the best remote whitewater rafting and canoeing in South East Asia. There are rivers suited for the whole range of river adventurists – from novice to expert. River rapids are categorized from Grade I-V (Class I is easy; III is “intermediate” and V is for the experts, with turbulent rapids, waves, holes and tough routes), so know your limits, or otherwise find an experienced and professional rafting company.

The most popular rivers (river means ‘Sungai’ in Malay) to canoe in Malaysia are: 1. Padas River, 170km from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, East Malaysia 2. Selangor River, near Kuala Lumpur West Malaysia: There is a challenging 2hour run on this river, especially during the rainy season, with rapids ranging from Class I to Class V. See river. 3. Kiulu River in Sabah, East Malaysia 4. Kampar River, Perak State, Malay Peninsula 5. Sungai Itek River, Perak State, Malay Peninsula 6. Sungkai River, Perak State, Malay Peninsula: This river is better suited to kayaking. 7. Jeram Besu, Pahang State, Malay Peninsula: 8. Telom River, Pahang State, Malay Peninsula 9. Kuala Perahu River, Pahang State, Malay Peninsula 10. Loh River, Trengganu State, Malay Peninsula 11. Sedim River, Kedah State, Malay Peninsula