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

There have been numerous deaths on Malaysian rivers as a result of poor tour guide practices. Then there was the drowning of a Dutch tourist on the Padas River in November and another fatality this Dec-07. The risks posed are: 1. Rafting companies taking too high risks because of the desire to maximize profits. The implication is that they might: 2. Run river tours after heavy rains and no assessment of any damages that have since developed 3. Fail to practice safe procedures to safe time 4. Rafting company staff not having the experience to assess the risk due to inadequate training or lack of safety procedure adherence 5. If you want professionals I would go with river companies with experienced raft guides and the kayak rescuers on standby. The risk posed are adventurers getting trapped in holes, snagged by branches, trapped under the raft, though the buoyancy and headgear should otherwise prevent drowning and head injuries, assuming the gear is worn correctly. Choosing a responsible and safety-conscious operator is the key to avoiding mishaps. When rafting it does not help that 90% of any 13-party group are likely to be “virgins” to whitewater rafting.