City break in Kalimantan Island. Active leisure ideas for Kalimantan Island - attractions, recreation and nightlife

Borneo is one of the best places for diving on the planet. There is everything you want and more: good infrastructure, unique underwater animals, places to dive for the beginners and for experienced divers. Due to the warm climate, it is possible to dive all year round. You can explore coastal waters as well, as reef communities. Hawksbill turtles, sharks, manta rays, and many others, which live in this transparent water, make this region one of the best places in the world not only for divers but for the photographers as well. For example, it is hard to see green giant tortoise anywhere else in the world. You can explore a Dutch ship, which sank during the time of the World War II or the house Mabul reef, which is perfect for the beginners.

If you have never been diving before, but you want to try, you can attend a training at one of the diving schools in Kalimantan and get an international diving license. If you have no desire to learn all the diving nuances, you may try snorkeling. Due to the water transparency, you will perfectly see the underwater world inhabitants. Some of the best snorkeling places on the island are Sangalaki, Kakaban, and Maratua islands. The latter is constantly surrounded by the barracudas. You can reach all three islands from the Derawan island, where, in turn, you can get by boat from Tanjung Batu. But Kalimantan is not only famous for its sea animals.

Here, in thick jungles, live many beautiful and rare animals. Loud waterfalls, unmistakably beautiful plants – all of this will be a reward for a brave one, who will risk going deep into the rainforest on foot. You will see the most life-forms-inhabited place on Earth. Hundreds of kinds of wild orchids grow here, lives a clouded leopard, an Asian elephant, orangutans and 221 other species of mammals and 42 species of birds. But remember, that a journey to the jungle will demand some courage and physical training. There are not many routes for unprepared travelers, and you won’t see the most beautiful objects for the first couple of hours anyway. If you still decided to go, visit Kayan Mentarang – there are no routs leading here, but a visit to this park may really become an adventure, you will remember for the rest of your life. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

It is easier to get to Betung Kerihun, Kutai, Gunung Palung, Danau Centarum, or to Tanjung Putting. A marbled cat, a gibbon, a banteng, a Malaysian bear, a Sambar deer – all of these and many other rare animals you will see in their natural habitat. Most of the nature reserves have routs for untrained tourists. However, the easiest and safest way to learn about the local flora and fauna is a journey along the rivers of Kalimantan. Those, who are eager to risk, will like a canoe, and those, who prefer comfort, can choose a speedboat. There are many rivers here, plenty of which are also suitable for rafting. Make a visit to the villages of the Dayak people. You can get there on foot, by boat, or by bus, depending on the place you are traveling from.

It should be mentioned, that the nightlife in Kalimantan is not that diverse. However, in any more or less big city, you will find a couple of nightclubs, where the young people party. Rock music is quite popular here, and many places have karaoke. The easiest way to travel between the cities is public buses. But it may take a lot of nerve. The specific landscape also makes it easy to get from one place to another by boat.