Qualla: Similajau National Park

Similajau National Park: Introduction

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Starlightchild, CC BY-SA 3.0. Early morning on the Likau River, and the water is glass. Then a dorsal fin breaks the surface -- not one, but four, moving in formation. Irrawaddy dolphins, stub-nosed and grey, rolling through the brackish water where the river meets the South China Sea. Somewhere upstream, a saltwater crocodile lies submerged along the bank, only its eyes and nostrils visible above the waterline. This is Similajau National Park, a narrow strip of Sarawak coastline about 30 kilometers northeast of the industrial town of Bintulu, where one of Borneo's most diverse coastal ecosystems survives in a corridor barely wider than a few kilometers. Established in 1976, expanded in 2000, and still relatively unknown outside Malaysia, Similajau packs an improbable density of life into its 89.96 square kilometers of beach, cliff, mangrove, and rainforest.

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Image: Starlightchild | CC BY-SA 3.0

Similajau National Park: Three Forests in One

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pavel Kirillov from St.Petersburg, Russia, CC BY-SA 2.0. Similajau's vegetation divides into three distinct zones, stacked from shore to interior like layers of a geological cross-section. Along the coast, beach forest clings to sandy soil -- salt-tolerant species tough enough to survive the South China Sea's spray and monsoon winds. B...

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Image: Pavel Kirillov from St.Petersburg, Russia | CC BY-SA 2.0

Similajau National Park: The River's Residents

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE, CC BY-SA 2.0. The Likau River, which forms the park's southern boundary, hosts two species of crocodile that could not be more different in temperament. The saltwater crocodile -- the largest living reptile -- is aggressive and has been responsible for numerous fatal attacks in Sarawak. Visito...

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Image: Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE | CC BY-SA 2.0

Similajau National Park: Wings and Waves

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE, CC BY-SA 2.0. Above the canopy, 185 bird species have been recorded within the park. Eight species of hornbill live in Sarawak, and Similajau shelters both the rhinoceros hornbill -- the state bird, with its heavy casque and booming wingbeats -- and the smaller black hornbill. The critically e...

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Image: Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE | CC BY-SA 2.0

Similajau National Park: Trails to the Edge

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit User: (WT-shared) Anwarul at wts wikivoyage, Public domain. Similajau is a park built for walking. The main trail, marked in red, runs 9.8 kilometers along the coast to Golden Beach, threading between forest and shoreline. Shorter routes branch off: the education trail leads 450 meters along a mangrove plank walk before connecting to a 60...

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Image: User: (WT-shared) Anwarul at wts wikivoyage | Public domain

Similajau National Park: A Thin Green Line

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Cerevisae, CC BY-SA 4.0. Similajau's shape tells its story. The park is a narrow coastal strip, originally 70.64 square kilometers stretching 30 kilometers from the Likau River in the south to the Similajau River in the north. On February 17, 2000, an additional 19.32 square kilometers was incorporated, ...

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Image: Cerevisae | CC BY-SA 4.0