Top 10 Indonesian Wildlife Encounters in 2026

Bukit Lawang in North Sumatra offers close encounters with critically endangered orangutans in their rainforest habitat.

Tanjung Puting National Park in Kalimantan is the best place to observe rehabilitated orangutans on klotok riverboat tours.

Oceanic and reef manta rays congregate at cleaning stations throughout Raja Ampat, offering world-class snorkelling encounters.

Fewer than 400 Sumatran tigers survive in the wild, making Way Kambas and Kerinci Seblat national parks critical conservation frontlines.

Ujung Kulon National Park on Java's western tip shelters the last 80 individuals of the world's rarest large mammal.

Papua's Cenderawasih Bay is one of the few places where whale sharks gather year-round, feeding alongside local fishing platforms.

Tangkoko Nature Reserve in North Sulawesi is the best place to spot these tiny nocturnal primates with enormous eyes.

Papua's forests host dozens of bird-of-paradise species whose elaborate courtship dances rank among nature's greatest spectacles.

The Derawan archipelago in East Kalimantan is a major nesting site for green and hawksbill turtles with stingless jellyfish lakes.