Explore Malaysia's Wild Side: the Top 10 National Parks for Adventure & Nature Lovers

Sarawak's oldest national park, at just 2,742 hectares, contains an almost implausible diversity of vegetation types from mangrove swamp to cliff heath forest, and is home to the world's largest surviving population of proboscis monkeys, whose remarkable nasal appendages and leaping agility make them among the most extraordinary primates in Asia.

Straddling the Johor-Pahang border, Endau-Rompin protects 870 square kilometres of lowland and hill dipterocarp forest that represents the most important remaining habitat for the critically endangered Malayan tiger south of Taman Negara. Its river systems are home to kelah mahseer and temoleh fish of extraordinary size, and its interior waterfalls are accessible only via multi-day river journeys that reward the effort with complete wilderness immersion.

A 438-square-kilometre protected area of virtually pristine lowland dipterocarp rainforest in interior Sabah, jointly managed by Sabah Foundation and Innoprise, Danum Valley is one of the most important research sites in tropical ecology — over 340 bird species, 100 mammal species, and thousands of invertebrate species have been recorded in a forest that has never been commercially logged.

Malaysia's smallest national park at 2,562 hectares, occupying the northwestern tip of Penang Island, contains a remarkable diversity of coastal habitats — mangroves, coral reef, sandy beach, and sea cliff — and is home to olive ridley turtles, smooth-coated otters, and the only canopy walkway in a mangrove forest in Malaysia. Its beaches are accessible only on foot or by boat, ensuring they remain among Penang's most pristine.

A narrow strip of coastal rainforest and beach north of Bintulu, Similajau is one of Sarawak's best-kept secrets — a park of irresistible wildlife density where saltwater crocodiles bask on river sandbanks, green sea turtles nest on the beaches between May and September, and troops of banded langur and long-tailed macaques move through the coastal forest canopy.

Five islands in the South China Sea within sight of Kota Kinabalu city — Gaya, Sapi, Manukan, Mamutik, and Sulug — form Malaysia's first marine park, protecting coral gardens of remarkable health and diversity. The islands' beaches are within 20 minutes by boat from the KK waterfront, making them the most accessible island escape from any Malaysian city.

A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve encompassing 1.4 million hectares of montane forest in western Sabah, the Crocker Range protects the headwaters of rivers that supply water to 70% of Sabah's population and harbours populations of Bornean orangutan, sun bear, and clouded leopard across an altitudinal range from 300 metres to over 1,700 metres above sea level.