Borneo or Java?
 

Mrs. EssexNYC and I are flying into to Kuala Lumpur and flying home from Singapore this August.

I am on the verge of booking a stop through Brunei and Kota Kinabalu to Borneo Rainforest Lodge in Danum Valley, Borneo.

However, we are debating instead going to Amanjiwo in Java for a few days.

From either place we will go to the St. Regis in Langkawi for a few days of diving and beach.

Are either of these (Borneo Rainforest Lodge or Amanjiwo) are a “must experience” kind of place?

FYI, we have traveled extensively throughout Southeast Asia and enjoy most the culture, food, wildlife, and architecture - we're much more "immersive" than "museum" people.

Can't tell you much about Java, but if you are already in Danum Valley, have you thought about checking out islands off Semporna (especially Sipadan) if diving is you focus? There are no luxury resorts near Semporna that I know of but decent enough. Certainly nothing close to St. Regis Langkawi or Amanjiwo standard tho. August isn't the best time for Langkawi (it's the southwest monsoon then and the sea can get a bit rough with some rain).

There should be a (JW?) Marriott opening at Perhentian Islands this year although they haven't announced the exact dates yet. I've seen it under construction for the past few years and it seems like a wonderful property. Diving in Perhentian is certainly better than Langkawi. And Semporna/Lankayan Islands near Sandakan takes the prize.

If you like wildlife, Sabah Borneo is the place to be, both on land and under the water. I haven't been to Danum Valley but I've heard wonderful things about it (the town just outside of Danum Valley, Lahad Datu, is supposedly terrible, so is Semporna just before you board the speedboat to the islands). I've only been to Kinabatangan twice and think it's a great place to spot wildlife.

Thank you for this and other thoughts. I should clarify that the diving would just be one two-tank dive for me - unfortunately my wife is not a diver. I would say "luxury beach resort" is our primary criteria for the last few days (though I would appreciate good diving)! The dive places you mentioned sound good to me, but the resort quality wouldn't be to to the level we'd want. I chose the St. Regis Langkawi because we've stayed at (and loved) many other St. Regis properties, plus it's an easy hop to Singapore, where we fly home from. A little afternoon rain doesn't bother us, though obviously three days of solid rain really would - it sounds like the former in Langkawi in late August / Early September, but please let me know if I'm wrong.

I think that we will stay at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge, with a stopover in Kota Kinabalu, but would appreciate any ideas of a fabulous beach resort easily accessible from Kota and to Singapore.

I'd stayed at a lodge in the Danum Valley and loved it. I'm not sure if it's the same one. Some of the best diving in the world is at Sipidan, I think this is the best dive resort on Mabul Island https://asiadivingvacation.com/resor...ater-bungalows

It's not the St. Regis and I don't think there is anything of that class in the Semporna/Mabul area. There is a Shangri-La near KK. I've haven't been there so I don't tknow what it's like. At KK, you can drive up Mount Kinabalu which is interesting.

If luxury is your primary criteria, then St. Regis fits your bill (unless the new Marriott is open in Perhentian). August is mainly showers. The real deluge usually starts around end-September to early-November. But the seas can still be quite choppy (St. Regis Langkawi is shielded from the southwest monsoon tho, but the beach at St. Regis isn't particularly nice). The Datai (and former Andaman Resort, the LC property which was closed due to fire) has the best beaches in Langkawi IMO (you should check out Datai too. I've never heard of any complains there).

There are non-chain resorts near Kota Kinabalu on Gaya Island (Gaya Island Resort and Bungaraya Island Resort). I've only stayed at Bungaraya Island Resort which I think was good but not as luxurious as St. Regis. Staff was outstanding at Bungaraya.

Another option will be Batu-Batu Island resort near Mersing in Johor (not the easiest to get to from Singapore without a car, about 2.5 hours drive from Singapore plus a ferry/speedboat ride). It's doable if you can get a driver (or rent a car, but you'll be parking at the mainland, so it's moot to rent a car) from Singapore to Mersing. There are also One&Only and Anantara resorts in the town of Desaru (one hour drive from Singapore) though I haven't been to any of the Johor resorts so I can't comment on that.

Don't know Java, but if wildlife is your thing, Danum Valley is absolutely first class.

As a person who has dived the region before, just forget about diving in Langkawi, its a waste of time. Anything in the west coast channel of the Malacca straits is just muck heaven and not the good kind like Lembeh, Indonesia for macro.

If you are willing to slightly "downgrade" head to Semporna and then go on a 45 min speed boat trip out to Mabul islands, you have the choice of Kapalai Dive Resort (i dont recall seeing a beach there), or on Mabul island itself, Mabul Water Bungalows and Sipadan Water Village, both have over water rooms and i recall the beach is alright.

August, its still alright for the east coast of Peninsula Malaysia. Usually we call it quits mid-September for the diving season there. I would say check out the Taaras (https://www.thetaaras.com/), private beach on the island of Redang, sand there is one the best in the region and diving is decent enough.

Also echo what Nov11 said for Langkawi, overall the Datai is great and also check out Four Seasons as well. That side of the island has better beaches.

Thank you - we are now booked at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge!

I will report back on the experience.

How do you get there? We were in Kota Kinabalu in December. I see it is a 10 hour drive from there. Is there a more direct way?

Thank you, Nov11 and miuk - I can dive in the Caribbean over the summer instead.

Which would then lead to the question - if I did not dive, then traveling from Kota Kinabalu and to Singapore (from which we will fly from back to New York), what would be the most luxurious beach resort to spend a few days at the end of our trip?

We would swim, eat, snorkle, etc. but also explore the area.

The St. Regis Langkawi looks beautiful and I have heard great thing about the service, and the price is good for a beachfront pool suite.

The resorts near Kota look nice, but not to the level we would want. The One and Only Desaru looks awesome but is close to double the St. Regis price, and the Anantara is kind of in between. The St. Regis sounds like the sweet spot, or am I wrong?

I think based on your travel plans, Desaru seems to fit your bill since its close enough to Singapore where you easily get a transfer via land. I don't really recall much in that area (i probably visited that area like 20-30 years ago) but looking at social media posts of folks that i follow, One and Only really looks good and it was very popular during Covid when the country was in lockdown as a luxury get away.

As for Langkawi, i've stayed at both the Kuah part of the island, ie Westin next to St Regis and also the west part where The Datai is. Exploration wise, Kuah really has nothing much to do except for shoplots selling duty free booze and dollar stores. The yacht club is pretty cool for a sundowner. The other side of the island, west/sunset side/airport side, has this place called Cenang, think of it like Aonang in Thailand or that main road in Phuket. You also get the rice fields and the mountains/waterfalls as well. Takes about 30 mins driving from one end to the other end.

You will find discussion of a few of the hotels in Malaysia here:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luxu...a-options.html

Also, I am going to tag FlyerEC who is familiar with many of the higher end hotels in the area.

Its only 2 hours from Lahad Datu airport (MH), 3+ from Tawau (much cheaper, various airlines directly to KK/KL)

Wonderful area. Enjoy OP

Please do - one amazing experience is a hike up the hill behind the hotel, on the way back down there is a rock pool under a rather small and insignificant waterfall, the fish in there will eat the dead skin off your feet and ankles. If you are a bit sensitive on the soles like me, sit on a log and firmly affix your feet to the rock pool bed. i'd advise taking the walking sticks to assist which the hotel provides for free. You may also want to get yourselves a pair of leech socks.

We are flying from Kota Kinabalu to Lahad Datu, then back to Kota (and then on to Kuala Lumpur). The flight is less than one hour, then the transfer to the hotel is another two hours.

There is a direct flight from Tawau to Kuala Lumpur, but the hotel says we would need to take a taxi from Lahad Datu, so that route unfortunately doesn't make sense for us.