Malaysia Holidays

Explore Boneo from on and underneath the water with a fun SUP and snorkelling adventure. The seas are typically calm in the morning, so you’ll have a gentle paddle around sand bars, coral bars or floating pontoons, depending on the tide. Then it’s time to dip under the waves with your snorkel and mask. The area is known for its clownfish colony, so you’ll spot brightly coloured fish darting through the waters. Your guide will also capture the best moments on a GoPro.

• Duration: 3 hours
• Time: 8am to 11am
• Daily departures
• Operates year round
• Private experience

Good to know
You’ll need a good level of fitness. Children must be at least 6 years old to take part. Children aged 6-12 must be accompanied by a guardian.

Watch the sun sink into the ocean from your peaceful perch out on the water. Stand-up paddle boarding is a memorable experience at any time of day, but it’s particularly beautiful at sunset. You’ll paddle around sand bars, coral bars or floating pontoons, depending on the tide, and pause to appreciate the changing colours as the sky is reflected in the water. Your guide will also capture the best moments on a GoPro.

• Duration: 3 hours
• Time: 4.30pm to 7.30pm
• Daily departures
• Operates year round
• Private experience

Good to know
You’ll need a good level of fitness. Children must be at least 6 years old to take part. Children age 6-12 must be accompanied by a guardian.

Cooking classes are a wonderful way to delve deeper into the local culture while learning new skills at the same time. Your host begins the experience with a stroll through the local market. Finding the freshest local ingredients and chatting with the stallholders, you’ll learn which spices to use and buy the groceries needed to whip up a Malaysian feast back in the kitchen. At your cooking station, you’ll learn how to prepare traditional home-cooked dishes and understand how food is such a big part of Malaysian heritage. After an insightful morning, you’ll get to tuck into your creations.

• Duration: half day
• Time: 9am to 1.30pm
• Departing daily from Kota Kinabalu
• Operates year round
• Group experience

Leave the buzz of the city behind and take a journey into the past to see, hear, taste and feel the identity of Sabah. Meeting some of the people of the remote Mari Mari Cultural Village, you’ll get to understand what traditional daily life is like in this rural region. We’ll be welcomed into the homes of various indigenous people, who’ll chat to us about how their houses were built by tribal descendants and what the different architectural styles represent. As we explore the village, we’ll also stop at demonstration huts to see traditional activities such as blow piping, fire lighting and tattooing.

• Duration: half day
• Timings: 10am, 2pm or 5pm to 2pm or 6pm to 9pm
• Daily departures
• Operates year round
• Private experience

The journey is part of the adventure on this full-day experience. A scenic two-hour drive will whisk us away from city life, as we pass villages and paddy fields and wind our way up the mountainous roads of the Crocker Range. A short stop at lively Nabalu Market will showcase local fruits, vegetables and handicraft souvenirs before reaching the main attraction: Kinabalu Park. The park has around 4,500 species of plant, including a whopping 1,500 species of orchid – 77 of which are endemic to Kinabalu. It also supports more than 280 species of birds and 290 different types of butterflies. You’ll notice the change in air temperature and enjoy the cool air as you set off on a walk along the botanical garden nature trails. On a clear day, you might spot majestic Mount Kinabalu in the distance. After lunch at a local restaurant, we’ll continue to the Poring Hot Spring for a canopy walk. Climb up to 41 metres above ground level and walk across the suspension bridges hanging in the tropical jungle treetops.

• Duration: full day
• Time: 7.30am to 5.30pm
• Departing daily from Kota Kinabalu
• Operates year round
• Private experience

Good to know
There’s a small charge of MYR5 to use a camera and MYR3 to use a video camera at the canopy walkway (payable locally).

A delicious melting pot of heritage and culture, Kota Kinabalu has a top street food scene. The markets come alive after dark, so put on your walking shoes and taste your way around the various influences. Your expert guide will take you around the best spots in the night market and tell you about all the foods on offer. You’ll have time to chat with the stallholders and get to know the subtle differences in food between Sabah’s tribes before tucking into authentic dishes such as noodle soup, hinava (a raw fish dish similar to ceviche) and pinasakan (braised fish with turmeric and fruit).

• Duration: 2 hours
• Time: 5.30pm to 7.30pm
• Daily departures
• Operates year round
• Private experience

A scenic day awaits on this blissful back-to-nature escape. On a two-hour drive through the Klias Forest Reserve, we’ll pass coastal views and picturesque villages on the way to the Klias River Village Jetty. Tea, coffee and cakes will be waiting to refresh you ahead of your river cruise through the mangrove forests of the Klias River. Keep your eyes peeled for proboscis monkeys, abundant bird species, monitor lizards, crocodiles and other wildlife. We’ll return to the jetty for a traditional Malay buffet dinner. Then, as dusk sets, we’ll hop back on the boat for the best vantage point to watch flickering fireflies light up the riverbanks.

• Duration: half day
• Time: 2pm to 9pm
• Daily departures
• Operates year round
• Private experience

Join a private guide for a tour of Kota Kinabalu tailored precisely to your specification. Decide how long you want the time to last and where you want to go, and the driver will take you from place to place and offer expert commentary.

• Daily departures
• Operates year-round
• Private experience

Half day or full day

Take to two wheels and immerse yourself in Kuala Lumpur’s rich cultural landscape. On this leisurely bike tour, you’ll cycle around the city’s inner and outer districts, taking in the harmonious landscape of temples, mosques and other cultural influences. See the colonial-era architecture around Merdeka Square close to the Klang River, where Malaysian independence was declared in 1957, and head to lively Chinatown to explore the buzzing markets. Visit Moorish-influenced Jamek Mosque – one of the city’s oldest mosques – and join locals going about their day at Central Market. Then venture north to Little India, with its colourful maze of jewellery and textile shops, and upmarket Bukit Bintang, which dazzles with its glitzy restaurants and designer malls. Keep your eyes peeled throughout to see how many times you can spot the iconic Petronas Twin Towers that tower over the city.

• Duration: half day
• Time: 8am to midday
• Departing daily from Kuala Lumpur
• Operates year round
• Private experience

Get creative with a batik class, where you’ll learn all about this traditional wax-resist dyeing technique. Batik uses wax resists to create beautiful patterns and you’ll see examples of this clever ancient technique in homes all around the world. In this class, you’ll experience how to fill in colours on a fabric that’s been pre-waxed with a batik pattern. Mix primary colours to create secondary colours and shade in the material for a special keepsake.

• Duration: half day
• Time: 10am to 1pm
• Departing daily from Kuala Lumpur
• Operates year round
• Private experience

Cooking classes are a fantastic way to delve deeper into the local culture and provide you with authentic recipes that can be shared for years to come. Home-cooked food is an important part of Malaysian life and you’ll get an insight into the culture and social structure of the country through its mealtimes. You’ll have plenty of help on hand as you whip up a selection of delicious dishes for an appetiser, main course and dessert. Enjoy tasting your creations and the bonus of not washing up.

• Duration: half day
• Time: 8am to 12.30pm
• Departing Monday to Saturday from Kuala Lumpur
• Operates year round
• Group experience

Enjoy the flavours of Kuala Lumpur on this mouth-watering evening street food tour. Your driver will expertly zigzag through the city as you experience the sights, sounds and tastes after dark as a passenger on the back of a Vespa scooter. Hang out with the locals at the best foodie spots away from the tourist trail, visiting a Malaysian night market and heading down to Brickfields: a vibrant maze of shops and street food restaurants serving dosa pancakes and Indian curries. Sample everything from hokkien mee and satay to the towering roti tissue. Then you can head back to your hotel or carry on to a local night spot to watch a live band.

• Duration: evening
• Time: 7pm to 11pm
• Departing daily from Kuala Lumpur
• Operates year round
• Private experience

Spend an evening in rural Malaysia to get an insight into local life outside of the city. Kuala Selangor is just an hour’s drive from Kuala Lumpur, but daily life here takes on a different atmosphere. This small tranquil town is where the Selangor River meet the sea. It’s known for fishing and farming, and on a visit to the hilltop fortress of Bukit Melawati, you’ll get to look out over the Straits of Malacca. Seafood is a staple food here, so you’ll tuck into a Chinese-style local seafood dinner before the highlight of this experience: firefly watching. Climb on board a boat and head upstream, where you’ll see thousands of fireflies flickering like Christmas lights in the mangrove trees that line the riverbanks.

• Duration: evening\ • Time: 4pm to 10pm
• Departing daily from Kuala Lumpur
• Operates year round
• Private experience

You decide how long you want your Kuala Lumpur tour to last and the places you want to see with a private driver to take you to the sights and offer expert commentary. This highly bespoke trip allows you to see the Mogul-style domes and modern skyscrapers, including the iconic Petronas Towers and visit the streets lined with food stalls shaded by banyan trees.

• Duration: half day or full day
• Daily departures
• Operates year-round
• Private experience

Your day begins with a visit to the Royal Selangor Pewter factory, where you’ll see the different processes involved in working with pewter, such as casting, filing, polishing, soldering, hammering, and engraving. Afterwards, you’ll briefly stop at the Batik Centre, a craft centre selling local handicrafts, before heading to the Batu Caves. This famous Hindu shrine features 272 colourful steps leading up to the site, which includes five limestone caves and several temples.

• Duration: half day
• Daily departures
• Operates year-round
• Private experience

Explore the natural beauty of Langkawi on a peaceful morning gliding across calm waters. You’ll be greeted by the sights and sounds of nature as you paddle through a small mangrove channel that’s inaccessible to boats for a secret journey under the shade of tropical mangroves. Your expert guide will take you to the best places for that particular day, introduce you to the local flora and fauna, and provide you with power snacks to help you keep up your energy levels throughout the morning. This tailor-made kayaking adventure is a beautiful way to see Langkawi from the water.

• Duration: half day
• Time: 8am to midday
• Departing daily from Langkawi
• Operates year round
• Group experience

Soak up the scenery from two wheels as you coast peacefully around some of Langkawi’s most spectacular natural landscapes. In the northwest of the island, Langkawi’s UNESCO Global Geopark is the first geopark in South-East Asia, renowned for its ancient rock formations and rich biodiversity. On this three-to-four-hour bike ride you’ll cycle around limestone formations, alongside river banks, past paddy fields and into forests to get an appreciation of the hundreds of millions of years of geological history here. There will be plenty of time to stop off in local villages too, for a glimpse into local daily life.

• Departing daily from Langkawi
• Operates year round
• Group experience

Get a better understanding of your surroundings on a visit to Laman Padi in Pantai Cenang. In Malay, ‘Laman’ means ‘field’ and ‘padi’ means ‘rice’, and at this open complex of rice fields, herb gardens, galleries and museums, you’ll get to experience the process of rice cultivation and harvesting. We’ll spend time among the lush greenery, learning how rice (Malaysia’s primary export product) is cultivated. We’ll also be shown the ropes on a guided tour of the padi planting process and padi museum.

• Duration: half day
• Daily departures
• Operates year round
• Private experience

This is the ultimate day in Malaysia for serious birders, travelling around Langkawi’s diverse habitats to spot many different species. Langkawi has more than 260 types of bird – about a third of these are migrants, who flock here between September and April. There’s an early start and an evening finish, as the best time to observe birds at the equator is either early morning or early evening when they are most active. In the rainforest, birds to look out for include flowerpeckers, hill mynas, dollarbirds, babblers, eagles and oriental pied hornbills. We’ll head on to a mangrove forest to spot the brown-winged kingfisher, collared kingfisher, white-bellied sea eagle and little heron. Our final stop for the morning is at the rice paddies to see paddy field birds such as sandpipers, lapwings, egrets, chestnut-headed bee-eaters and spotted doves. After re-energising with some lunch, we’ll travel up in the hills to a local village pond frequented by lesser whistling ducks, little herons, needle-tailed swifts and striated swallows. Afterwards, a drive to Langkawi’s highest peak holds the highlight of the experience: spotting the great hornbill, which measures 1.3 metres from the tip of beak to tip of tail.

• Duration: full day
• 7.30am to 7.30pm
• Departing everyday except Mondays (May-Oct) 
• Departing Tuesdays and Thursdays (Nov-April) 
• Operates year round
• Group experience

Good to know
You’ll return to your hotel for lunch before the afternoon session.

This four-hour trip will reveal the stories of Langkawi, focusing on the locals and learning about Malay ethnicity. Away from the typical tourist trails, you’ll follow village lanes, passing paddy fields, and journey through jungles and past village houses. Along the way, you’ll witness the architectural designs influenced by the Chinese, Indian, Moorish and Europeans. You’ll see medicinal plants and taste exotic and seasonal fruits. The trip then ends with an authentic meal served by locals in Kuah town.

• Duration: half day
• Time: 10.30am to 2.30pm
• Departs Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday
• Operates year-round
• Private experience

Join a private guide for a tour of Langkawi tailored precisely to your specification. Decide how long you want the time to last and where you want to go, and the driver will take you from place to place and offer expert commentary.

• Duration: half day or full day
• Daily departures
• Operates year-round
• Private experience

Put on your walking shoes and leisurely taste your way through Penang’s rich history and heritage. You’ll meet a local historian, who will be your guide during this informative evening tour, and take in the island’s kaleidoscope of cultures. As you sample tasty street food, your guide will help you understand the influences behind each flavour, tracing its culinary origins through links to the East, West and the rest of South-East Asia. You’ll also have the chance to see Penang’s many heritage sites and colonial-era architecture.

• Duration: evening
• Time: 5pm to 8pm
• Departing Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from Penang
• Operates year round
• Private experience

Spend a few hours exploring the beautifully preserved UNESCO World Heritage Site of George Town and its indigenous and colonial architecture. You’ll begin at Pinang Peranakan Mansion, which displays over a thousand pieces of Peranakan antiques and collectable items. Next, you’ll take a short walk to the colourful enclave of Little India, which sells colourful sarees and aromatic Indian spices. You’ll pass Penang’s oldest Hindu temple, then continue to Teochew Temple, with its ornate rooftops and intricately carved dragon pillars, before learning the history of Dr Sun Yat-sen at the Sun Yat-Sen Museum. You’ll hunt for Penang’s famous street art before continuing to one of Penang’s ancient traditional clan houses. The tour concludes with shopping for some local goodies at Cocoa Boutique.

• Duration: half day
• Time: 9am to 2pm
• Daily departures
• Operates year-round
• Private experience

Tailor your perfect tour of Penang, deciding how long you want your time to last and where you want to go. A private driver will show you the city and provide expert commentary. Visit the temples in Little India and the mosques in Chinatown, both hives of activity in the shadows of looming skyscrapers. Take snaps of the vibrantly-hued Blue Mansion and observe the colonial architecture — pausing to taste the famous street food.

• Duration: half day or full day
• Daily departures
• Operates year-round
• Private experience