Day 6: Permai Rainforest by Matt

Jul 19th, 2026
We began the day with coffee and croissants from our favourite local cafe, the Moon and Star. The fact that it was opposite our hotel definitely helped the ranking, but the black croissant with a creamy filling was a winner, at least with me and Simi.

Our new favourite taxi driver, Habib, took us to Permai Rainforest lodges, teaching us more about the area and locals along the way. Everyone else seemed too pre-occupied with phone 'admin' so he happily directed all of his non-stop chatter at me. Although I could only understand half of it, he was so enthusiastic I didn't have the heart, or chance, to clarify what I missed.

Located on a stretch of coastline on which the forest reaches all the way to the sea, the resort has 2 small sandy beaches and several wooden villas separated by winding paths beneath the jungle canopy. Some are very high up on stilts, with several flights of stairs, though thankfully ours was closer to the ground and looked far less likely to topple over in a strong breeze.

There were several walks on offer but the longer ones had to be started earlier so you didn't get back too late. Our choices narrowed as it was nearly midday, we opted for the Waterfall walk. Taking 1.5 hours, it was a humid scramble over tree roots, pulling ourselves up steep slopes using guide lines, walking the leafy forest floor and even traversing a rope bridge.

After a sweaty hour we reached the small pool at the bottom of an 8m waterfall, not big enough to swim in but enough to soak our feet and splash our faces, providing welcome relief from the heat. As we waded in a family of frogs hopped out of the way and we discovered a terrapin sharing the water with us. Wary of it's bite we kept a safe distance and wondered how it had found it's way there. We met a russian couple at the waterfall, who currently live and work in Kuching, but other than them it was quiet in the trail.

The circular route brought us back to the restaurant where we paused for a breather and cold drinks. Mine was a refreshing lemongrass and honey, though anything with ice was welcome! Overlooking the beach, it was basically a covered deck and seemingly popular with the local cats, who prowled around looking for leftovers.

We followed the trail back to our villa, which seemed to go on and on, to remove our sweaty clothes and inspect our accommodation. A large living space was flanked by 2 bedrooms, each with 3 single beds covered by a sripey blanket which I thought gave it an air of prison camp, but Millen more kindly likened it to a scout hut. Closer inspection revealed the sheets had some dubious stains on them, so we chose to focus elsewhere and enjoy the surroundings for our 1 night here.

With a couple of hours to kill before dinner, Millen and I chose to head to the nearest beach for a swim, whilst Eashan took the drone out for a flight and Simi and Arushi had some book time. Along the way was the 'jungle pool'; essentially a couple of man made pools at the bottom of the river running into the sea. We had a quick dip in the cool water, popular with lots of small kids, before heading to the beach.

We clambered over the rocks, navigating a family who seemed to be picnicking at the entrance, one of the only shady spots to be fair, picked our own rock to leave our towels and waded in. It was the warmest sea water we'd swam in in a long time, in which we were very buoyant. We bobbed there for a while, watching the local (presumably Muslims) enjoying a dip covered up in their uniform of black t-shirts. Several fishermen dangled their rods from the rocks but we didn't see them get any bites. The rainforest backdrop to the golden sand made for a beautiful setting. We headed back to the villa, via the jungle pool for a beach cleansing dip.

As we neared the villa, the monkeys seemed to be out in force, chattering and sending loose branches clattering to the ground as they jumped through the trees. We identified them as more of the silvered langurs we'd seen in Bako park yesterday. We got back to the villa as one of them jumped onto the roof and paused to watch their antics. But then I spotted the tell tale nose of a proboscis monkey in a tree close by.

Excited, I ran into the villa to tell the others and grab the camera. We began to spot more of them and then saw the a big male noisily swinging his way through the trees, calling and leading the family, his long gray tail hanging beneath his powerful legs. As he paused to eat right above us, Eashan and I tried to photograph him, which was tricky as he sat amongst the canopy. But it more than made up for not seeing these endemic animals yesterday!

Given the predominantly Muslim visitors and staff, alcohol wasn't sold in the park but a 7-11 apparently did just outside. Eashan and I took the 10 minute walk to the shop, located in a small complex around a big lawn with lots of local visitors milling about enjoying the seafront, bright green ice-cream and a live band. We bagged a few cold beers and headed back to meet the others at the first beach to take in the sunset, drink our beers and, in the case of Eashan, have an evening swim.

It was another small but pretty beach from which paddle boards, canoes and snorkels could be hired. We watched the staff build a tall pyramid fire, which subsequently toppled over near several children playing in the sand! No one seemed that bothered, so after chatting to a friendly Chinese lady l, we headed to the restaurant for dinner.

Millen and I picked the classic Nasi Lemak, with lamb and beef rendang, Simi had roti with chicken rendang whilst Eashan went for a shatshuka and Arushi a noodle soup dish. All in all, pretty decent food for a low key establishment. We strolled back, searching for night creatures on the way, and had a family movie night with The Prestige, a Christopher Nolan film about a pair of rival magicians set in Victorian London. No happy ending but plenty of plot twists and foreshadowing (a term Simi and I learnt that evening!).

I was really impressed with the conscious efforts to keep the park clean and maintain the pristine environment, though the thin stripey blankets and stained sheets left something to be desired. It scored a family average of 7/10, buoyed by the natural surroundings and proboscis monkey sightings.Read more