Malaysia is home to of most delicious Asian cuisine, beautiful places, paradise-like beaches and so much more. Some places in Malaysia are heaven for nature lovers. From wildlife to beautiful landscapes, Malaysia has it all.

Catching photos of wildlife in action pays every traveler’s visit. There are too many places to visit in Malaysia if you want to get close contact with the animals. Out of the many locations to explore, here are 10 Perfect Wildlife Photography Locations in Malaysia.

10 Wildlife Destinations in Malaysia

1. Labuk Bay
2. Tabin Wildlife Reserve
3. Kinabalu Park
4. Sepilok
5. Danum Valley
6. Lambir Hills National Park
7. Kinabatangan River
8. Sipadan Island
9. Gunung Relau
10. Sungai Kilim Nature Park

1. Labuk Bay

First in our list of 10 Perfect Wildlife Photography Locations in Malaysia is the mangroves of Labuk Bay.  This place is home to more than the popular proboscis monkeys. Silvered leaf monkeys, slow lorises, hornbills, and otters are just some of the many species you can spot on a day at the sanctuary.

Visitors get to take photos of monkeys to close up at their mealtime. One of the great treasure of Malaysia.

2. Tabin Wildlife Reserve

Tabin Wildlife reserve is home to various endangered wildlife such as the Borneo Pygmy Elephants, exotic birdlife, and Tembadau (a species of cattle found in Southeast Asia). 

Tabin Wildlife Reserve is covered in lowland rainforest, Tabin nurtures and a colossal number of tropical plants.

3. Kinabalu Park

This park surrounds Mount Kinabalu, its highest peak is about 4,095 meters. Most of the animals especially the mammal species are found on the mountain live high in the trees.

A good zooming camera is an advantage to capture the beautiful animals high above the trees. It is a great spot for wildlife photography, animals include the orangutan, three kinds of deer, Malayan weasel, oriental small-clawed otter, leopard, and many more.

4. Sepilok

Cute orangutan are common in Sepilok. The Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center in Sandakan is one of the world’s four largest orangutan conservation areas. It is about 25 kilometers from the city of Sandakan deep in the pleasant tropical rainforest.

Adjacent to the orangutan center is another of Sepilok’s rehabilitation centers, the Borneo Sun Bear Conservation Center. Very few people know about the Bornean sun bear, which is the smallest kind of bear in the world.

5. Danum Valley

Being remote from human habitation and almost alien to modern civilization, Danum Valley Conservation Area is a paradise.

Danum Valley recognized as one of the world’s most complex ecosystem, this forest serves as a natural home for endangered wildlife species such as Asian elephant, clouded leopard, banteng, proboscis monkey, orangutan as well as a vast range of Sabah’s lowland fauna.

6. Lambir Hills National Park

Sarawak, Malaysia

Life positively abounds in Lambir Hills National Park in Sarawak. You can find many different species of animals and plants here that have not yet been described.

You may also spot some of the 157 types of birds that live in the park as you wander the trails of this fascinating forest. Other wild animals here including Gibbons, Tarsiers, and even clouded leopards.

7. Kinabatangan River

The 560-kilometer Kinabatangan River is Sabah’s longest river, beginning in the Crocker Range in Southwest Sabah and ending at the Sulu Sea southeast of Sandakan.

The Kinabatangan River has gained a justified reputation as one of the top wildlife-watching destinations in Southeast Asia.

The lower basin of the Kinabatangan River has the largest wildlife habitats in Southeast Asia with pygmy elephants, crocodiles, proboscis monkeys, rare birds, and many more.

8. Sipadan Island

The aquatic animals in our list of 10 Perfect Wildlife Photography Locations in Malaysia is Sipadan Island. This island Lies five degrees north of the equator in the Celebes Sea, Sipadan Island is internationally famous. With its over 3000 species of fish and hundreds of coral species have been classified in this richest ecosystem.

Sipadan Island has three popular dive sites such as Turtle Cavern, Barracuda Point, South Point, and Hanging Gardens. Be ready with your underwater cameras to capture the most colorful underwater creatures.

9. Gunung Relau

The Kampar Peninsula is bordered to the south by the Kampar river, and to the north by the Siak River and Selat Panjang. To the east, these two rivers join together, creating the wedge-shaped peninsula that is referred to as the Kampar peninsula. (Visit the best restaurants in Kampar)

This area is rich in wildlife, and most of them are rare animals of Malaysia, some other animals that can be seen in Gunung Relau are Wild Pigs, two species of deer, Sumatran tiger, clouded leopard, flat-headed cat, elephants, primates, bats, etc.

10. Sungai Kilim Nature Park

Last in our list of 10 Perfect Wildlife Photography Locations in Malaysia is Sungai Kilim Nature Park.

Sungai Kilim Nature Park is a 100sqkm protected mangrove swamp with mangrove forests, remote beaches, and blue lagoons. From the river banks up to the estuary, there is a good variety of flora and fauna here, ranging from the overhanging ‘bogak’ trees to iguanas, macaques, and tree crabs.

Hunting wildlife using a camera

Whether you are love photography or making a project for your vlog, capturing the wildlife is a bit challenging hobby to get into because it takes a lot of commitment.
To excel in this field, you not only have to develop your camera-taking skills, but you also have to learn about the animals that you shoot. Visit Vlog Smarter to learn more about this cool stuff.

Buddhist temples are sacred places of worship and it also major tourist attractions. History, impressive architecture and carved reliefs, temples are wonders to explore. Usually peaceful and quiet.

Whether you’re a vlogger or just love visiting, and seeing new places, you will also love to travel Asia.

People like to Asia and as many people are allowed to visit the temples no matter what your religion and beliefs are, there’s plenty of opportunity for offense.

Worshipers often complain about travelers not taking off their shoes, wearing too little clothing, and sometimes for having a tattoo of Buddha which can be seen as disrespectful.

But as long as you follow the rules, there’s no need for you to feel intimidated. Visitors who are aware of the rules and respectful will always be welcome.

You might also find it helpful to learn about the specific dos and don’ts that apply to one of the temples in Southeast Asia, a country like Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and some other countries in Southeast Asia.

Related Content: Cultural Festivals in Asia

8 Basic Etiquette for Visiting Buddhist Temples

1. Cover Yourself
2. Never Point
3. Show Respect
4. Respect the Buddha Statues
5. Stand up
6. Walk in the Right Direction
7. Remove Your Hat and Shoes
8.  Show Extra Respect
9. Interacting With Buddhist Monks
10. No Touching

Cover Yourself

Countries around Southeast Asia are commonly hot, and travelers often dress for the heat. Shoulders should be covered and long pants should be worn rather than shorts.

Some temples in tourist places may be considering things like wearing short clothes, but your modesty will be appreciated.

Some temples provide a sarong or other cover-up for a small fee if the gatekeeper thinks you’re not covered up enough.

Never Point

One of the most basic yet important out of 10 Simple Etiquettes for Visiting Buddhist Temples. Pointing at things or people around the temple is considered extremely rude. When sitting, never point your feet at a person or image of Buddha. To indicate something, use your hand with the palm facing upwards.

Show Respect

Lower your voice, turn off mobile devices, remove hats, avoid inappropriate conversation, remove your headphones, don’t smoke, and don’t chew gum.

You are likely entering an actual concentrated area, where locals go to commune with the sacred, so any hint of irreverence might cause deep offense.

Respect the Buddha Statues

Don’t sit near, never touch or climb on a Buddha statue or the raised platform where the statue sits on. Ask permission before taking photographs and never do so during worship.
When exiting, you should walk backward and get some distance between you and the Buddha before turning your back.

Just Stand Up

If you happen to be sitting in the worship area when monks or nuns enter, stand up to show respect, wait until they have finished what they needed to do before sitting down again.

WALK IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Always move clockwise around pagodas, temples, and monasteries, as this action represents deep reverence for the Buddha.

Remove Your Hat and Shoes

This is also important out of 10 Simple Etiquettes for Visiting Buddhist Temples. Before entering the temple, shoes and hats should be removed. You can leave your shoes outside the temple in the designated area and hold your hat or keep it in your bag during the visit.

Show Extra Respect

When entering the shrine, step in with your left foot first, and when exiting step in your right foot. This gesture symbolically represents a whole.

Interacting With Buddhist Monks

Monks are the friendliest people you will meet during your travel to Asia. There
are a few things to be aware of when interacting with monks.
1. Keep in mind that monks don’t eat in the afternoon, so be mindful about eating or
snacking around them.
2. If a monk is sitting, show respect by sitting before starting a conversation
and avoid sitting higher than a monk.
3. You should only use your right hand when giving or receiving something from a
monk.

Women should never touch a monk and even brushing against a monk by an accident might make them uncomfortable.

No Touching

One of 10 Simple Etiquettes for Visiting Buddhist Temples that you may not know. Do not touch people you meet and shaking hands is considered bad manners. Don’t ever touch a monk.

Travel Tips

If you’re going to travel Asia, you better be prepared especially when capturing the moments. Here at Vlog Smarter, we cover more topics to help you experience the best way of traveling. From setting up your vlog, capturing the moments to uploading, and make money out of it, we got you covered. 

Asia is one of the world’s best regions to travel to. First-time travelers can get easily overwhelmed by the thought of exploring this massively diverse region.

Every Asian country has its own beliefs, cultures as well as rules and regulations, that you need to follow. Not only that there’s a few preparations you need to do when traveling Asia like unpredictable weather conditions.

Why Choose to Travel Asia?

Home to some of the world’s oldest cultures, beautiful natural landscapes, fascinating architecture, friendly locals, and delicious foods, Asia is a top holiday destination.

Asia is a place to some earliest architecture and ancient empires of the world and full of fascinating historical sites, each with its own unique charm.

To help you better prepare your trip, here are the Top 12 Tips In Traveling Asia

Tips You Need when Traveling Asia

1. Pack Light

Traveling light will give you a lot of advantages. Just pack the clothes you need for one week plus your travel essentials. Consider taking just a carry-on bag and just bring things you needed the most.

( Want to start a travel vlog? check out our Guides To A Successful Vlog)

2. Always Be Prepared for Rain

Rainy season doesn’t happen at the same time and in the same Place in Asia. Like for example in Malaysia or Thailand, it may be rainy season on the west coast but not on the east coast.

Or when it’s monsoon in Malaysia, it’s a dry season in Bali. You can move around the region to choose and enjoy the best weather.

3. Avoid Over-planning

For most, it’s natural to do some research and create some outlines for what you want to see and do in a place you wanted to travel.

But plans will also inevitably change when you get to the location. You may think in advance whether your plan is necessary or will it create difficulties in some situations.

Remember that improvising is relatively easy and fun.

4. Rent a Motorbike When You Can

While you can get to the nicest spots using public vehicles like buses or taxis, renting a motorcycle is a total game-ganger.

But make sure that you can drive one and do take care as traffic accidents are by far the biggest danger to travelers in Asia. To drive safely, the key is to drive in moderate speed while you are aware of your surroundings while driving.

5. Bring Some Medicine

Taking some considered most important medicines for travelers like Loperamide, Antacids, Antihistamines, and pain or fever medication are essential.

You must be ready for things you may encounter like changes in weather that may cause headache, food, and water that sometimes affect minor health conditions.

6. Drink Water Safely

Stick to bottled water, tap water is generally not safe to drink. Bottled water is available everywhere.

7. Choose Local to Save Money

You can try Asian food, there’s a lot to choose from. It’s way cheaper and delicious instead of hamburgers and pizzas.

Also try some local products which are cheap with reasonable quality like clothes, slippers and more.

8. Ignore Some Public Vehicle Driver’s Advice

According to most travelers in Asia, some (very few) public utility vehicle drivers are not reliable. They’ll often just take you to traps or some random locations like a guesthouse where they get a commission for bringing you there.

Yes there are bad people, but there are much more good people that will help and bring you where you want to go without any problem.

9. Be Respectful to Their Culture

Like temples and holy sites, it requires you to dress appropriately. You need to cover your upper legs and shoulders.

Most of the holy temples that are frequently visited by tourists might have clothes that you can borrow to wrap around your body in case you’re wearing clothing that they consider inappropriate.

10. Respect the Animals

Animal riding sounds fun, but most animals like elephants, water buffalo, and tortoises are often horribly abused and traumatized so that they’ll follow commands.

11. Be Patient

Not everything runs exactly the way you expected. Delays are really common and travel plans can go bad. Just relax and understand the situation. It’s all part of the adventure.

12. Avoid Scams

Traveling around Asia, scams are pretty rare in Asia, but you might still encounter one now and then. Do record everything if possible like taking photos of the current conditions of anything you rent is one example.

Things to Do in Malaysia 2021

Traveling around is one of the most underrated things to do in Malaysia. From the dense jungle full of healthy wildlife to beautiful cities with delicious food, surrounded by turquoise blue beaches, Malaysia has a ton to offer.

Get ready with your Cameras to capture the moment as you may witness breath-taking views, wonderful places, people, and culture. Here are some of the best things to do when visiting Malaysia in 2021.

Hike

One of the best things to do in Malaysia 2021 is hiking the mountains. The tallest mountain in Malaysia is Mount Kinabalu, it’s located in the Ranau district West Coast Division of Sabah, Malaysia.

The mountain and its surroundings are among the most important biological sites in the world, with between 5,000 and 6,000 species of plants, 326 species of birds, and more than 100 mammalian species identified.

Among this rich collection of wildlife are famous species such as the gigantic Rafflesia plants and orangutans. Mount Kinabalu has been accorded UNESCO World Heritage status. 

It’s the popular hiking trek as you make your way through the dense jungle to reach the summit. 

Dive

One of the most visited spots to enjoy the underwater beauty of Malaysia is the Perhentian Islands.

Perhentian Islands are islands in Besut District, Terengganu, Malaysia. The two main islands are Perhentian Besar and Perhentian Kecil.

People here generally speak Kelantanese Malay, however, English is widely spoken. Perhentian Islands are popular with snorkelers and divers because of their reefs and crystalline waters full of a wide variety of turtles, corals, reef fish, and many other colorful living organisms.

City Tour

If you spend at least a few days and nights in Malaysia’s capital city, Kuala Lumpur, don’t miss visiting 1,500 feet tall Petronas Towers.

Kuala Lumpur is the largest city in Malaysia, covering an area of 243 km. You can also visit and see the Sri Mahamariamman Temple, explore the Batu Caves, and see the amazing butterfly garden. You can also try to explore the nightlife inside the city of Kuala Lumpur. You can check out these famous rooftop bars.

Food Trip

Other things to do in Malaysia 2021 is to visit some restaurants and try their delicious food.  There’s a lot of Malaysian dishes to choose from at a reasonable price and plentiful. Some are meat-based and there are vegetarian versions of all of them.

Some of the vegetarian versions are more delicious and healthier than their meat counterparts. If you have not been to Malaysia before and you’re planning for a visit, the food will keep you coming back.

Wildlife Spotting

Malaysia has a rich diversity of wildlife. Animals like Malaysian tigers, Orangutans, Sumatran Rhinos, and Monitor Lizards, are all indigenous to the country.

Malaysia’s national parks and wildlife reserves are the best places to go to see wildlife, including Taman Negara and Bako National Park.

Relax at the Beach

Relax and chill at the stunning tropical islands complete with coral and white sands to the long, languorous beaches of the mainland – as well as incredible locations in Malaysian Borneo, this Southeast Asian country sure packs a punch when it comes to the confluence of sand and sea.

Posted from thousands of different magazines, websites, and articles, Pulau Langkawi is a great retreat on an archipelago of more than 100 islands made up of white sandy beaches and endless sunshine.

Pantai Cenang is the most popular beach area, especially for its strip of restaurants, bars, and shops.

Whitewater Rafting

Malaysia is also known for its challenging whitewater rafting conditions. You can find all grades of rafting on the rivers here, Kuala Kubu Bharu River, Kampar River, and Ulu Slim River are two popular options.

Hope these lists of Things to Do in Malaysia 2021 help you in your plans and decisions to worth your visit to this beautiful country. Here are some helpful and related articles.