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Gallery: Malaysian Borneo. Can you top this for adventure?
Where’s Cyprus? Study reveals travelers’ geographic confusion
The best Singapore boat charters

Gallery: Malaysian Borneo. Can you top this for adventure?

Posted: 22 Aug 2013 03:00 PM PDT

Orangutans, rainforests, beaches and a cat museum. East Malaysia is pretty much 20 vacations in one

Malaysian Borneo has long evoked visions of adventure in the West.

Many a kid has thumbed through their parents' National Geographic mags, dreaming that one day mom and dad might pass on yet another trip to Yosemite in the station wagon and instead take them to a land where headhunters lurk in ancient rainforests and wild orangutans play.

Today Malaysian Borneo (East Malaysia, aka Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan) isn't the unaccessible impossibility it once was -- it's now serviced by a range of airlines and filled with resorts to suit all budgets.

The challenge is pinning down an itinerary. The place is huge.

Malaysia shares the island of Borneo with Indonesia and Brunei. The Malaysian portion is home to two Malaysian states -- Sabah and Sarawak -- and the federal territory of Labuan.

And it's far from perfect.

Logging continues to eat away at Malaysian Borneo's natural resources. Some researchers estimate 80 percent of the rainforests in Malaysian Borneo have been heavily impacted by logging.

Meanwhile, officials there continue to battle the illegal wildlife trade.

But it's still an adventure.

These options give you a taste of what's out there.

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Mount Kinabalu

Whether or not you climb to the summit, Kinabalu is worth a visit.

Part of the UNESCO-listed Kinabalu Park, it sits 4,095 meters above sea level.

Despite the altitude it's a relatively easy trek, though guides and permits are required. A variety of overnight trek options range from one- to three-night climbs.

More information on climbing the beautiful beast is available from the Mount Kinabalu Official Climb & Booking Information Centre.

Sipadan

The waters off Malaysian Borneo are legendary, with dozens of dive sites offering pristine views of some of the world's finest coral and sealife.

If you want the best of the best, it's Sipadan. A contender on any dive publication's list of the "world's best dives," Sipadan lies 35 kilometers off the coast of Sabah.

In order to protect Sipadan's fragile ecosystem, in 2004 the Malaysian government ordered all dive resorts off the island, banned night dives and set a limit of 120 divers per day.

More on CNN: Why you've never seen a dive site like Sipadan

Orangutans

The quintessential Malaysian Borneo experience -- playing with primates at the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary.

This rehabilitation center re-trains displaced animals for life in the jungle.

The sanctuary is reached by bus or taxi, a 23-kilometer ride from Sandakan town.

Rainforests and national parks

Famed naturalist and Darwin rival Alfred Wallace conceived his own theory of natural selection on Malaysian Borneo, following years of observation of the island's rainforests.

One of the best ways to experience the rainforests is to stay in an ecolodge.

North Borneo's Sukau Rainforest Lodge has its own generators and uses solar-heated water.

Down south, Rimba Orangutan Eco Lodges offer rainforest walks and wooden boat rides.

In terms of exploration, there are several protected national parks to choose from.

Gunung Mulu National Park is Sarawak's largest national park.

It's filled with caves and karst formations in a mountainous equatorial rainforest setting. It's also Malaysia's first World Heritage Area, given the honor in 2000.

Gunung Gading National Park is a mountainous rainforest two hours from Kuching, Sarawak. It's a popular spot to view rafflesia flowers in bloom.

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Kinabatangan River

Another way to take in the rainforest is with a cruise down Kinabatangan River.

This is the place to see pygmy elephants, often spotted moving along the shores.

With an average height of 2.5 meters, Borneo's 1,500 endangered pygmy elephants are smaller than most of their Asian brethren.

Their habitat is under threat by encroaching plantations, logging activity and hunting.

The Sukau Rainforest Lodge offers full wildlife tour and lodging packages.

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All those islands

Let's start with Pulau Tiga, part of the Pulau Tiga National Park. There's a reason that name sounds familiar -- it was the location for the very first season of "Survivor."

Richard Hatch might be a memory, but Pulau Tiga remains an incredibly beautiful destination.

Another gorgeous and popular destination is Gaya Island, where you'll find the Gayana Eco Resort.

Erected above water on stilts, the luxury resort has a 130-million-year-old prehistoric rainforest for a neighbor and provides guides for jungle-trekking -- if you're lucky you might even spot the megapode, a native bird that looks like a chicken but meows like a cat.

Selingan Island is home to green and hawksbill turtles that creep onto the beaches after dark to lay their eggs.

Since access to Selingan Island is restricted, joining a day tour is the best option.

More on CNN: 10 best islands for a Malaysia holiday

Kuching Cat Museum

For those who like a little meow in their travel mix, there's the Kuching Cat Museum.

It has several thousand feline-related displays and memorabilia -- including an Egyptian mummified cat.

Kuching Cat Museum, Bukit Siol, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia; +60 (0)8 244 6688

Headhunters

At the Mari Mari Cultural village, a 25-minute drive from Kota Kinabulu, you can learn about Borneo's infamous headhunters.

Visitors to the Sabah attraction receive a traditional welcome by the headhunters at the Marut Longhouse before checking out a demo on blowpipe making.

The real fun happens Inside, where you can jump and dance on the built-in "lansaran" -- traditional trampoline-like floor.

More well-known is the Sarawak Cultural Museum, 35 kilometers from Kuching and set in the the foothills of Mount Santubong. Dubbed a "living museum," the popular attraction is a celebration of all things Borneo -- longhouses and headhunters included -- and home to the annual Rainforest World Music Festival.

More on CNN: Top tips for an incredible Malaysia road trip

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Where’s Cyprus? Study reveals travelers’ geographic confusion

Posted: 22 Aug 2013 07:39 AM PDT

More than half of people who'd been to a certain sunny Mediterranean island recently couldn't point to it on a map ... it gets worse

Perhaps it's the rise of smart phones.

People think, heck, I'll check when I get there.

But a study has emerged suggesting millions of European vacationers -- and probably not they alone -- can't locate their destination on a map.

Cyprus? Hmm ... sunny, coastal, probably to the south.

That presumably was close to the thought process of the 53% of respondents in a study of 2,000 people who, when asked to point on a map to the Mediterranean island they'd traveled to in the past year, gestured instead at mainland Greece.

Given the simmering, 40-year tension between the Turkish and Greek-speaking parts of Cyprus, we're glad these travelers aren't applying for the diplomatic corps -- at least, we hope they're not.

Perhaps more worrying, given its size -- 1,600 kilometers wide and straddling two continents -- were the slightly fewer than half of people responding to the British Airways study who thought their Turkish holiday was in the Ukraine, almost 2,000 kilometers away.

Then there were the 14% of French travelers who couldn't locate ... France!

Instead, they gave often belittled Belgium some sorely needed attention.

French farce

Balancing the scales a little were the roughly one-fifth and one-third of vacationers who mistook Germany and Greece, respectively, for France.

France was popular, too, with the one-quarter of travelers to Spain who didn't know where it was.

Not that Spain was neglected. Astoundingly, one-quarter of people thought that's where Ireland was.

It might sound counterintuitive, but perhaps it's simply mistaken to believe geographic accuracy is imperative when planning a vacation.

While the value of their currency was important for 47% of participants in the study, and the location of swimming pools and the beach pressing for around one-third, four in 10 people admitted they went on vacation without looking up where they were going on a map.

And perhaps if you're on an all-inclusive package to somewhere sunny with airport transfers included, does it really matter if you only know -- very -- hazily where it is.

After all, you're on holiday.

Does such geographical ignorance point to the decline of civilization as we know it, or have these travelers got their priorities about right? Let us know in the comments section below.

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The best Singapore boat charters

Posted: 18 Aug 2013 03:00 PM PDT

Singapore's waters aren't just for tankers. Yacht cruises and island hopping are all part of the sailing scene

Singapore is one of the busiest container ports in the world.

With so many mega-vessels cruising through the Singapore Straits, sailing excursions out of the city may seem an unlikely diversion.

Not so.

The presence of two major marinas -– One°15 Marina and Marina at Keppel Bay -– and various sailing clubs make finding a Singapore boat charter a breeze.

Local operators run party boats, motor cruisers, sailing vessels and super yachts to plenty of destinations in the region.

Before you book, experts say it's key to pay close attention to the small print.

"My advice is never book a yacht that has advertised their services through daily deals sites," says Jayden Ng, head of sales at Marine Bookings, the largest yacht charter management firm in Singapore.

"What happens on a trip like that is that you get a transfer instead of a charter, and the experience just isn't there."

One of the most popular Singapore boat charter options available with Marine Bookings is a four-hour cruise, which starts from SG$800 ($630) for up to 10 guests.

Marine Bookings can customize the marine experience to include local fish farm ("kelong") visits, or organize add-on water activities such as wind surfing, wake boarding and inflatable rides.

Here are other boating options available out of Singapore.

Two-hour sunset cruise

Forget rooftop bars. The best views of the Singapore skyline are found at sea. On one of these.A few Singapore companies offer sunset cruises, including Lloyd Marine, which provides free-flow bubbly, aperitifs and canapes from 6 to 8 p.m. on weekdays aboard one of its catamarans based out of Marina at Keppel Bay.

There's a 12-guest minimum, starting from SG$160 ($125) per head. The sunset cruises revolve around city lights and harbor views, plus you get to see the Sentosa Island Sounds of the Sea fireworks from the water.

Private parties of 18 can charter a catamaran from Lloyd for two hours for SG$970 ($761), exclusive of food and drink, which is catered through the same company.

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Half-day cruise

Kusu Island's lone Chinese temple is a haven for turtles, which are said to endow good luck.Yachts –- flashy ones –- make headlines with their multi-million-dollar price tags. But luxury yachting doesn't have to be only for the rich.

"A majority of our cruises are four hours long and this can range from SG$950 to SG$1,200 ($748 to $945) for 10 to 20 guests on board a luxury catamaran, which is about SG$60 to SG$95 per person," says Steven Weeks, owner of Lifestyle Adventures Asia.

The Southern Islands are a good place to start.

Kusu, Lazarus, St. John's and Two Sisters' Islands are all nearby, just a few kilometers from Sentosa. Yachties can swim in lagoons, stroll on beaches and kayak straight from the yacht.

Kusu (aka Tortoise Island) is home to Malay religious shrines plus a Chinese temple, Da Bo Gong, where guests can pray for health, wealth and other good stuff.

For a more zen-like sail, you can head the other way. A circumnavigation cruise around Pulau Ubin just off the northwest coast of Singapore takes four hours.

Derek Mazzone, owner and skipper of Yacht Ventures, suggests a sail through the mangroves between Pulau Ketam and Pulau Ubin.

A half-day charter on his two-masted ketch comes at a flat fee of SG$400 ($313), plus SG$20 ($16) per person.

If you don't mind having your ear bent for a bit, ask the captain about Martin Heidegger's essay on motor boating versus sailing.

Day cruise

Boom net Just like a Jacuzzi. But with the risk of having your shorts pulled off in the flow. You've got a day to kill. You already memorized the layout of Orchard Road, did all the Marina Bay stuff and ate your weight in hawker center fare.

If you're traveling in a group, Yacht Long Ranger offers day trips for up to 37 guests aboard a 90-foot trimaran.

"Within Singapore waters, she's the most apt party boat, suitable for people who want to have fun," says Kiran Sujanani, head of operations.

In this case, fun comes in the form of "boom netting" in the sheltered waters off St. John's (you're dragged along the water in a net, not unlike being in a Jacuzzi in the high seas), kayaking in the bay off Lazarus, lounging on the beach and enjoying a sunset barbecue.

After dinner, tables are cleared to make way for a dance floor, where you can dance to your own iPod playlist piped through the on-deck sound system.

A full day (11 a.m. to midnight) on Yacht Long Ranger will set you back from SG$5,250 ($4,119), exclusive of food and drinks.

Weekend cruise

A quick sail from Singapore, Sebana Cove is on the southernmost tip of Johor, Malaysia. If you've got more than a day to spare, you can cross borders and spend a night in Indonesia or Malaysia.

Yacht Ventures offers an overnight sail to Sebana Cove in Johor, Malaysia.

The trip leaves Singapore's Changi Sailing Club at 10 a.m. and returns at 6 p.m. the following day. The cost, including berthing and immigration but excluding accommodation (either on the boat or onshore) and food, is SG$1,400 ($1,098) plus SG$40 ($31) per person with a max of 10 guests.

Another popular itinerary is a voyage to Indonesia's Riau archipelago. Aqua Voyage offers an overnight trip to Nongsa (Batam island) and Lagoi Bay (Bintan island), embarking from One°15 Marina at 10 a.m., returning at 6 p.m. the following day.

The first day is mainly spent cruising. Day two includes time for snorkeling, fishing and beach activities in Lagoi Bay.

The package costs SG$9,800+ ($7,712+) for a maximum of six guests, including a night on the boat. Lunch and dinner on day one at Nongsa Point Marina or Montigo Resorts are included in the rates, as is breakfast and light lunch on day two, served aboard the yacht.

The price also includes all the beer and soft beverages you can consume, light snacks, fishing equipment and onboard water sports facilities, plus two butlers who are on hand for the duration of the voyage.

Extended weekend cruise

Bintan is 45 minutes from Singapore by boat. Nikoi island (off Bintan, Indonesia) and the Malaysian island of Tioman are popular cruising destinations, both best visited on a weekened trip.

After Bali, Bintan is probably the best-known resort island in Indonesia and easily reachable from Singapore.

Lloyd Marine offers a two-night itinerary to the island that departs at 9 a.m. on day one, returning to Singapore at 9 p.m. on day three.

After dropping anchor, guests enjoy water sports or head ashore for spa treatments and golf before returning for a sunset barbecue onboard or hitting up one of the island's restaurants.

The cost is SG$6,900 ($5,430) for up to eight guests, excluding food and drink, mooring costs and visas on arrival, if needed.

Aqua Voyage also offers a three-day/two-night itinerary combining Nongsa and Nikoi for SG$16,000+ ($12,591+) for six guests, inclusive of all meals, unlimited beer and usage of onboard amenities.

A similar trip to Tioman is priced at SG$20,000+ ($15,739+), inclusive of all but the final dinner.

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Adventure weekend cruise

Pulau Aur is part of Malaysia's Johor Marine Park. For pirate fantasists or seafaring adventurers, Yacht Long Ranger offers a three-day/two-night jaunt to the Malaysian island of Pulau Aur.

This can be crammed into an overnighter, but Kiran suggests three days to allow time to enjoy the island (it's a 12-hour trip one way).

In addition to kayaking, snorkeling, lazing on the beach and boom netting, guests can hike up a 34-meter rock for views of the Malaysian mainland and surrounding islands.

Abseiling is also possible, with slopes of varying degrees, ranging from novice to overhang.

The average 24-hour overnight charter is SG$5,950 ($4,682) for up to 18 guests, excluding meals.

More on CNN: Island hopping around Singapore