Kiulu River White Water Rafting in Sabah

Famous for white water rafting, the Kiulu river offers thrill-seekers from class 1 to class 2 (grade 1 to grade 2) water rapids.

This, too, depends on the rainy season as when we went on that day, there was one or two class 3 rapids because it had rained heavily in the last few days.

The good thing at Kiulu River Water Rafting is that ages 5 years old are accepted right up to 60 years, which is wonderful for adventurous families.

Kiulu River White Water Rafting

Class one and two rapids are common here.

Kiulu River Water Rafting was my first round of actual white water rafting in Sabah. The gang and I were there for the entire day with Alex, the owner of one of the water rafting companies, which run trips for both Kiulu River Water Rafting and Padas River Water Rafting in Sabah, Borneo.

The Kiulu River is actually the longest water rafting river in Borneo, with over 15 km. Be sure to see my posting on Padas Water Rafting with Class 3 and 4 rapids.

Me having a moment with the sun

Gearing up for the raft

After the scenic journey there, we stopped at a private location as we specially booked this trip. The rafting vans brought the water rafts to our start point, and they started to fill them with air. Manually mind you.

While waiting to gear up, we looked around the Kiulu river, checked the rapids and the water. I must say, the water was freezing cold at 10 in the morning.

We are taught how to sit in the raft with one leg secured under part of the raft. How to hold the raft oar and, most important, what to do in the event the raft overturns.

How exciting, I thought. Then one of the boys brought out some suntan lotion, and we had some fun with it.

Intense rafting for exciting rapids

Off we went, carrying the raft about 100 meters into the cold, freezing water of the Kiulu River. We had to carry it until it was deep enough to sit in it and start paddling. But wait, there is more.

The captains are the ones who will guide you through your rafting journey, and by using his raft oar, he will steer the raft past the huge boulders and dangerous part of the Kiulu River.

These are experienced water rafters who have worked there for years, and they know the rivers inside out.

This is to build momentum to each of the rapids we head for, and on reaching 20 to 30 meters of the rapid, he will shout for everyone to stop paddle.

With this, you will be using a lot of arm strength, and everyone counts for the full effect.

At times, the raft almost overturned, but he knew how to counter the overturn thanks to the experienced captain. Adrenaline was rushing through all our bodies on this trip.

On this round, Alex himself was the captain. Being the most experienced in the line, he himself said that it has been a long while since he rafted.

And boy, was he good! For this 3-man-raft, I took a break as my arms felt like jelly from the first 2 rounds of rafting down the Kiulu River. So, photography time instead.

Alex was laughing away, saying how city people are so weak. I somehow tend to agree with him on this.

Feeling the waters run through you and having a cold Tiger beer was the best thing to call it a day.

Again, this was my first proper rafting trip, and it was an amazing experience for me. After this, we went to do some Padas River White Water Rafting in the next few days.