Over the past few years, Borneo is becoming a popular destination for Australian travellers particularly Sabah. Just recently, Australia’s Orion Expedition Cruises had made Tawau as their first port of call for ‘Across the Wallace Line‘ Cruise of East Borneo.

The cruise is named after English naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, who travelled and researched here in the 19th century and whose work prompted Charles Darwin to publish his theory of evolution.

For many Tawau folks this is an untold piece of history despite the fact that there’s a place called Wallace Bay near Island of Sebatik, right across Tawau’s Cowie Bay.

Travellers are taken on board a cruise ship called Orion II. It is a private yacht-like expedition cruise ship built by Cantieri Navale Ferrari of Italy. It served as a private yatch for a few years and later Orion II was relaunched in 2009 following an extensive technical refit. Orion II now offers the finest standards in small-ship cruise travel. She also has an ice-strengthened hull for voyages in the Arctic and Antarctic and is fitted with stabilisers. This link has more photos of this ship including her beautiful interior.

Orion Expedition Cruises described Tawau in their online brochure as “the third largest town of the state of Sabah. It is a relatively new town in Malaysia, boomed in early 1980s for its lumber and cocoa farming industry. Today Tawau is a bustling town where it is a transit point to the rest of the world and your farewell from this expedition.” An Australian traveller who joined this cruise in September this year had written a short blog about her trip. Although Tawau was the first port of call, there was really nothing mentioned about her experience in Tawau, unfortunately.

Well, I think Tawau has much more to offer than that. Tawau-based travel agents should take the opportunity to introduce travellers on this cruise to many of Tawau’s attractions namely Tawau Hills National Park – home of the tallest tropical trees in the world, Bukit Gemok Forest Reserve which was rated No. 1 must visit place in Tawau by Lonely Planet, Tawau Tanjung Market and many more.

The next planned cruises are scheduled to depart on 7 February 2012 and 22 September 2012. The cruise will take 10 nights in total and the ship will call at these ports, with Bali as being the last port of call.

Day 1 Tawau, Malaysia
Day 2 Pulau Derawan, Kalimantan
Day 3 Pulau Kakaban & Sangalaki, Kalimantan
Day 4 Sangatta River, Kalimantan
Day 5 Samboja, Kalimantan
Day 6 Lampuko Mampie Wetlands, Sulawesi
Day 7 Pare Pare, Sulawesi (for overnight land trip to Tana Toraja)
Day 8 Pare Pare, Sulawesi
Day 9 Makassar, Sulawesi
Day 10 At sea
Day 11 Bali

No doubt this is a luxury-class cruise for those who can afford it. We sincerely hope this is a good opportunity to help introduce Tawau to the world.

Credit: ORION II and cruise map, Orion Expedition Cruises. Alfred Russel Wallace, Wikipedia.