Batu Kapal Guest House & Jungle Trekking

Just back from our 6 night stay at this guesthouse and I cannot recommend it enough. The location right in the jungle is magnificent, the food is wonderful and I cannot say enough good things about the staff. They are so friendly, knowledgeable and go above and beyond to ensure you have a fantastic experience both at the guesthouse and also on any tours you take with them. They are licensed guides and their tours are ethical which is important. We saw 4 orangutan and other local wildlife on our trek but even saw a couple of orangutan from the guesthouse! You can stay in Bukit Lawang itself but I guarantee staying here will be a more beautiful and authentic (not to mention peaceful) experience.

The Nature around this place is fantastic. The river is great to take a dip in, and the are chances of seeing Orang Utans and a lot of monkeys and birds and the forrest sorounding this place. You can only go there on the back of a motorbike, so travel light. The bar/Restaurant is fantastic, great people and great food. Suggestions for the management: Make sure that the rooms are clean at check-in, ours wasn’t really! 😕 The bathroom is made by a lot of stones/rocks, the idea is good, but everything in the room gets dirty from it, you drag dirt in from the bathroom. Also a lot of spiders, mosquitoes and geckoes live between the rocks. Buy new mosquito-nets, they smell and have holes in them.

If you want a real genuine and experience of the jungle, and meet locals to learn about the real culture of Bukit Lawang this is a great place to stay. The team at Batu Kapal is big and they all work together to make your stay a very special experience. They have certified, professional and experienced guides for jungle treks that are very environmentally responsible. It is located out of the tourist area so you need to be comfortable getting on the back of a motorbike on a dirt track to get there( awesome fun) you can also walk this track once you know the way which is a great activity in itself. There is a river that is a beautiful swimming spot and a great place to do your laundry, great food options at the guesthouse and great entertainment, So much to explore around the area you can easily fill a 7 days here! The team are great but it is difficult to understand who manages the place and the bookings , they could definitely improve the booking and payment process by clearly outlining who to pay for what and having it recorded in writing somewhere so it can be checked by everyone, We had some trouble with our arrival and they did not arrange our transfer as planned we found it difficult to get in touch with them and had to make our way there with no wifi or idea of where we had to go, so make sure you establish a clear line of contact before your arrival so if you have a problem finding them they can help you. Luckily we could rely on locals to help us when we arrived late after a 3 hr taxi journey in Bukit Lawang. Despite the lack of process's, this is often the Indonesian way so we understand the need to be flexible. You will not be disappointed if you love adventure! This place is amazing. We would 100% stay at Batu Kapal guesthouse again and hope to get back to spend more time with the great guides and staff again soon!

My partner and I loved Batu Kapal guest house, people that own the place are so lovely. They drove us around to the village and back so the distance is no problem. They did a lot of extra things for us what we appreciate a lot 🙏 bird watching, cooking local meals, magic colour chancing tea ☕️. We booked a 6 days jungle track with them too! That was super awesome. They bring you really deep in the jungle where we saw a lot of wild animals! Not the semi wild animals like most tours offer you! Eddie the local guide we had booked though Batu Kapal is the best guide in town, even in his time off you can find him in the jungle. Everyone is so friendly and I surly recommend this place!

I stayed with my 6 year old son in Batu Kapal. All I can say is that it is definately a place where you should go. It is not just the stunning surrounding by the jungle and its noise. You really feel very welcomed and familiar within the first moment. The owners Bayu and Aji and their stuff do run this place by heart which is very special. Especially it is a nice place for kids because all of them really take care and like children. The room is clean, food is very good. We saw an Orangutan Mum with her baby hanging in the tree on the first day next to the restaurant. We also did a Trekkingtour to Gunung Leuser NP which they arranged for us. Everyone is very helpful and kind. You can do also Birdwatching with them. We went to the river nextby a couple of times for swimming which was very nice. The fish BBQ was also great pleasure. We had really great days and enjoyed the time staying there so much. I would go there again. Thank you to all of you!