Water Village Settlement (Kampong Ayer) — Attraction in Borneo

Kampong (village) Ayer (water) is a community on stilts on the Brunei River.

When visiting, please be mindful, you are visiting a residential area. There are some businesses listed, but in general, most occupied buildings are someone’s home.

Our trek to Kampong Ayer started from the Brunei Waterfront. At the waterfront, stand near the railing of the pier and you will be asked if you need a boat ride. If you are only taking the brief ride, ~2 minutes or less, to Kampong Ayer, it is B$1 per person. Getting a tour is a different price.

For the return route, stand by a loading platform and a boat may already be there or one will soon appear. Always confirm your passage fee before boarding.

As mentioned this is a community on stilts. The walking path is supported in the same manner, with planks. The planks ranged from rotting to fairly new and sturdy. There are definitely areas where maintenance is required. The planks are also not tightly secured, so expect gaps.

This is not for anyone uncomfortable with walking on a surface that just a few meters above a river and not solid. When here, it’s important to watch where you step and also have a good hold of your phone. Anything dropped would be difficult to retrieve.

Fresh water is supplied via blue pipes that edge some of the wooden paths. Electricity is also available, but bio waste supposedly goes into the river. Again, make sure personal belongings, especially phones are secured.

If you, this is a unique community that may be...

Brunei has it's own water village named "kampong ayer", literally in local Malay. The location is in the capital city of Bandar Seri Begawan. From the roadside, one will walk down steps to water taxis , it's a small wooden boat crafted by the locals themselves and it's rigged with Yamaha motor.

Cost to go on a quick 30 minutes cruise around the village is around us$8 . It is a self contained village with it's own school, clinic, police station, firemen, mosque and a mini museum is also in the village. One may also walk the wooden planks that connect all village.

Brunei is consist of 7 indigenous tribe but the Royalty ancestry hails from the water village with a tribe called "Brunei". The rest of the tribes are called "kedayan", "murut", "belait", "dusun", "tutong" and and "bisaya".

The water villagers ancient industry beside boat making also included metal & brass tinsmith, basket weaving.

Homestay is available but a Mangrove resort right in the water is offering overnight stays and activities...

I loved visiting Kampong Ayer. Such a beautiful sight to see the oldest & largest water village in the world. A fully sufficient settlement with primary & secondary schools, fire station, police station & mosque. Costs 1 BND each way to cross the river from Begawan waterfront. Just wait at a Jeti & a boatman will come & get you. This isn’t a “tourist attraction”, but an impressive real way of life for thousands of Bruneians. Please come here with respect. Check out Kampong Ayer Cultural & Tourism Gallery to get a glimpse of the water village history. Meet a local boatman, he’ll show you their water village cruising around from their boat & for a reasonable price he will also take you down the Brunei River to scope out proboscis monkeys, crocodiles & an impressive sunset. Rudy on Isabella...