The Best Things To Do In Borneo For The Ultimate Adventure Holiday
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The Best Things To Do In Borneo For The Ultimate Adventure Holiday
We really loved Borneo! It was totally unlike any other trip we have previously taken because its sole focus was mainly on jam-packing as much wildlife and nature as possible. We saw giant crocodiles, orangutans (of course), rare proboscis monkeys (the only ones in the world), and even the super-elusive endangered pygmy elephants!! It was seriously such a magical trip and we highly recommend everyone to try out an ultimate adventure holiday in Borneo! The local people are super friendly, the food is delicious, the nature is amazing and the local culture is fascinating. We stayed in the Malaysian side the whole time and were there for just over 1 week in total. In this guide we’ll show you what are the best things to do in Borneo, a well as what see and where to go for an unforgettable experience. Read on below:
Contents in the blog post
Visiting Orangutans in Sandakan
visiting orangutans in sandakan
We decided to go to the orangutan sanctuary in Sepilok, Sandakan, because it was the first official orangutan rehabilitation project for rescued baby orphans, so is the most famous- and we’re glad we did! There are also 3 others- Lok Kawi Wildlife Park (the best if you’re short on time); Kubah National Park; and Semenggoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre. We also went with Sepilok because it was easier to get to the river Kinabatangan for us afterwards (where you can spot totally wild orangutans if you’re extremely lucky too) and we could fly to Sandakan directly from Kota Kinabalu.
We were originally a bit worried that visiting orangutans in a sanctuary, as opposed to the wild, would feel a little bit zoo-like but it’s basically just an entrance to the open jungle! They have a wooden walkway leading to a feeding platform and a nursery where the younger orangutans normally hang out (this is the part that was most zoo-like because it was behind a screen but this is only to protect the babies from diseases etc.), but other than that all the nature just leads straight onto the open wild. The food left available to them on the feeding platform is deliberately boring and monotonous so that they are encouraged to explore the jungle and forage for their own food, rather than relying on the sanctuary feeding them. Plus, the economic benefits go towards not only having a positive impact on the orangutans but also supporting local communities.
Orangutans have sadly become endangered because their environment has been wiped out for its natural resources, mainly palm oil. This is a problem not only because of the loss of biodiversity, but also because palm trees are planted some distance apart from each other and orangutans never actually come to the ground! They only swing from tree to tree and are very vulnerable if they do have to come down. Now, almost 47% of Borneo’s natural ecosystem has been replaced with palm oil farms! So one way to think about sustainability is not only through responsible tourism and visiting/donating to rehabilitation sanctuaries, but also reconsidering products that contain palm oil. Palm oil can be sustainable if farmed correctly because it grows incredibly quickly, but the way it is usually currently farmed is instead extremely destructive, which is why it’s often protested against.
When you arrive at the sanctuary you have to pay a small entrance fee and one if you want to bring a camera (equivalent to about £6 and £2 respectively). Then, you’ll watch a short educational video and you’re free to roam around. We really loved wandering the paths in the middle of the jungle, as well as watching the babies play in the nursery! We even saw several of them out amongst the trees and were lucky enough to see a mum eating with her newborn baby on the feeding platform, talk about cuteness overload! The lush greenery is really beautiful and easy to escape from the crowds a bit. There are 2 feeding times a day, one at 10am and one at 3pm. It’s recommend to arrive at least an hour before to give you enough time to purchase your tickets (the centre opens at 9am), watch the video and walk over to the platform, normally your hotel will organise a free shuttle service for the right times. There’s also a cafe onsite at the entrance so we actually stuck around to get to see both feeding times, but a couple of hours should normally be more than enough. Because the orangutans are free to roam, a sighting of them is not technically guaranteed so it’s worth allowing yourself enough time to hang around just in case you don’t (even though we saw LOADS of them so don’t think this should be too much of a problem).
Next door to the orangutan entrance is a sun bear sanctuary which is also awesome! We didn’t really know much about them beforehand but it was so cool to see them lounging about all over the place (from a fair distance- this one has a raised walkway) and highly recommend factoring in the time to see them too :)
Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our time here and are so so pleased we got to see Bornean orangutans in their natural habitat!
Next door to the orangutan entrance is a sun bear sanctuary which is also awesome! We didn’t really know much about them beforehand but it was so cool to see them lounging about all over the place (from a fair distance- this one has a raised walkway) and highly recommend factoring in the time to see them too :)
Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our time here and are so so pleased we got to see Bornean orangutans in their natural habitat!
doing a river tour in kinabatangan
This was an AWESOME adventure filled part of our trip and we highly recommend it! The nature and wildlife around the Kinabatangan river is so lush, it’s definitely well worth the visit. In total we saw proboscis monkeys (who are shy and have 2 stomachs which is why they’re so pot-bellied! Also only the men have those funny noses), giant crocodiles, a rare civet cat, hornbilled birds (including white double hornbills that hadn’t been spotted in over 2 years!), kingfishers and so many other types of bird we can’t even remember their names, super cute pig-tailed macaque (as well as regular macaque) and silvered langur monkeys, and the extremely rare pygmy elephants! It was off-season for the elephants (we went in June) and even when it is the season for them they’re only spotted on average FOUR times a year! We seriously couldn’t believe our luck- I had to stop myself from crying haha. It was so awesome, they crossed our path through the river and ate leaves on the other side as we silently watched them for about half an hour before they wandered on. We didn’t realise how small they actually are!
We went with Borneo Natural Sukau Bilit eco-resort because the lodges are beautiful and we liked how full the days were (and the food they served was soooo delicious and it’s so nice to eat on the river too), the guides were also super friendly! The full 4 day 3 night package includes:
An evening river tour on your arrival and a night walk (we only saw scorpions, birds, frogs and spiders here)- make sure to bring closed shoes for this! They say there’s leeches at certain times of the year. You should also bring a waterproof layer because the weather can be a bit temperamental at times (even though mostly it should be hot and sunny).
A roughly 6am river tour the next morning, an afternoon day trek and another night walk (each lasting about an hour). You’ll have breakfast after the river tour and lunch and dinner before the other tours.
Your second day starts with another river tour and then you have some free time after lunch where you can visit the local community village a short walk away, if you like. We were invited into the home of a family that gave us loads of delicious treats here. Then we planted a tree- and look forward to going back one day to see how it’s grown! Finally, you’ll have your last night walk (if you’re lucky enough this is when you’ll spot a clouded leopard- we only saw their tracks but sadly never caught up to them, or a slow loris, and even pangolins)! You’ll need some kind of light source for this (we used our phones).
On your last day you’ll have one final morning river tour before leaving after breakfast. Usually you can be dropped off directly at the airport or your next destination.
If you’re like us, you may be thinking if it’s necessary to go with a tour because you prefer to do your own thing but it’s pretty much impossible to stay at a place along the river without also doing a tour. Plus, the guides are extremely talented and experienced in spotting the animals in the wild, as well as keeping you safe along the way (we would never normally do a night walk otherwise)! We did see a private boat of just 2 travelers one day but don’t think it’s really necessary because you’re only ever with about 6 other people at a time so doesn’t make much of a difference- and you get to support the local economy this way. Plus the river is really big, the resorts are pretty spaced out and all the boats keep their distance from each other well (it’ll feel like you’re alone most of the time).
TIP: Book your accommodation online but then buy the tour from local people when you get there because it will be MUCH cheaper! We had originally organised it all online but then saw at our previous accommodation in Sandakan that they were selling the tour for about 60% less. Also make sure to research tours/accommodation carefully because some of the others we saw had really shoddy boats (don’t forget those are crocodile infested waters!) and what they offered was less extensive. Plus, when dealing with tours of this nature, you always want to make sure you’re taking part in responsible travel, which means no getting too close to the animals! All in all, we were really really pleased with Sukau Bilit and would gladly go back.
kota kinabalu guide + island hopping
We personally wouldn’t recommend spending too much time directly in Kota Kinabalu because we found it didn’t have that much to offer (except for the floating mosque which is beautiful!), but you will most likely be using this as a starting point for reaching all the lovely islands on offer around it as part of the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park, or Marine Park. Most of them are no more than half an hour’s boat ride away and you can just turn up at the pier and buy your tickets directly, boats leave every 15 minutes (and then you have to pay a small “tax” fee when you arrive). Beware though: it can be a VERY bumpy ride. Some of the islands can be quite touristy but they are all really beautiful with lovely crystal-clear, baby-blue water. Our favourite was Manukan because the beach was long enough so that you had plenty of space, and there was a really cute restaurant on it.
We also visited Sapi where you can do a hike over the hill to the other side but the beach there isn’t really big enough to sit on, plus the water was quite rocky and choppy, and littered with plastic- the walk is really nice though! We saw baby wild boars here and there’s also HUMUNGOUS monitor lizards (as well as plenty of macaques of course). And Mamutik island which was nice too, you can hire snorkelling gear on all of them if you want too. On your way over to the islands, you’ll pass by the stilt villages which you can also visit as part of a guided tour.
We did go to a couple of the beaches in Kota Kinabalu too but there weren’t as nice, also make sure to stay near the centre of town, we were a bit far out and it became hard to find food, we went to the night market once but it was mainly snack food. There’s also a famous handicraft market called the Filipino Market you can visit in the centre of town as well as a Sunday market on Gaya Street. If you have more time here you can climb Mount Kinabalu! It’s also possible to stay directly on some of the islands (such as Manukan) which looked really nice except you won’t have wifi so bear that in mind.
The floating mosque is definitely worth a visit if you fancy doing something other than exploring the islands. It’s a short taxi ride from the centre and you’ll need to pay a small fee on arrival. It was very overcast when we visited but if you’re lucky enough to get a sunny day the we highly recommend visiting at golden hour as it will look stunning and you’ll get some really beautiful reflection shots.
So that’s the best things to do in Borneo for the ultimate holiday adventure! It was seriously one of the coolest and most animal-filled destinations we’ve ever visited. Have you ever been? What animals did you see- let us know in the comments section below!
