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The rainforest discovery centre is absolutely brilliant and I strongly reccomend you visit.
Hi, I’m adding a +1 for a few nights on the Kinabatangan river – seeing orangutans, proboscis monkeys, hornbills, anahingas and pygmy elephants in the wild is just amazing. It’s an incredible adventure, and I would highly recommend it (but definitely not for a 2 year old!).
Climbing mount Kinabalu was also amazing, but definitely only for teenagers that love hiking.
Bring insect repellant.
Thank you for the great tips. We decided to drop HK!
+1 for going across to Sandakan (easy AirAsia flights from KK) and up the Kinbatangan river. We did this on one of our trips and had an amazing safari seeing orang-utans in the wild and whole host of other wildlife. We stayed at Suku Rainforest Lodge who also arranged all transfers and a stop off at Sepilok sanctuary on the way to the lodge.
Can anyone recommend a provider or particular 3D2N tour? We want good accomodation but the website recommended above (they are basically the same as Borneo Eco Tours), have really hiked theie prices from April 2024 and the total for 4 people is GBP1,750. Anyone used Borneo Adventure and stayed at Kinabantan Riverside Lodge?
Are these okay or missing something that’s a must see:
https://borneoadventure.com/tours/sabah/kinabatangan-river-tour-3d2n/
or
https://borneoadventure.com/tours/sabah/sepilok-kinabatangan-abai-sukau/Mate, that first one you linked is about £330 per person.
I paid just over £90 pp to Sukau Greenview and had a fantastic time.
Don’t be fooled by tour companies that look to charge western prices.Have a chat with Emelyn on WhatsApp: +60 13-869 6922
Thank you, will send her a message. I’d been researching for days and was getting really mixed up with what everyone was providing so wanted firsthand experiences. Also, since most tour companies collect from the airport before 8am, we will need to arrive into Sandakan the day before from Kota Kinabalu so looking at decent hotel recommendations too.
Thank you, will send her a message. I’d been researching for days and was getting really mixed up with what everyone was providing so wanted firsthand experiences.
Understandable.
When I first started checking for prices, I was coming across similar to what you linked.
After some digging around, I found that many of the lodges on the river are running their own packages, including airport pickup (from SDK).
My £93 pp included airport pickup and 2 hour transfer; 2 nights in their best accommodation (the green room); 4 boat cruises of 1 – 1.5 hours duration each; a night time walk; 5 meals (2 * breakfast; 2 * evening; 1 * lunch) and drop off anywhere up as far as Sandakan town itself (about 3 hour drive).
Yes, about £93 per person at todays exchange rate. Incredible value.
We opted to pay for an additional cruise and a daytime jungle walk – think they were like 60 MYR each (about £11pp at the time).
You can add on additional days or get them to take you to places in Sepilok before/after at additional cost.Other lodges do similar packages.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking if something is too cheap… (on this occasion anyway).we will need to arrive into Sandakan the day before from Kota Kinabalu so looking at decent hotel recommendations too.
We took an 11:40 air asia flight from KK to Sandakan, which landed at 12:25 (actually about 25 minutes in the air). We were outside in about 10 minutes from landing (including collecting our checked luggage). They picked us up at about 13:00 from the airport.
We opted to spend a number of days at Sepilok, hence did that after we were dropped at our hotel in Sepilok on the last morning of our Kinabatangan package.
I can see why you’d need to come the night before if you wanted to do a tickbox exercise of touring the Orangutan sanctuary at lightning speed on your arrival day.
I strongly suggest you don’t do that, as that place and the rest of the Sepilok area deserves at least 2 full days.Are these okay or missing something that’s a must see:
https://borneoadventure.com/tours/sabah/kinabatangan-river-tour-3d2n/
or
https://borneoadventure.com/tours/sabah/sepilok-kinabatangan-abai-sukau/Mate, that first one is like £330 per person.
I paid just over £90 pp to Sukau Greenview and had a fantastic time.
Don’t be fooled by tour companies that look to charge western prices.Have a chat with Emelyn on WhatsApp: +60 13-869 6922
Just to add, our 3D2N with Mr Aji was MYR600 per person. That included round trip transfers from SDK, 3 meals a day (it was basic stuff but freshly cooked) 4 boat tours, one night jungle walk, basic rooms with a/c and en-suite. He only takes a party up to 6 so the 5 of us had a private tour, boat to ourselves etc.
The only extra was soft drinks (no alcohol on offer) and that just cost pennies.
i’d suggest engaging a local driver with good reviews.
Hi All, I’m using older forum posts helping with the planning a trip to Malaysia as HfP forum users offer great insights. We wish to visit Kota Kinabalu and do some tours from here but wishing to avoid further air travel. When people mention find a local driver, what is the best way of going about this? Thanks.
i’d suggest engaging a local driver with good reviews.
Hi All, I’m using older forum posts helping with the planning a trip to Malaysia as HfP forum users offer great insights. We wish to visit Kota Kinabalu and do some tours from here but wishing to avoid further air travel. When people mention find a local driver, what is the best way of going about this? Thanks.
Where are you thinking of going?
KK is mostly a base for exploring the marine park (TARP) and the Kinabalu National Park (KNP).
It’s also a gateway into the rest of Borneo in general and Sabah state in particular, but you will need to fly.I got a recommendation through TripAdvisor to use this guy for day trips.
Saprih +60 10-364 2550
Spoke to him about some itineraries including going to Kundasang and back, full day, 350 MYR for up to four passengers. That was more than 18 months ago. His replies were fine and we would have used him but I decided to hire a car at the last minute instead.
Contact him to get some up to date prices you can use as a benchmark.Hi Aston100, thanks for all your useful nuggets of great info. I think KK will be a base and I’ll have to stick to it as Mrs gritts will be done with flying by then, even a short hop to Sandakan. So I was looking for trips like KNP or Mari Mari Village however I have grown to dislike trips arranged via a hotel with their Western prices etc. But i’m unsure on independently planning, say, an overnighter to KNP. No issues doing it myself in most of the world however I think the word ‘jungle’ gives me a mental block.
Hi Aston100, thanks for all your useful nuggets of great info. I think KK will be a base and I’ll have to stick to it as Mrs gritts will be done with flying by then, even a short hop to Sandakan. So I was looking for trips like KNP or Mari Mari Village however I have grown to dislike trips arranged via a hotel with their Western prices etc. But i’m unsure on independently planning, say, an overnighter to KNP. No issues doing it myself in most of the world however I think the word ‘jungle’ gives me a mental block.
Is car hire an option for you?
I’m returning to KK and Borneo in September this year.
I’ll be staying in KK for seven nights. A few days in, I’ll be picking up a car from the airport.
Will use it to go up the Mari Mari Cultural Village and then onwards to one of the places up the hill that overlooks the city. Last time I went to the Kokol Haven Resort for the sunset view. May revisit or find an alternative as I don’t always like to repeat the same venues if possible. But it’s a perfectly fine place though – amazing sunset views.
I’ll be driving to KNP where Aston junior will go climb Mount Kinabalu and stay up there overnight. I’ll be looking for and staying in a basic b&b place, possibly booked through Airbnb in Ranau or Kundasang.
Will visit other places in KNP such as the Poring Hot Springs and canopies the next day once Junior is back down again.Driving is fine. Same side of the road as us.
Though coming down in the dark from that hill overlooking KK was slightly hair raising as there were sheer drops on the side of the road and no street lights for much of the journey.Can use the car for other places such as the tip of Sabah state, but otherwise a grab taxi is laughably cheap and the best way to get around.
Do consider a lazy day trip to Dinawan island (private island). We found that place to be better for a beach than the actual public beaches elsewhere. Book it through Klook for the ability to pay with Amex and access to recourse should you need it, but arrange your own grab taxi to the departure point – a twentyish minute drive iirc.
Don’t book anything through your hotel.
Book directly or preferably through Klook.
You can use Klook for just about any activity, including snorkeling trips, island hopping, river cruises etcExcellent to hear your are going back. Car hire might be an option although Klook looks like it could be very useful. Good luck to Junior, I did briefly consider doing it myself, only briefly though. Thanks again.
Excellent to hear your are going back. Car hire might be an option although Klook looks like it could be very useful. Good luck to Junior, I did briefly consider doing it myself, only briefly though. Thanks again.
Sorry just to be clear: book your car directly with the provider (Hertz, Avis etc). I had grief with Avis last year despite booking directly (and having presidents club status) so can only imagine how bad it would have been going through a middle man.
Just to add, our 3D2N with Mr Aji was MYR600 per person. That included round trip transfers from SDK, 3 meals a day (it was basic stuff but freshly cooked) 4 boat tours, one night jungle walk, basic rooms with a/c and en-suite. He only takes a party up to 6 so the 5 of us had a private tour, boat to ourselves etc.
The only extra was soft drinks (no alcohol on offer) and that just cost pennies.
The Real Swiss Tony do you have contact information for Mr.Aji I can’t seem to find it online. Thank you.
Just to add, our 3D2N with Mr Aji was MYR600 per person. That included round trip transfers from SDK, 3 meals a day (it was basic stuff but freshly cooked) 4 boat tours, one night jungle walk, basic rooms with a/c and en-suite. He only takes a party up to 6 so the 5 of us had a private tour, boat to ourselves etc.
The only extra was soft drinks (no alcohol on offer) and that just cost pennies.
The Real Swiss Tony do you have contact information for Mr.Aji I can’t seem to find it online. Thank you.
I was going to book with him, but his comms (via email) were borderline rude and gave me the impression he doesn’t need the business due to his popularity.
However, Swiss Tony had a good time with him so maybe I was unlucky.I found Mr Aji very easy to deal with, accommodative when Air Asia changed the flights, happy to add in a stop at the sun bear sanctuary at no extra charge etc etc. He’s also very much in demand – we booked many months out and it’s only him & his son & 1 boat, so once other bookings are made, you’re kind of stuck with whatever is left.
He’s certainly passionate about what’s left of the rain forest – and very happy to say his bit about deforestation. I’m sure other providers are available and for me it was a once in a lifetime experience, but if I wanted to repeat the experience I would book with him again.
He’s also a professional with years of experience. Approach him with respect and you’ll get great service.
Thank Aston100 and The real Swiss Tony. I will reach and see what I find.
FYI I looked at Sukau Greenview and the prices have tripled — passage of time and inflation I suppose.
FYI I looked at Sukau Greenview and the prices have tripled — passage of time and inflation I suppose
I’m going there again in September.
The prices have increased for sure.
I think I paid about 500 odd MYR pp in 2023. About £90 each.
Their current 2025 price for the exact same thing is about 800 MYR pp (for the largest / best rooms).
However, they will reduce this if you haggle.
They’ve agreed to a twenty percent discount for me with minimal effort. I will likely ask for more when it comes time to make the bookingHowever, they will reduce this if you haggle.
They’ve agreed to a twenty percent discount for me with minimal effort. I will likely ask for more when it comes time to make the bookingWonder if this tactic is why Mr Aji gave you short shrift.
However, they will reduce this if you haggle.
They’ve agreed to a twenty percent discount for me with minimal effort. I will likely ask for more when it comes time to make the bookingWonder if this tactic is why Mr Aji gave you short shrift.
Didn’t even get to the price negotiation stage.
One of the examples: I asked him for clarity around a couple of the activities and his response was (literally)
“Please FOLLOW MY ITINERARY
and reading slow again and again
hope you Not confused 😕”I’m glad he worked out for you. He did come highly recommended. Perhaps he was having a bad couple of days which spilled over into his replies to potential customers. But I wasn’t prepared to take that tone from a service provider and went elsewhere.
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