Exploring the Kinabatangan River in Sabah, Borneo with kids is one of the most incredible experiences you’ll have in Borneo. Visiting the Kinabatagan River with the family to spot wild orangutans, crocodiles, proboscis and silver leaf monkeys, pygmy elephants, hornbills and wildlife galore is an experience you will never forget.

One of the reasons we love Malaysian Borneo is its beautiful, diverse wildlife. Again and again it delivers once in a lifetime experiences for families – fun, educational and shake-your-head amazing – the kind that will have you clutching hands and staring at each other, mouths open in amazement. Kids in Borneo will have the most fabulous time, and it’s a great place to test your mettle before setting off on a big Asian adventure.

Our love for Malaysian Borneo reached a new level after our visit to the Kinabatagan River, just a two hour drive from Sandakan in the state of Sabah.

Before you go:

VPN & SIM

Make sure to download a VPN to keep your data safe and so you can access all the sites you want and watch shows from home. Read why you need one here.

If you have an unlocked phone and buy SIMs on arrival like me then the best one for the island – and especially the Kinabatagan where other networks don’t reach –  is DIGI. You can get it on arrival at Kota Kinabalu airport.

Insurance:

Always travel with insurance. We’ve been robbed and needed medical help (not in Borneo FYI) so insurance is a must for peace of mind and for help when you need it. We use CoverMore.

Getting there:

The easiest way to get to Sandakan is by plane – you can fly direct from Kuala Lumpur or take a domestic flight from Kota Kinabalu. From Sandakan you can take a car – or your resort can organise transfers – to the Kinabatagan. Make sure to go to Sepilok and visit the Orangutan Sanctuary on the way or on the way back.

Where to stay:

If you arrive the evening stay over in Sandakan – you only really need a day here. We suggest staying at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel right in the city centre, or the Sabah Hotel which is just two kilometres from the city.

Before you get to the Kinabatangan make sure to visit the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary and the Sunbear Rescue Centre. You can do it on the way to Kinabatangan, or you can stay over at Sepilok. We love the Sepilok Jungle Resort which is only a short walk from the Orangutan Sanctuary and has beautiful wooden walkways through the trees and alongside a river. It also has a fabulous pool and handmade slides the kids love.

In the Kinabatagan we have stayed at two resorts. Most offer similar packages that include two river cruises per day, all meals and nature walks.

We recommend the Borneo Natural Sukau Bilit Resort – we have stayed here and we loved it. This resort is owned and run by a local who employs local villagers. The rooms are fabulous, the common area has hammocks and hanging chairs, the food is delicious – pay a little extra and order the river prawns – divine!

We also stayed at the Bilit Adventure Lodge and loved it also. The rooms are a little more humble, and it also offers great food and river cruises. This is the one in our book too 🙂

The Kinabatagan

Kinabtangan is Malaysia’s second longest river, 560 kilometres of swirling water starting from the  mountains and traveling in curving s-shapes to Borneo’s east coast and into the Sulu Sea. Its banks are lined with rich jungle and wild animals, and a cruise down the river is an animal spotter and bird watchers heaven.

On our first river cruise on the Kinbatagan we saw an overwhelming amount of wildlife – a saltwater crocodile who glided into the river from its sunny spot on the brown muddy bank,  two orangutans just hanging in the trees, a tribe of Bornean pygmy elephants and silver monkeys swinging through the jungle alongside the river.

 

We spotted proboscis monkeys – a big male and a bunch of young ones all playing and pushing each other out of the trees, crashing to the ground as branches broke and having a brilliant time of it all. We also saw three beautiful big Hornbills fly overhead, their wide monochrome wings gliding them across the sky.

The small motorboats take up to 12 people and are open so you can see left, right, straight ahead and above. On one of our cruises there were only four of us. We had so much space. Lifejackets are provided and the river crises are permitted to run for two hours at a time.

The Borneo Natural Sukau Bilit Resort is a beautiful little resort with wooden chalets cloistered in the jungle, a large open dining room alongside the river and an upstairs open lounge with hammocks where you can recline and watch the Kinabatangan River as it glides past.

Everything is wooden so the resort fits snugly into the its jungle location and is barely noticeable from the river – just the way we like it.

Our room was large, with two double beds, a sitting area, dresser and stool and bathroom. It had tea and coffee making facilities and big windows looking out onto the jungle and gallivanting macaques, playing around in the trees.

You’ll find the macaques along the boardwalks that connect the chalets and dining areas – like all macaques they can be cheeky so be careful – don’t feed them or try to interact. One night wild boars ran around below us and on others the elephants were heard wandering around.

We stayed for two nights and two days, with three river cruises, an evening rainforest walk and a walk into the jungle to a huge river where fish nibbled our feet.

The incredible thing is Malaysian Borneo is still somewhat of a secret – it’s not overrun with tourists and its lack of shiny tourist attractions and focus on sharing its natural wonders makes it feel undiscovered, magical and remote.

If your children are five and above then it’s time to start taking them on more adventures. A family adventure to Malaysian Borneo is the perfect opportunity to get them out into the world to see its amazing wildlife, enjoy being adventurous and learn to protect our environment.