Borneo's wildlife haven, with wild orangutans, elephants and rescued sunbears

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Sandakan

Full of surprises, with the oldest rainforests on earth, rare wildlife and out-of-this-world moonscape hikes 

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Malaysia

Kinabatangan River: Your Essential Guide + Best Things to Do [2026] 

A simpler way of life with charming home stays and slow mornings meandering down the delta

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Mekong Delta

The best street food ever, buzzing energy, hill tribes, and views that make your pictures look photoshopped

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Vietnam

11 Long Weekend Getaways from Singapore (in Under 3 Hours) that's not Bintan

Gateway city to some of the wildest and oldest rainforests on earth

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Lahad Datu

Ethical Places to Spot Orangutans in Southeast Asia [2026]

If Bali makes you think of just beach clubs, you’re missing out on the true heart of the island.

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Bali

An explorer's treasure chest, with wild Orangutans, epic dive sites and history's deadliest volcano

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Indonesia

Do Good Experiences

One of our fave cities for a nature getaway. Cool rainforest adventures, rescued Orangutans and lost tribes.

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Kuching

6 Ways to Tell if an Orangutan Reserve is Ethical (According to Conservationists)

Kinabatagan River is the main reason why people come to Sandakan. Here you can see orangutans, pygmy elephants and proboscis monkeys on a river safari. We'd recommend 2-3 days! 

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Wildlife safari on Kinabatangan River 

Most Kinabatangan lodges include jungle walks in their safari packages. Walk through the Borneo rainforest and spot snakes, birds, and other wildlife.

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Jungle walks to spot nightlife

Sepilok is an ethical wildlife sanctuary where you can see rescued orangutans. Usually travellers would pair this with a trip to Kinabatangan River 

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See rescued Orangutans at Sepilok 

Sunbears are the world’s smallest (and cutest!) bears. Help protect them at the Sunbear Conservation Centre. You can combine this with Sepilok and Kinabatangan River! 

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See the world's smallest bears! 

We did the 2 day I night stay. In hindsight it is probably not long enough as pick-up was at 1 pm arriving at lodge at 3pm. The first boat trip is at 4pm, returning at 6pm. Dinner is shortly after that which was delicious. The second boat trip is at approx 1 hr after that so it is all a little rushed. 
 Next morning boat trip is 6am returning at 8am. Breakfast then check out and leave resort at 9am. 
 If you actually add it up the whole stay was less than less than 24hrs . 4hrs travelling time to and from resort. 
 The chalet was lovely and would have been nice to spend more time in it. The staff are very friendly and helpful.

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2D1N Kinabatangan River Safari at Great-Value B&B

We did the 2 day I night stay. In hindsight it is probably not long enough as pick-up was at 1 pm arriving at lodge at 3pm. The first boat trip is at 4pm, returning at 6pm. Dinner is shortly after that which was delicious. The second boat trip is at approx 1 hr after that so it is all a little rushed. 
Next morning boat trip is 6am returning at 8am. Breakfast then check out and leave resort at 9am. 
If you actually add it up the whole stay was less than less than 24hrs . 4hrs travelling time to and from resort. 
The chalet was lovely and would have been nice to spend more time in it. The staff are very friendly and helpful. 

Really enjoyed our stay here, everything was well organized, the tours were a lot of fun with great guides, spotted a lot of wildlife including the big 5. The rooms were also super clean and comfortable, the food was good as well, including free water and juice for every lunch. I can really recommend booking the package with this lodge.

3D2N Kinabatangan River Safari | Great Value, Community-Run Lodge

Really enjoyed our stay here, everything was well organized, the tours were a lot of fun with great guides, spotted a lot of wildlife including the big 5. The rooms were also super clean and comfortable, the food was good as well, including free water and juice for every lunch. I can really recommend booking the package with this lodge. 

Absolutely perfect stay. Everything handled exceptionally well. Delicious and plentiful meals. Wildlife was spectacular. 

But most of all our guide Iki / Azizi was phenomenal, incredibly knowledgeable, supremely well organised, and made our stay!

Absolutely perfect stay. Everything handled exceptionally well. Delicious and plentiful meals. Wildlife was spectacular. 

But most of all our guide Iki / Azizi was phenomenal, incredibly knowledgeable, supremely well organised, and made our stay! 

Very good organization, the safaris were wonderful, we received much valuable information about culture and ecology. Staff was very friendly, food was tasty, rooms very nice. All together a great experience

Very good organization, the safaris were wonderful, we received much valuable information about culture and ecology. Staff was very friendly, food was tasty, rooms very nice. All together a great experience

We booked the 3-day/2-night tour and would highly recommend it to anyone! It’s definitely the best value package deal for a river safari. We stayed in a dorm; the beds are super comfortable and everything is top-notch. The bathrooms and communal areas at the resort are great! The food was good and the tours were brilliant. Our guide Kai, in particular, was fantastic! Thanks to him, we were able to see all the Big Five, as he relied on his experience and stayed longer at some spots than other boats – his patience paid off every time! He shared a lot of knowledge with us and explained everything brilliantly. You could tell that nature and the animals are truly close to his heart and that he does it all out of passion! We would recommend staying for at least two nights to increase your chances of seeing all of the Big Five.

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3D2N Kinabatangan River Safari | Scenic Waterfront Resort

We booked the 3-day/2-night tour and would highly recommend it to anyone! It’s definitely the best value package deal for a river safari. We stayed in a dorm; the beds are super comfortable and everything is top-notch. The bathrooms and communal areas at the resort are great! The food was good and the tours were brilliant. Our guide Kai, in particular, was fantastic! Thanks to him, we were able to see all the Big Five, as he relied on his experience and stayed longer at some spots than other boats – his patience paid off every time! He shared a lot of knowledge with us and explained everything brilliantly. You could tell that nature and the animals are truly close to his heart and that he does it all out of passion! We would recommend staying for at least two nights to increase your chances of seeing all of the Big Five. 

I had an amazing time on this trip, the accomodation was comfortable, the food really good and we saw the Borneo 5. The best part was our tour guide Rodel. His passion and knowledge was really inspiring and he really made the experience for us

I had an amazing time on this trip, the accomodation was comfortable, the food really good and we saw the Borneo 5. The best part was our tour guide Rodel. His passion and knowledge was really inspiring and he really made the experience for us


We really enjoyed the experience. The safari was beautiful, although we weren't very lucky and didn't see the Big Five, but we saw lots of animals in the wild and it was lovely. The guides were excellent and the room was perfect. I would only suggest improving the food options, as there wasn't enough variety and quantity for everyone and it was slow to replenish the food.

We really enjoyed the experience. The safari was beautiful, although we weren't very lucky and didn't see the Big Five, but we saw lots of animals in the wild and it was lovely. The guides were excellent and the room was perfect. I would only suggest improving the food options, as there wasn't enough variety and quantity for everyone and it was slow to replenish the food.

Fantastic once in a lifetime experience. I did the 2 day one night experience and whilst there is always no guarantees got to see Borneos big five up close. Guides are very knowledgable. Very comfortable private lodge and good and tasty food. Would highly recommend

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Fantastic once in a lifetime experience. I did the 2 day one night experience and whilst there is always no guarantees got to see Borneos big five up close. Guides are very knowledgable. Very comfortable private lodge and good and tasty food. Would highly recommend

Sandakan

Sandakan

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