Borneo Travel Guide 2024

Borneo is a wonderful place to visit if you’re interested in eco-travel: you can go hiking through ancient rainforests, spot wild orangutans and pygmy elephants, and go scuba diving! It’s a great budget destination for the amount of things you get to do, honestly.

I visited Borneo (the Malaysian side) for three weeks, focusing on wild animal spotting and trekking activities. I particularly wanted to explore the rainforest and see some interesting nature, and I definitely did!

These are the places and activities I particularly recommend while visiting Borneo. It’s not ALL you can do (you could spend 3 months there and still not do it all), but it’s what I experienced and liked doing, and particularly recommend for other budget travellers.

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Malaysian Borneo Quick Facts

• One island, three countries: Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia
• Population of 5.77 million from the 2010 census
• Largest cities: Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Miri
• Official language: Malay — many people speak English, but not as widely as they do in West Malaysia
• Currency: Malaysian ringgit (MYR)
• Ethnicity breakdown (2020): Non-Malay Bumiputera (54.1%), Non-citizen (15.9%), Chinese (13.6%), Malay (Bumiputera) (15.4%), Others (0.8%), Indian (0.2%)
• Mostly lowland rain forests with areas of mountain rain forest towards the hinterland
• SabahTourism.com – official website from Sabah’s tourism board
• SarawakTourism.com – official website from Sarawak’s tourism board

Guidebooks

Most guidebooks for Borneo are currently being updated– a lot changed after 2020’s shutdown, so many hostels and tour agencies listed in older guidebooks are now closed. However, for a good overview of the history of the island, what types of tours are possible, and what animals/plants to seek out, I still recommend checking out a guidebook or two.

My favorite guidebook companies are Lonely Planet and Rough Guides. LP just updated their Borneo guidebook for 2023 and RG has an updated one for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

Top 3 Borneo Experiences

My favorite things I did on Borneo!

1. Kinabatangan River Cruise
   • Read my experience here!
   • Find a tour here!
2. Mulu National Park
   • Read my experience here!
   • Find a tour here!
3. Rainforest Discovery Center
   • Book a tour package here!

How long should you spend in Borneo?

This’ll depend on what you want to do, and how much of the island you want to see. Also, how much money you have!

Because Borneo is so huge, I’d say you’d need a minimum of 2 weeks to get a good overall view of just the Malaysian side. This’ll give you time to go hiking in the forest in Mulu National Park (3-4 days), do a Kinabatangan River cruise (3-4 days), go to Bako National Park in Kuchin (1-2 days), perhaps go snorkeling for a few days, and even visit some local tribes or take some cooking classes. You’ll have to split transit between flying and buses.

If you really only have 1 week, then focus on going to the Kinabatangan River (2-3 days) and the Rainforest Discovery Center (half day), with a stop in Kota Kinabalu and/or Kuching (1 day each). You’ll be flying everywhere to save on transit time.

For me, I was on Borneo for 3 weeks and there was still tons left to do! The longer you have, the better, honestly.

Borneo Travel Itinerary

Here’s an overview of what I did during my 3 week visit, plus some additional things that YOU could do on your visit:

Fly from Kuala Lumpur to Kuching. Visit Bako National Park, Semenggoh Nature Reserve (semi-wild orangutans), Siniawan Night Market, Borneo Cultures Museum, and Kuching Cat Museum. Kuching is also a cute city in itself, so be sure to look around!

Do a day trip to a longhouse and visit with local tribes people! (Or go on a longer multi-day tour and spend the night!)

Fly to Gunung Mulu National Park. Do hiking trails, showcave tours, canopy walk, nighttime animal walk, and more.

Conquer the Pinnacles— and definitely take a rest day afterwards!

Fly to Miri and recover from Mulu. Take taxi into Brunei for a side trip. Explore a bit of Brunei and then take bus up to Kota Kinabalu.

Hike Mt. Kinabalu. Entry tickets are limited, so you might have better luck booking a tour like this 2D1N one which includes entrance fees, porters, accommodation, etc.

Take bus from KK to Sandakan. Go to night market, waterfront area, etc. Visit Rainforest Discovery Center in Sepilok before getting picked up by a Kinabatangan River cruise tour company to go down to Sukau.

Kinabatangan River cruise, stay 3 days 2 nights for the best chance to see as many animals as possible. See wild orangutans, proboscis monkeys, crocodiles, and maybe even elephants!

Take bus from Sukau to Lahad Datu, then continue to Danum Valley and visit ancient rainforests.

Do a diving or snorkeling trip in Semporna and see amazing ocean life.

Loop back up to Kota Kinabalu and fly back to the mainland.

This is just a small hint of all the fun things you can do on Borneo! I stayed 3 weeks and rushed like hell to fit it in; if you have the time, you can easily spend a month or more exploring all there is to do.

Borneo Budget

To give you an idea of what you’d spend on a trip to Borneo, here’s what I spent during my own trip! Keep in mind that tours and excursions add up, but if you have the time to look for deals, it’s ALWAYS cheaper to book directly through the tour company with Whatsapp.

Accommodation: $10-20 USD/night for private rooms in hostels or guesthouses

Food: $5-10 USD/meal from food courts, street stalls (at night markets), or very local restaurants

Tourism: $100 USD/3 day tour package — this was roughly the price for my Kinabatangan River Cruise, and a (sadly canceled) Tuwau Hills Park tour. Entrance to reservations and national parks are under $10 USD/day.

Some things are VERY pricey, like climbing Mt. Kinabalu or visiting Danum Valley, partly because there’s a cap on how many people can do it in one day and partly because there’s fewer service providers doing tours. Be sure to build that into your budget if it’s something you really want to do.

Transit: $25-100 USD/flight (depending on how early you book). Short Grab rides were under $6 USD. $10-30 USD for long-distance buses.

Borneo SIM Cards

Many places in Borneo don’t have wifi, so a good cell phone connection is vital. eSIMs (I get mine from Airalo) and SIM cards from mainland Malaysia work well enough, but if you’re worried then getting a backup card shouldn’t cost much more.

CelcomDigi has a 30 day tourist SIM card for 35RM with 30 GB data plus unlimited calls. You can grab this at the airport in KK when you arrive.

If you’re staying for a shorter time, CelcomDigi also has a 7 day/5GB SIM card for 10RM.

Borneo Transportation

Quick Facts

• Flying is fastest, but more expensive
• Long-distance buses are great but VERY long
• Grab is good for in-city transport

Borneo is the third largest island in the WORLD, and though the Malaysian part of Borneo is “only” a small part of it, it still takes a surprising amount of time to get from one end to the other. If you’re short on time, you might want to stick to flying to get around.

There are several domestic airports and a few international ones, but most flights center around Kota Kinabalu. Domestic airfare ticket prices within Borneo tend to be around $50 USD one way.

I used Malaysia Airlines and MyAirline (Malaysia Airline’s budget branch) and had no difficulties. In fact, the two flights with MyAirline were really nice– the nicest budget airline experience I’ve had so far!

Other transportation options are: intercity buses, taxis/rideshare, private transfers, and renting a car. I don’t drive, so I have no recommendations for rental places, but several of my friends rented cars when they traveled Borneo and they said it was useful for getting around cities.

However, if you prefer someone else drive you, Grab works well on Borneo and prices are typical as in the rest of Malaysia (under RM20 / $5 USD for short distances).

There’s also a lot of private drivers you can hire, though the prices seem fairly high (for instance, RM400 / $86 USD pp for a two hour drive). Private drivers also seem to charge per person and not per car, from my experience.

Intercity buses are plentiful and ticket prices are pretty good.

A bus from Brunei to Kota Kinabalu will run you about RM150 / $33 USD compared to a flight closer to $200 USD. From KK to Sandakan it’s about RM47 / $10 USD compared to a $25-50 USD flight.

Just keep in mind that distances are LONG; while a flight may be only 1 hour between cities, the same distance will be 9+ hours by bus.

Book buses online using EasyBook, 12Go, or redBus. However, some buses may ONLY be able to be booked in person or by phone; in that case you can ask your accommodation to help book a ticket for you.

Tip: there are more stops available than what's shown online. For instance, you can book a ticket from KK to Sandakan, but get off at Sepilok. This can be helpful if you've booked a Kinabatangan River tour which does pickups from Sepilok-- you'll save almost a whole hour by not having to backtrack out of Sandakan. 

Where to Stay (Accommodation)

There’s a wide range of hostels, hotels, AirBNBs and homestays throughout Borneo, at all price points.

Tip: Book accommodations through WhatsApp if you can. It’s sometimes cheaper than online prices, and they’ll often be more flexible with rescheduling or canceling than if you booked through an OTA.

Don’t want to chance a room not being available? Check Hostelworld or Agoda and book ahead of time.

Here’s my favorite places I stayed in Borneo:

Homy Seafront Hostel – A-04-11, 4TH FLOOR, BLOCK A, Warisan Square, A-G-18 Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens, Jalan Tun Fuad Stephen, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia – Private rooms/dorms, free breakfast. Well designed and has a great view of the waterfront in KK. Good showers, with separate stalls for toilets. Unfortunately also has VERY thin walls, so you can hear everything. Earplugs recommended.

Mulu Backers Homestay – Jln Mulu Airport, Sarawak, Malaysia – Private rooms/dorms, free breakfast. Located 10 minutes walk to Mulu park and about 5 minutes walk from the airport. The owner is super nice! No a/c but the fans are surprisingly comfortable, and the owner keeps the generators running all night which is handy.

Sandakan Backpackers Hostel – Lot 108, 1st Floor, Block HS-11, Sandakan Harbour Square, 90000 Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia – Private rooms/dorms, free breakfast. Real old school style hostel with amazing art on all the walls from previous guests and local artists. Low water pressure and not really hot water. Good roof terrace and big shared seating spaces throughout.

Sukau Backpackers Bed & Breakfast – Malaysia, Sabah, Kinabatangan, Jalan Sukau – Private rooms, free meals (as part of tour package). Nice jungle lodge with friendly staff and good food. I booked my Kinabatangan River cruise tour through them and had a great time. They also were able to book bus tickets from Sukau down to Lahad Datu. No wifi but good cell coverage.

Stuff to Eat (Restaurants)

Borneo has a lot of great food to try! Not only can you find amazing Chinese and Malay food, but also native Borneo restaurants which are different enough from the other two to be fun eating experiences.

Kota Kinabalu

Yee Fung Laksa – 127, Jalan Gaya, Pusat Bandar Kota Kinabalu, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia – Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Truly excellent local laksa (spicy soup) for good prices. Always busy but seating is fast.

Kuching

Borneo Cultures Museum Restaurant – Jalan Tun Abang Haji Openg, 93400 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia – Open daily. Fancy restaurant for a museum, with actual good food! A little pricey but worth the stop if you’re in the area.

Choon Hui Cafe – 34, Jalan Ban Hock, 93100 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia – Closed Mondays. Famous for their popiah, a kind of local spring roll.

Jing-Si Books and Cafe (Kuching) – 152, Jln Padungan, 93100 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia – Open daily. Very nice tea/coffee/hot chocolate in a calm, relaxing environment.

Little Fairy Cafe – Ground Floor, 231, Jln Padungan, 93100 Kuching, Sarawak Padungan, 93100 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia – Closed Thursdays. Amazing restaurant owned by a local, serving Malay and Bidayuh (Borneo tribe) food. Delicious! Highly recommended!

Stuff to See (Attractions)

Bako National Park – Sarawak, Malaysia – RM20 entry fee plus RM40 for return boat ticket. A nice park about an hour from Kuching, where you can do trekking and animal-spotting. Potential spottings: proboscis monkeys, long-tailed macaques, bearded pigs, monitor lizards, ,silvered leaf monkeys, flying lemurs. They also have on-site accommodation, and if you stay overnight you can do a night tour!

Gunung Mulu National Park – Sarawak, Malaysia – RM30 entry fee (5 day pass). Highly recommended! If you’re short on time, do this park and a river tour. Trekking through rainforest looking for animals, climbing through caves, hiking up the Pinnacles– lots of stuff to do here and it’s all amazing. Only downside was we didn’t see many animals during the day, but the night brought out interesting insects, frogs, squirrels, etc.

Prefer booking a tour package? Find one that fits your budget here with Viator.

Kinabatangan River tour – Sabah, Malaysia – varies, RM450 for 3 day 2 night tour from Sukau Backpackers Bed & Breakfast. If you only have time to do one thing, then do this one. You go out onto the river on small boats with a guide and look for wild animals– and you’ll most likely find them! I saw proboscis monkeys, long-tailed macaques, saltwater crocodiles, hornbills, cranes, kingfishers, etc. and potentially you could see pygmy elephants, monitor lizards, snakes, etc. The boats get you surprisingly close to the animals and having a guide explain things is great.

Rainforest Discovery Centre – Jalan Fabia, Sepilok, 90715 Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia – RM20 entry fee. A good place to stop off if you’re doing a Kinabatangan River tour. There’s the Centre for hiking (and birdwatching! saw tons of birds!), plus the sun bear and orangutan reservations next door. Mix of trails with wooden walkways and just plain forest floor, and a free canopy walk with viewing towers. The RDC does a night trek which I’ve heard is also good.

Find more Borneo tours and experiences here at Viator.

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