Is Borneo expensive (if you want to do stuff and stay in fairly nice places)?

[2022222Rachel]

Thinking of Borneo next Summer for 2.5 weeks with DH and DS. Mostly in Sabah/Sepilok etc. I think the wildlife and adventure would be great but my concerns are that we'd like to do it nicely, and the prices for nice accommodation (especially in beach - we'd like to do an island for a week) is a lot.

Am I thinking that the reason i see lots of tailored trips to Borneo for about £4K a head is because there's a reason for it?!

We did it cheaply but stayed in backpackers / guest houses and also a homestay on the Kinabagantan river.
Flights in school hols (2 stops to KK) x 4 were 3k.
Internal flights, island stay, sanctuaries, zip lining, white water rafting.......for 2.5 weeks around 1.5k.
I'd have thought you could easily double (and more) that total in upmarket accomodation and direct flight to KL.
Islands off KK are smart resorts.
Is there enough to keep you busy on one for a week?
Accomodation around sepilok is much more basic.
We absolutely loved our trip - I'd definitely compromise on accomodation standard to make it work.

We've travelled to Borneo several times as a family of 6. You don't need a tailored trip, just book the flights separately & use booking.com for accommodation. We also do car hire as well.Its actually cheaper to holiday in Asia compared to Europe. DH grew up in Malaysia, not Borneo so I guess that's a real help as the culture & food is very familiar.

We just did a month there staying with family. Absolutely lovely place and bloody amazing to see the wildlife/nature, but the flight costs were mental - honestly would have expected flat beds for what we paid for economy! But I was flying with a toddler so didn't feel we could mess around doing stops.

If £4K a head includes flights it's likely a bargain!

Like the pp, I've only done this trip backpacking and staying in guesthouses etc (and possibly the same homestay on the kinatabangan river!)

However, I didn't find it an expensive place in general. Usually doing a trip independently, whatever the accommodation standard, is cheaper, and Borneo isn't a difficult country in which to do it independently.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

To celebrate my divorce I took my 4 adult children; one week in Borneo, one in a smart resort and three nights in Singapore. Trailfinders organised it and it came in at £3000 each, full board (except Singapore) and a guide for Borneo. This was September 2019. They loved it, and keep asking when the next holiday will be (never!).