Borneo beach trip with old and young

[Underthefloorboard]

We have finally alighted on meeting my elderly DM and sibling in Borneo. (She lives in Australia, we are in the UK). As explained on a previous thread, she loves to travel but is not particularly mobile so
won’t be trekking etc! We will be taking 9 year old and 12 year old DC. Has anyone got any recommendations for where to stay in Kota Kinabalu? DM is worried that Gaya Island or anywhere too remote will be too far in case of medical emergency etc.
Is that right?

Forgot to say we are looking at October

It’s a very short boat trip from Gaya Island to KK and the hotel boats go backwards and forwards all the time.

Thanks @TimeforaGandT . Have you been there and is there a hotel you’d recommend in the region?

It depends on your budget but we stayed in the Mercure hotel in KK (It’s mid-range pricing). It was lovely and clean, air conditioned and included an amazing breakfast each day! It’s also a short walk/very short taxi ride to Jesselton Point where the boats for the islands depart.

The boat rides to the islands (including Gaya) are short and there are cafes and toilets available. Established pathways too for your mum if her mobility isn’t great. You certainly don’t feel very far away from KK when you visit them, a medical emergency wouldn’t be a problem.

It was an absolutely amazing trip, we loved it so much. I hope you all have fun! (The kids would also most likely love a visit to Sepilok to see the wildlife if you had time in your trip. The Orangutan sanctuary and the Rainforest Wildlife Centre are fantastic. Just a 30 min plane ride from KK!)

I have only stayed at the Gaya Island Resort (several years ago) which was good. If you do book there get a full board package as there is nowhere else to go and eat. Also, plan ahead and book into the specialty restaurants (Japanese and Fish) as otherwise it’s the main buffet in the hotel dining room.
The accommodation was good and the staff were lovely.
There is a huge amount of rubbish that washes up from the nearby village on stilts. My understanding is that local government do not organise anything in the way of rubbish collection so the villagers use the sea. The hotel staff are out early every morning to clear it.

Should have said that lots of rooms are up a hill so you might want to choose carefully if there are mobility issues.

We have stayed in Borneo Beach Villas, which is about a 30 minute taxi ride from KK. We had a ocean facing villa with own pool, which was quite small but the kids enjoyed it. It wasn't the best villa I've stayed in, but it was a case of location, location.

The real draw to the place was the beach. Probably the best beach I've ever been to. Gorgeous white sand, very quiet - we were often the only people down there, although it did liven up towards sunset as loads of people came down to watch the most glorious sunsets.

Kids would love the island to island zip line.
We stayed in a cheap place in KK and went to islands as a day out.
Have an evening meal at the fish market on the waterfront. Delicious and cheap.
We did a day trip white water rafting with these people although not ideal for you mum.
https://riverbug.asia/sabah/whitewater-rafting-kiulu-river
If you can squeeze in a trip to Sandakan and sepilok I would - you can probably book it as a tour from KK, but very easy to sort yourself and book a driver. Doable in one long day, but better to stay over. Several accomodations right outside sepilok and the sunbear sanctuary.

Wow! Came back to some wonderful advice. Thank you so much to each of you for your sage advice and recommendations! How long would everyone recommend? We couldn’t go for more than a fortnight in total. We would play it a bit safe and maybe do an overnight or two nights to see the orangutans. Is it worth flying (is it safe in tiny planes?!) or is the drive comfortable enough? Thanks again!

We stayed in the Shangri La Tanjung Aru years ago and it was fantastic.

We visited Sepilok as a day trip and the plane was a 737, so it felt safe. I don’t think it’s easily drivable from KK, due to the terrain (or at least it wasn’t recommended by our tour guide when we visited).

I seem to recall it was about an 8:hr drive or 45 min flight.
We used air Asia. Just like easyJet / Ryanair.
2 nights would be good.
You can also stay on the kinanbatagan river where orangutans are in the wild. There are plush hotels to backpackers. We did this homestay which was an absolute highlight of the trip. The food was incredible (prawns straight from the river) and people so kind. River trips included. https://www.kopelkinabatangan.com/experiences/miso-walai-village-homestay
Overall we did 2 nights sepilok, 1 Sandakan, 2 homestay, 1 Sandakan, 2 kk, 4 island up north name escapes me, 2/3 kk. I think it was 15 in total.

We did a day trip to sepilok from KK - I think we took Malaysian airways and air Asia on the way back just because it worked out cheaper than buying a return journey on either. A good tip is to try and book seats on the left hand side of the plane on the way to sandakan to get the best view of mount kinabalu. We flew at sunrise and we had an amazing view of it on that side of the plane.

We also did a day trip to Manukan island by boat from KK harbour. We did snorkelling just off the beach and the kids did various water sports.