Borneo with teens

[Fluffycloudsfloatinginthesky]

Am thinking of somewhere to mix some city and wildlife maybe a day or so of beach as well and something that seems to fit the bill is Borneo. Would be summer 2025

But.....I have been to Thailand once about 25 years ago pre children.

Am wondering how my youngest who is 12 will manage.

Suppose I am wary of getting bitten / leeches etc etc! Squat toilets etc! Is it easy to find bottle drinking water everywhere?

Trailfinders seem to have a private 5 day tour around the sabah area which seems to cover the main bits we would want to see - other than turtles which I think may be out of bounds for FCO reasons. Then a few days in Kuala Lumpur or maybe Singapore but that may be a bit pricey.

Am I going to need a whole new wardrobe for those days as well.

@Fluffycloudsfloatinginthesky I took my 3 when they were 8, 11 and 14. They absolutely loved it. No squat toilets. Amazing food.
It's so easy to travel around, no need for a tour.
We flew to Sandakan, stayed in sepilok, 2 nights homestay in kinabatangan river. Then flew to Kota Kinabalu for the island, zipline and white water rafting. Also had 4 nights on mantanani island.
You'd be able to fly straight from KL or Singapore to Sandakan, and could fly back from KK. Check out air Asia flights.
We spent all our time on Borneo.
Personally I'd add on Sarawak rather than cities.

Thank you. Can I ask the cost? We are thinking about 12 days, don't think mine would be up for rafting or zip lining though. The youngest cannot swim very well due to dyspraxia so need to be wary on water based stuff. Also rules out snorkelling I think which otherwise would be great.

I do want to do a city to mix it up a bit.

We went in 2018.
1 adult 3 kids, 16 days, budget accomodation but doing lots of activities was about £1800 + flights.
Snorkeling providers give lifejackets, which despite being strong swimmers they used so they could focus more on spotting fish (and reduce my stress levels).

@Fluffycloudsfloatinginthesky A quick glance at Families Worldwide gives you 4 options. We have found them reliable and they might even do teen departures. I would not DIY unless you want to. I think the organised holidays are brilliant for teens and there are great wildlife viewing opprtunities - no one has to swim if they don’t want to. There are bespoke holidays too via FW too.

I would fly in and out of KL and then get Air Asia flights into Borneo, use KL as your city jaunt/jump point. Eco Tours Borneo have a nice website, show the kids the tours there - more trekking IME than water based, things like riverboat cruises to look for elephants etc. you can go to turtle island but you have to go with the tour and I think it’s one night max stay and some other restrictions.

Have been recommended Selingan Turtle Island 🐢, Borneo Malaysia, Sandakhan & Sepilok Conservation areas.

Have visited Kota Kinabalu, as a family, and had a great holiday (Air Asia from Kuala Lumpur) - nighttime fire flies boat trip, a steam train, beaches and island hopping.

Thank you everyone.

Not quite booked yet but have got a great quote. 3 nights KL, then fly to Sandankan, night there then stay at Sepiolk 2 nights for orangutans and sun bears. then a river lodge for another 2 nights with boat trips, one more night in a tea lodge or something then 2 nights in a beach resort by KK.

I wanted to do Selingan island but have skipped it as on FCO no go list.

Looks to be a great mix of city / wildlife / beach.

I would extend your 2 nights in the lodges to 3. Two nights gives you one day essentially which is a bit short.

I will have a look @TizerorFizz.

Unfortunately between work commitments, a levels results and an 18th birthday and normal term dates we are quite limited on dates we can go. I am hoping to try and add in another night on the beach end as well.

@Fluffycloudsfloatinginthesky I think 2 nights on the river is ok - do you get there by boat anyway? Then time for 2 evening boat trips, and 2 morning ones.
You could easily skip a night in Sandakan - it's only about 45 mins by taxi to sepilok so you go straight there from the airport.

Yes. Thats possibly true about the river lodge. We usually stay 3 nights in a lodge as we’ve found activities tend to revolve around that length of time. Of course if activities are not extensive, 2 nights are fine. We have seen trips with long house stays and rainforest. KL for 3 nights and a beach cuts out other diverse areas. However if you don’t have long, you do of course need to prioritise what you want. We tend to want wildlife which skews our views!

@House4DS thanks. I was thinking about sandakan - was going to look up if there was anything worth doing there.

If not it makes sense to skip that night and I could maybe add at the end.

Thanks for these tips it's very useful.

@TizerorFizz

I think my DD will work better with the mix especially the youngest. She is actually desperate for a beach holiday as she has never had one so an extra day or so on end would be nice for her.

Although KL hotel has a rooftop pool so I think that appeals to her!

@Fluffycloudsfloatinginthesky we did spend 2 nights there (night before and after the river stay) but there's not much to do. Worked for us as we had lots of time so just pottered, but you'd be better with a longer stay elsewhere and less packing/unpacking

@House4DS thinking about it I wonder if it's due to flight timings from KL - I can ask.

Hi! Just wondering what you decided on? I’m thinking of taking my kids later this year and debating the river cruise..is it worth it? Plan was sepilok for orangutans bear conservation maybe boat trip to turtle island and then to kota for beaches, canopy trails etc.

@whenitsover

I have made plan but not booked yet as I would rather avoid Malaysian airlines and agent cannot quote for BA yet as they only start flying the route again in November.

Plan is 3 nights Kuala Lumpur, then we fly to sandakan and have a night there. Picked up by private tour guide the next morning and then a night at Sepilok with the orangutan and sun bear sanctuary's.

Then 2 nights Sukua with several river cruises included.

One night in Sabah Tea Cottage. Then drive to Kota Kinabalu where the private tour ends and we will have another 3/4 nights at a beach resort.

Turtle island looks great but it's on the FCO no go list which invalidates insurance so I'm not risking it. That said issues do seem to be historic so some people may be willing to chance it.

That’s a great trip! We will have around 12 days max so may not be able to include kl. I hadn’t thought about the airline but that’s a good shout..think Singapore airlines maybe an alternative

There are other alternatives but that means a 3 flight journey home as at the moment the only flight London - KL direct is Malaysian or soon BA. Others change in Dubai I think. Although you may be able to go Singapore - KK though.

I decided that KL was cheaper for the city bit than Singapore would be.

I am really excited - it's looks such a great mix of city / wildlife / beach. I hate heat though so I'm dreading that but don't really have a choice.

Yes 12 days may be a bit right - I think ours works out at 13/14 with flying time. You could probably fit in 1 night KL depending how long you wanted at the beach.

Hi, can I ask which company you got your quote from and a rough cost if you’re willing to share ? Looking at similar holiday with my teens.

Two nights is fine. Afternoon river safari on day of arrival. Early morning safari and afternoon safari the following day. You get there and back by river, and if changing lodges (we did 1 night each in 2 different lodges), you’ve got plenty of time of the river and another day would have been too much for us.

OP consider a night in Sepilok on arrival rather than Sandakan. We stayed Sandakan and were collected from there for our tour but wish we had stayed in Sepilok after we heard stories from others on our tour later.

I went over Easter had a 7 year old and no issues at all.

Don’t worry about leeches if you are only doing river safaris. Leeches only a possible concern if hiking off the beaten track.

https://sitoursborneo.com/web/

This is the company that ran our tour. We booked through a different company (Borneo Adventures) but we later found it would have been cheaper to book direct. It was approx £1100 for 2nights/3 days for 2 adults and one child.

They were very good from a tour perspective (my only comment was the food was good, but we found it a little bland as it was not spicy/catering to western tastes).

We are hopefully doing a similar trip to this and will book direct rather than using travel companies. Flights currently to Kuala Lumpur are only with Air Malaysia and c 1k per person (exact amount will depend on requirements, seat reservation, dates, flexibility). Internal flights we have as a credit from 2020 in Air Asia, but roughly allow £100 per person per one way flight maybe, might be less and that figure includes luggage, food etc. Then its whatever hotels you book - in Kuala Lumpur the city is a fair way from the airport so if you are just using for transit then maybe an airport hotel, the Sama Sama one looks very nice with a pool at about £130 or so a night for a room for 2. Then in Sepilok think the nicest one /best for location is Sepilok Nature Resort next to the orangutangs but there are two hotels now with almost identical names, its the one next to orangutans with tropical gardens, that is about £87 a night plus any meals for a room for 2. For a family would need 2 rooms. Various other hotels available Jungle Lodge has a pool and is cheaper but more basic but good location.

Then Kinabatangan river the packages are normally 2 nights, we would use the Last Frontier Resort and that is £300 per 2 nights for 2 people including river tours, jungle walks and all food. Transfers from Sepilok are extra maybe £30 per person, can also collect from Sandakan but only the tea garden. They do Malaysian and Belgian food and excellent reviews and very good at catering for things like autism. If its for a family of 4 you can either have a second room or put 4 beds in 1 room for 50% extra including food.

The fees for the orangutan sanctuary, sun bears, rainforest Sepilok are minimal, maybe allow £50 to £100 per person. Food again can be very cheap.

Kota Kinabalu depends on what hotel really, Booking.com has a good selection and is a good starting point. BA I think starts flying route in November though of course that's not best season until following year but a good option. Alternative is go via Singapore and can get a private car to Kuala Lumpur and then flight on, not too expensive (few hundred) but adds to travel time or I think Air Asia fly from Singapore to Kota Kinabalu.