Summer holiday in Borneo

[Indiaplain]

Just wondering if anyone has been to Borneo with teens in the summer holidays , and has any advice/tips - good idea ? Terrible?! The teens will be 13/14 next summer. Originally I was thinking Thailand but wasn't sure about risking the monsoon season in the summer holidays. That lead me to Borneo, as it doesnt seem as temperamental weather wise at that time of year. I usually book all our holidays ourselves, and have a rough itinery of 2 nights in KL/fly to Borneo for a 3 night jungle/river lodge tour to see wildlife etc, and then on to KK/Gaya island.

I can talk myself out of anything, and worrying about jetlag/heat/humidity/mosquitoes etc! Should we stick with Thailand? Or other options? Any advice from anyone who has been would be welcome..

I lived in Thailand for years and visited the whole area including Borneo. Don't worry about it being monsoon season - the rain is very heavy, but normally only lasts a couple of hours and then back to sunshine. And because it's still 30C it's like being in a refreshing warm but not hot shower. It's really not an issue unless you're trying to sunbathe (which is tricky anyway as it's so hot!). Borneo is brilliant - if you can see the orangutans and also get across to Mt Kinabalu (bit of a trek) then the hike up to the top is absolutely stunning.

We went to Borneo a couple of years ago with teens, it was probably our best ever holiday! We went with Stubborn Mule who organised a great tour for us with local guides. We saw orangutans, pigmy elephants, crocodiles, giant turtles laying their eggs at night and much, much more. It did rain a bit but early always at night and never stopped us doing anything. I would say the humidity and mosquitoes were no worse than I’ve experienced at various places in Europe, you just need to cover up in the evening and use plenty of DEET spray in the rainforest. Mulu national park was a particular highlight. I would say Borneo is less touristy than Thailand. A fabulous destination!

I've visited every state,territory,province and country on the island of Borneo..took 6 trips.Sarawak is probably the best area for families with a good level of tourist infrastructure and development.Highlights in Kalimantan barat (which i think is the best area of Kalimantan)would be touring around Singkawang (like a rogue Singapore) and the mass bathing at the riverside in Pontianak at sunset.Taking a trip on local ferry boats(cheap but rudimentary i hope you all swim) from Pontianak to Putussibau takes days but you ll get the real Dayak/tribal river life extravanganza. Kalimantan is fairly tourist free most months.Whereas Sarawak and Sabah are not.I have fondness for the city of Palangkaraya which was founded in 1960s and built as the new Indonesian capital before being forgotten.It has a lot of Dayak and Hindu influence still while looking clean and I find it extremely friendly to stay in.Buntok,Muara Mewah and Kuala Kuapuas are all quaint and tiny river towns on the Barito towns that have wilderness areas around where the various fauna are still living in the wild.There are lot of airstrip and air services about so i ll recommend trying to find one to take you right into the Highlands near the border zone with Malaysia where there some very isolated tribes and misty mountains sticking out of the canopy.

My 16 year old DD went on a school trip last summer. Loved the place but struggled with the humidity in July. Enjoyed the ecological aspects.

We went to Borneo in summer and had a wonderful time. I was OK with weather though wore linen which helped. It is a flight to KL then a flight on but should be fine for teens. We stayed overnight in KL in a nice hotel with pool and that meant we didn't need to worry about tight changeover times.

Booked independently but was very easy over there. Went to Sepilok and kinabatagan river and saw pigmy elephants, orangutan, probsicus monkeys, other monkeys, crocodile in wild and in Sepilok saw sun bears and more orangutan in centres. Stayed at Last Frontier Boutique resort which would recommend and had orangutan just outside the place at times and excellent meals and they picked us up and took us back to next place. Does have 600 steps to get there which you may need to do climb a few times a day. We did several boat trips from there and 1 was at 5am when had whole river to ourselves and saw lots. Sepilok stayed in the original Sepilok Nature Resort (2 now have same name) and was great with lovely food and drink and gardens and right next to sanctuary. The rainforest discovery centre is worth a visit too. And the tea gardens just outside Sandakan, with the authors house, very interesting and where we got picked up from.

Thanks all for sharing your experiences - just booked our flights!

We have just spent two months travelling peninsular Malaysia, Brunei and Malaysian Borneo with my 3 teens. We were there for August and September and had generally good weather. We loved Kota Kinabalu and the surrounding Islands. We took a flight to Sandakan then onto Sepilok for the orangutan and sun bears. Do not miss going onto the Kinatabangan river it is fabulous.

We are currently in Thailand though early in our travels here. Malaysia wins by a large margin so far it is just so much quieter and more chill. Do it you will love it!

Sounds like an incredible trip to do with your family - enjoy!

Borneo sounds amazing so go for it! However, we did Thailand with our children this summer and had an incredible time. Just avoid rhe northern parts and west coast. I recommend you take a look at stubborn.mule holidays. They specialise in family adventure-type trips.

Indiaplain I’d love to see your itinerary! Inspired to think of Borneo now too.

DP and I are currently on a whistlestop tour of Malaysia/Indonesia/Brunei. Including the latter we will have five nights on Borneo, starting next week. Not the season that OP is thinking of but if you want to know where the best ATM in KK is or something like that, ask me anyway and I'll try to look. And I plan to write up an AMA thread about it when we get back.

So far we have been amazed by the efficiency of the airports, the ease of travelling around by Grab (local Uber equivalent), and how cheap stuff is - provided you avoid restaurants aimed at westerners. For example a cup of coffee can be anywhere between 1 and 24 ringgit (20p to £5), the former being a mug of black coffee at a kiosk outside the ferry terminal in George Town and the latter being a large sloppaccino at KL airport Starbucks.

It does help that we both like spicy food. Not everything knocks your head off by any means (unless you add the chilies that are often served on the side), but a "plain English food" person might struggle. If your kids enjoy a not-too-hot curry they will be fine.

Hi @goat1 so pretty much all booked and our itinerary is 3 nights in KL to explore and hopefully get over jet lag. We are then flying to Sandakan and doing a 4 day river/jungle tour with SI tours. After that we’re flying to KK and staying a few nights there and then the last few nights on Gaya island.

Sounds like a brilliant trip, enjoy!

Thank you Indiaplain! Good to know about SI tours - that’s the bit I was uncertain about booking independently. Have a fantastic trip, it looks incredible 😊