Sabah family tour

Sabah family tour

We reckon our Sabah family tour – featuring wild orangutans, jungle hikes, Borneo river expeditions, headhunters and unspoilt tropical islands in the South China Sea – is a winning combination and ought to keep family members of any age and inclination happy.

In the below we’ll run through some details of the destinations, activities and accommodation featured in this particular adventure as well as including a few pointers on the thinking that goes into the design and production of all of our escorted family tours.

This Borneo, Sabah family tour lasts 12 days on the ground, so 2-weeks with the return flights, and starts and finishes in Sabah’s state capital Kota Kinabalu. As with all our family offerings, it’s a private tour offered to single families although, of course, if you’d like to join with friends that’s fine but we won’t mix you up with families you don’t know or kids of different ages. Our prices are therefore calculated on the basis of a minimum of 4 persons, usually with a twin room for the kids and double for the parents. Often – but not always – specific family rooms are available in certain resorts or hotels otherwise, depending upon the age of your children, either connecting or adjacent rooms will be provided.

The Borneo family special is based upon our long-standing and popular Sabah tour – Land Below the Wind – so named because of Sabah’s sheltered location, in the northern part of Borneo Island, just south of the Philippines typhoon belt. (Indeed as well as being south of the typhoons, Borneo is also geologically blessed in being located north of Indonesia’s volcanic ‘Ring of Fire‘ and possesses no active volcanoes of its own while it’s designated as only a low risk earthquake region.)

The activities and accommodation of the standard itinerary are then tweaked to, hopefully, appeal more specifically to families and younger travellers. Since age groups and children’s interests can vary widely, we also encourage parents to chat to us beforehand so additional tweaks, amendments and/or additions can be made to take into account specific preferences, likes and dislikes. (Furthermore, in so far as it is a private tour, activities, such as length of walks etc, are flexible and can also be discussed on the ground with your tour-leader.)

Borneo is close to the equator so, obviously, pretty much hot and sticky all year round. Reactions are unpredictable and in our experience while some kids can take a while to acclimatise, others seem able to handle it better than their parents. At the start of the tour especially a pool is however a useful back-up option for younger family members so we’ve forsaken the colonial chic of the boutique-style Jesselton Hotel for a more classic-style 4* hotel with a decent-sized swimming pool. (Parents can, of course, also enjoy a pool-side cocktail!) We’ll also kick off at a relaxed pace with a leisurely, guided cycling tour in the morning, some free time in the afternoon and an evening stroll down to the waterfront hawker market.

After a relaxed start to your tour day 3 is more active with a varied and fun full day programme. The morning takes in a cultural show at the Mari Mari Village which demonstrates and recreates the traditional cultures and lifestyles of some of Borneo’s myriad tribal groups. An obvious departure from our typical style and we’ll admit that while, to adults, it can seem rather contrived – and is clearly very tourist-orientated – it does provide a great, one-stop explanation for younger family members and an excellent introduction to all things Borneo. (A few headhunter pics will be great for their social media accounts even if they are today only pretend ones!)

Next up is some history with a stop to check out the architecture of the old colonial-period village of Kinarut – with the added bonus of a ‘haunted mansion’ – before meeting a local family who’ll take you through a hand’s on Malaysian cookery course. It’s not a professional cookery school but takes place in a family home where you’ll prepare, and of course eat, some traditional local fare so a lot of fun and an opportunity to meet some local residents, as well as being an ideal introduction to Malaysian/Borneo cuisine. With family tours in particular it’s good to get that balance between fun activities and interesting sights and gaining some understanding and knowledge of the people and places visited. (At the end of the day the kids are on holiday not at school so it’s also up to the parents to help the guide achieve what they consider to be the right balance.)

The following day it’s time to head into the interior with a short but scenic drive to World Heritage-listed Mt Kinabalu National Park. We’re not going to summit – it requires 2 days – but we’ll take a nature hike near the park headquarters to check out some of the tropical forest flora and fauna before continuing to nearby Kundasang District for a visit to an excellent and unusual women’s community tourism project. A choice of activities includes a guided tour of their herb and edible flower gardens as well as chocolate and soap making workshops. Our night’s accommodation is nearby at the comfortable and award-winning Kinabalu Pine Resort.

Heading east, next up is the Kinabatangan Wildlife Corridor and a 2-day stay in a riverside, jungle lodge. Activities on offer include early morning and late afternoon wildlife spotting boat trips, jungle hikes and even a night walk to check out some of the rainforest’s nocturnal life. All are optional so you join whichever activities you wish and indeed if some family members just prefer to stay and chill on their balcony or the lodge cafe, then that’s fine too.

While nothing is guaranteed, common sightings include the unique Borneo pygmy elephants, macaques, langurs and of course the iconic orangutans as well as monitors and crocodiles. Abundant riverside birdlife includes several hornbill species, various raptors, colourful broadbills and kingfishers and members of the heron, stork and egret families. Travelling by boat affords better wildlife opportunities than on foot and while guides generally have a spare pair of binoculars or two, if you do have your own at home then it’s well worth packing them. For your hikes, leech-proof leggings are provided, if guides consider them advisable, and there’s another factor where reactions can vary widely and, once again in our experience, it’s not necessarily the kids who are the most concerned. They are a sign of a healthy eco-system and it certainly makes for a great story when you get home. (By the way the 1 foot long Kinabalu giant red leech is strictly vegetarian so you don’t have to worry about that one.)

After Kinabatangan we move north to Sepilok, home to several notable sites including the famous Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, the Borneo Sun Bear Conservation Centre and the excellent Rainforest Discovery Centre. You’ll have a 2 night and full day stay to explore the sites – all of which are conveniently placed a short walk from our lodge.

Following on from our jungle and wildlife adventures we head to nearby Sandakan Airport for a short flight to Kota Kinabalu and change of theme with a boat transfer to either Gaya or Manukan Island. (While we try and avoid flights as much as possible, this is a 7 hour drive so…) Both islands are located short distances offshore from KK and both have excellent beachfront resorts in; Sutera Sanctuary Lodge and Gaya Island Resort. The former is a comfortable mid-range resort, the latter somewhat more exclusive and pricier so it depends upon your budget and preferences as well, of course, as availability. Once again, you can chat to our office about pros and cons.

We’ve suggested 3 nights, 2 days on the islands, although length of stay is of course flexible. Aside from the pool and beach, options on the islands include snorkelling, diving and boat trips in the surrounding Tunku Abdul Rahman National Marine Park or exploring the islands on foot. From here we’ll transfer you by boat and minibus directly to Kota Kinabalu for your return flight.

That’s the wrap on what we hope is a full and varied Sabah family tour itinerary, yet a relaxed pace one with downtime and flexibility. As we said, anything not clear, or any requests for omissions or additions, then don’t hesitate to call us for a chat.