It’s High (and hot) season in Borneo; why are we here? Why would we book a Kinabatangan River Safari?To see Orangutans, of course. And pygmy elephants. And those Kilroy-looking Proboscis Monkeys.

Proboscis Monkey, Left, versus Kilroy on the right. Who wore the nose better?

Honestly, Borneo wasn’t in our plans for this year.

But we ran into an Israeli nomad / backpacker during our Annapurna Circuit Trek who had just spent over a month in Borneo, and he convinced us we had to visit.

So, with a little refiguring and rejiggering of our itinerary (shortening Thailand, dropping Philippines in order to make a specific date for the Setouchi Triennale in Japan and the Cheongju Biennale in South Korea), here we are.

Well, first we made stops in Kota Kinabalu, Kundasang, and Sandakan.

Note: Before we get into the details, know that some of the links in this article may be affiliate links, and that if you click, we may earn a small commission, with no cost to you!

Borneo is one of only two places in the world where you can see Orangutans in the wild (Sumatra is the other), and the only place where you can also see the other animals we mentioned.

Fortunately, even though it was high season, we were able to connect with Sukau Tomaggong View Bed & Breakfast (see our review here) for a 4D/3N river jungle safari package, which promised a variety of opportunities to spot wildlife: multiple river cruises through the day (and at night) as well as jungle walks. All available as part of a prepaid package or a la carte, as we chose.

They’ll even help arrange transport to/from Sandakan or Semporna, the two closest and most frequently-used airports.

“Hunting” (visually) Wildlife in Kinabatangan: The Bornean Big Five

Every safari region seems to have some version of Africa’s Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and Cape buffalo) which we were fortunate to see during our Tanzania/Serengeti and Botswana safaris in 2024. Madagascar calls its the Tiny 5.

Borneo’s Big Five are the Bornean orangutan, pygmy elephant, proboscis monkey, estuarine crocodile, and rhinoceros hornbill.

We chose the 4D/3N Kinabatangan River Tour package because we wanted to max our opportunity to see ALL these animals. And more!

Day 1, we arrived mid-day from Sandakan, got settled in our nicer-than expected hotel room, had a filling lunch and set out for the 4pm afternoon cruise.

While it started slowly, within two hours, our guide JD had helped us spot 3 of the Big Five (Rhinoceros Hornbill, Proboscis Monkey and Estuarine Crocodile) among a slew of other wildlife. Three down, two to go!

Note: SOME people on our boat apparently spotted a couple Orangutan on this cruise… we never saw them, so we’re not counting it.

A night cruise brought us another full slate: a brilliantly-hued Stork-billed Kingfisher, asleep on a branch just a few meters from his smaller cousin, the Blue-eared Kingfisher, followed by more proboscis & macacque monkeys, a Bronzeback treesnake and the silent (and somewhat irritated by our presence) Buffy fish-owl.

And stars. Ohhhh so many stars.

Day 2, we were up and at it for a 6am river cruise, apparently before much of the wildlife was awake.

Caught the sunrise on the river, a pretty special moment.

In short order however, the Silver-leaf (langgur) Monkeys, short and long-tailed Macaques and birds like the Storm Stork, Ringtailed Hornbill and even the tiny Crimson Sunbird were all stirring and making themselves available to our lenses. (We need better cameras).

More birds (we’re not really birders, but this place is loaded with really cool ones, (here’s a list of what you might see) including the best shots yet of the Rhinoceros Hornbill, a pretty good-sized Water Monitor Lizard (though, still not as huge as the ones we saw in Bangkok), some more crocodiles (juveniles, and at least the head of a 5+ meter monster) and, just as we were headed in to breakfast, a herd of 11 or so pygmy elephants!

Day 3 started much the same, another fantastic sunrise, but as we still hadn’t seen an Orangutan for ourselves, and JD had said word among guides was they’d moved far away, we decided to head to the Gomantong Caves, which besides supposedly being spectacular, is home to several wild orangutans.

Gomantong Caves

We’re not SO into caves, as a general rule. There are some fabulous ones we’ve been to (Timpanogos in Utah), and some others we wouldn’t recommend (Madagascar).

Hannah at the front desk found us a driver (the cave complex is about 30 mins away) who would take us, wait, and return us for about 150MYR (a bit high, to be honest).

Admission was another 30MYR per person, so this adventure ran us around $50USD. High for a 3 or 4 hour day-trip, but we’d come all this way to see orangutans, so… what’s it worth to ya??

Fortunately, we had some advice from online and locals, and headed straight for Simud Hitam, the larger, public cave. Just as we were about to enter, we heard rustling, saw tree movement , and watched excitedly as a large male orangutan hauled himself up the various trees along the left side, and parked himself right at the top of the cave mouth, where he contentedly hung, eating leaves, for several minutes before completing his trip across the front and settling in the foliage on the right side, where he munched happily, mostly out of camera view. (We could see him with binoculars, but couldn’t really capture good shots).

Woo Hoo! This majestic dude completed our Borneo Big Five list, and why, yes… yes, it was indeed worth the money to make this additional trip.

What about the cave you ask? Honestly, it’s pretty cool. It’s a (very) high, arching-roofed affair, known for its population of swiftlets, and the resulting nests which are harvested twice a year for those who enjoy birds-nest soup. We’ll pass on the soup.

But the cave IS beautiful (in spite of the zillions of cockroaches – yech!), and you’ll get a ton of exercise hiking up & down the stairs if you want to get to the top, or to the second cave, Simud Putih. If you have gear & experience, you can spleunk (?) down into this one. (watch for red-leaf and macaque monkeys on the stairs up and at the top). We had neither, but checked out the entrance from the top.

Careful of the walkways and stairs – there are many loose/broken and outright missing steps.

After a bit of a rest, we decided (*just in case*) to do the afternoon cruise. We didn’t see much new, but did have a dramatic sunset!

Day 4, we actually had time for the morning river cruise, but decided to pass. We’d seen all the animals we came to see, and we were, sadly, exceeding our daily budget.

Plus there was breakfast & packing before our 0830 ride to catch the bus to our next adventure, in Semporna. Expect to pay around 35MYR per person to get to the stop, and another 50MYR pp, paid directly on the bus, to get to Semporna.

TLDR; Is a Kinabtangan River Safari worth doing?

Yes, we think a Kinabatangan River Cruise (especially multi-day), is worth doing.

Overall, we had a great experience on our Kinabatangan River Safari, saw the Borneo Big Five and would recommend it. You can look at booking with Sukau Tomaggong View Bed & Breakfast here. The rooms are nice and the boats / equipment really are better than a lot of what we saw on the river. Our boat driver maneuvered us several times such that we got a near-exclusive look at some wildlife; it’s why you’re there, this is not to be taken lightly…

If they don’t have availability, here’s another option.

Getting To & From Sukau / Kinatabangan

If you need transport to/from Sandakan, the hotel can either hook you up for an extra fee, or you can call / WhatsApp Mr. Choy: +60 19-536 1889.

If you’re really efficient and plan ahead, you can actually buy your onward bus ticket IN Sandakan before you depart. It’s cheaper, and you’ll at least have a guaranteed seat. The bus is comfy, and ours had movies (and the 2008 WWF Royal Rumble!?) to help pass the time. (The scenery consists of hours of palm-oil tree plantations. Otherwise, try EasyBook, but be prepared for a less than stellar customer service experience.

Last updated 1/15/2026