When to go to Borneo?
→ The detailed month-by-month page, with real weather records
Best time: March to August
At a glance
Why go to Borneo?
Borneo is the third-largest island in the world, 743,000 km² shared between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The Malaysian part, Sabah in the north-east and Sarawak in the south-west, covers about a quarter of that area and holds most of the tourist infrastructure. Its forest is among the oldest on the planet, estimated at 140 million years, which explains a rare level of endemism: more than 15,000 plant species, including a thousand orchids, and wildlife you will see nowhere else.
The orangutan sums up the situation. This great red-haired ape, whose name means person of the forest in Malay, now lives only on Borneo and Sumatra, and its Bornean population has fallen by more than half in a few decades because of deforestation and oil palm plantations. Sepilok, opened in 1964, rehabilitates orphans; along the Kinabatangan you can still meet wild individuals from a boat. Seeing both on the same trip changes the way you look at them.
The mountains and the seabed complete the picture. Kinabalu rises to 4,095 metres, the highest summit between the Himalayas and New Guinea, and can be climbed without technical skills in two days on foot with a permit. The Mulu massif, in Sarawak, hides one of the largest known underground chambers and millions of bats that spiral out every evening. And Sipadan, to the east, drops sheer for 600 metres among turtles and barracuda.
Map of Borneo: what is where?
The map shows the 6 places covered in this guide, to picture the distances and plan your route.
- Kota Kinabalu
- Mount Kinabalu
- Sepilok
- Kinabatangan River
- Sipadan
- Gunung Mulu
How much does a trip to Borneo cost?
Borneo is more expensive than Peninsular Malaysia, because nature here is visited on packages: a lodge on the Kinabatangan, a Kinabalu permit, a day's diving at Sipadan. Domestic flights are also a significant item in their own right, often three or four legs on a single trip.
| Style | Per day | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Backpacker | €50-80/day | Hostels in town, buses and shared minibuses, Sepilok and Bako independently, Kinabalu Park trails |
| Comfort | €140-220/day | Full-board lodge on the Kinabatangan, Kinabalu climb, domestic flights, naturalist guide |
| Premium | €400+/day | Mabul resort with Sipadan permit, private transfers, luxury lodge and small-group outings |
Cash machines are plentiful in Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Sandakan and Miri, but become scarce as soon as you enter the parks: withdraw before heading into the forest. Cards work in hotels, with airlines and at the big dive centres, rarely in river lodges and never with boatmen. Allow 500-800 ringgit in cash for a week outside the towns.
Is Borneo safe?
Sabah and Sarawak are calm regions, where urban crime is low and the welcome is straightforward, with no organised scams. There is, however, an important caveat about Sabah's east coast, between Sandakan, Lahad Datu and Semporna: the area has seen kidnappings at sea carried out from the southern Philippines, a night-time maritime curfew has been in force there since 2014, and you should check your government's travel advice for this area. The Semporna dive operators work under escort, but read the official advice before booking. Otherwise, the risks are natural: malaria is low but present in rural areas, dengue in towns, leeches and heat in the forest. Climbing Kinabalu exposes you to acute mountain sickness above 3,000 metres and is only allowed with a licensed guide. Finally, Kinabatangan floods can cut off the lodges for several days in the rainy season.
What to see and do in Borneo
- Mount Kinabalu
- Kinabatangan River
- Sepilok Orangutan Centre
- Sipadan Island
- Bako National Park
- The caves of Gunung Mulu
- Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park
- Kuching waterfront
Mount Kinabalu 3 951 m
A 4,095-metre granite dome, pushed up about ten million years ago and polished by glaciers, whose cirques and bare slabs take up the whole summit. The climb takes two days with a compulsory guide, a night at Laban Rata at around 3,270 metres and a night-time start to reach Low's Peak at dawn. The number of permits is capped every day. The park, the first Malaysian site inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2000, is home to more than 5,000 plant species on its slopes.
The Kinabatangan River
Five hundred and sixty kilometres of brown water crossing eastern Sabah, lined by a forest corridor squeezed to a few hundred metres wide by oil palm plantations. This squeeze concentrates the wildlife on the banks and makes it exceptionally easy to see from a boat: proboscis monkeys, macaques, wild orangutans, eight species of hornbill and around three hundred pygmy elephants. The lodges at Sukau and Bilit run two outings a day, at dawn and in the late afternoon.
Sepilok and the orangutans
The world's first orangutan rehabilitation centre, opened in 1964 in 43 km² of protected forest near Sandakan. It takes in orphans rescued from plantations and teaches them again to climb, feed themselves and build a nest before releasing them. Two fruit feeds a day, at 10am and 15:00, draw the individuals still dependent on the centre. Next door, the sun bear conservation centre cares for the island's other emblematic species, the smallest bear in the world.
Sipadan and Mabul
Sipadan is Malaysia's only oceanic island, the tip of an undersea volcano rising 600 metres from the seabed. The wall drops sheer a few metres from the shore, with hundreds of green and hawksbill turtles, a permanent swirl of barracuda and schools of bumphead parrotfish. No accommodation has been allowed on the island since 2004 and only 176 permits are issued a day. Divers stay on Mabul, twenty minutes away, or in Semporna on the coast.
Gunung Mulu
A limestone massif in Sarawak inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2000, riddled with hundreds of kilometres of passages explored since the 1970s. Deer Cave is among the widest known underground passages and shelters several million bats that spiral out at dusk. The Sarawak Chamber, roughly 600 metres by 415, ranks among the largest caverns in the world. The Pinnacles, 45-metre blades of limestone, are reached after three days of hard walking.
Kuching and Bako
Sarawak's capital stretches along a bend in the river, among Chinese markets, the shops of Carpenter Street and buildings from the era of the White Rajahs, including the Astana of 1870 and Fort Margherita of 1879. An hour by road and twenty minutes by boat away, Bako National Park, designated in 1957, packs seven complete ecosystems and more than twenty-five types of vegetation into twenty-seven square kilometres, with proboscis monkeys easy to spot in the late afternoon and bearded pigs rooting around on the beach.
How many days, and which itinerary?
Ten days is a realistic minimum for Sabah alone, taking in Kota Kinabalu, Kinabalu, Sepilok and the Kinabatangan. Two weeks let you add diving at Sipadan or cross over to Sarawak for Kuching, Bako and Mulu, bearing in mind that each domestic flight eats up half a day.
📓 Free printable Borneo guide (PDF) · 🌍 All of Malaysia
Sabah wildlife (10 days)
Two nights in Kota Kinabalu with a day in Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, then two nights in Kinabalu Park, either climbing to the summit or sticking to the lower trails. Fly to Sandakan for two nights at Sepilok for the orangutans and sun bears, then three nights in a lodge on the Kinabatangan at Sukau or Bilit, with two boat outings a day. Back via Sandakan for the flight to Kuala Lumpur.
Sabah and Sipadan (2 weeks)
The same core, plus four nights on Mabul or in Semporna to dive Sipadan with a permit booked several months ahead, three dives a day on the walls of Barracuda Point and Turtle Cavern. Days without a permit are spent on the reefs of Mabul and Kapalai, famous for macro photography. Allow at least twenty-four hours without diving before your flight home, and build that into the schedule.
Sabah and Sarawak (3 weeks)
Ten days in Sabah for Kinabalu, Sepilok and the Kinabatangan, then a flight to Kuching and four nights for the city, Bako National Park and the Semenggoh centre. Then a flight to Miri and a light aircraft on to Gunung Mulu for three or four nights, with the caves, the bat exodus and perhaps the three-day trek to the Pinnacles. Finish with two days' rest on the coast at Miri before heading home.
Getting there and getting around
Domestic flights are the backbone of the trip: Kuala Lumpur connects to Kota Kinabalu and Kuching in 2 hours 30, and local routes serve Sandakan, Tawau, Miri and Mulu. Allow €30-90 one way, booked several weeks ahead in high season.
In Sabah, the road links Kota Kinabalu to Kinabalu Park in two hours and to Sandakan in six. Shared minibuses run in the morning from the bus stations, but a hire car, around €40 a day, gives you far more freedom.
Gunung Mulu National Park can only be reached by air from Miri, on planes of about sixty seats with two to three rotations a day. The river route still exists but takes two days and a change of longboat.
On the Kinabatangan and at Bako, everything is done by boat, and timetables depend on the tide or the river level. The lodges run their own shuttles from Sandakan, included in two- or three-night packages.
Where to stay in Borneo?
Hostels and budget hotels in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching: €15-40 a night, well located in the city centre, with air conditioning and tour booking. They mostly serve as a stopover between two domestic flights or before an early start.
Kinabatangan lodges at Sukau and Bilit: €80-180 per person full board, with two boat outings a day and a naturalist guide. Rooms are simple, often without air conditioning at night, and the package includes transfers from Sandakan.
Accommodation in Kinabalu Park: dormitories and chalets from €30 to €120, run by a single concessionaire. The night at Laban Rata, at 3,270 metres, is part of the climbing package and cannot be booked separately.
Dive resorts on Mabul and Kapalai: €150-350 per person per day full board with diving, from stilt bungalows to basic rooms. Packages are booked six months ahead to secure Sipadan permits.
What to eat in Borneo?
Sarawak laksa, a prawn broth with coconut milk, spice paste and rice vermicelli, is eaten for breakfast in Kuching's markets for 8-12 ringgit. It is the island's best-known dish on the Malaysian side.
Chicken cooked in bamboo, or ayam pansuh, steamed in a length of bamboo with cassava leaves and ginger, comes from the Iban cooking of the longhouses. Restaurants in Kuching and Kota Kinabalu serve it for 20-35 ringgit.
The fish markets of Kota Kinabalu and Semporna sell fish, squid and shellfish by weight, then grilled on the spot in the neighbouring food stalls. Allow 40-90 ringgit for two, agreeing the price per kilo before you choose.
Durian, mangosteen and rambutan arrive in abundance between June and August. Bornean durian, smaller and orange in colour, is sold at roadside stalls, and its smell explains why it is banned in most hotels.
Entry requirements
No visa needed for up to 90 days for UK, US, Canadian, Australian and most EU passports, which must be valid six months. Fill in the Malaysia Digital Arrival Card online in the three days before you land, and expect a second passport check when you fly on to Sabah.
Rules change: check your own government's travel advice before you go.
Frequently asked questions about Borneo
Do you need to book a Sipadan permit far in advance?
Yes, six months is not excessive. Only 176 permits are issued each day, shared among the licensed dive centres, and they are allocated according to the length of the stay you book on Mabul, Kapalai or in Semporna. A four-night stay usually gives you one or two days at Sipadan, never all of them. No permits are sold on the spot.
Do you need a guide to climb Kinabalu?
Yes, it is compulsory, and the climb is only sold as a package including the permit, the guide, the night at Laban Rata and meals. Places are capped every day and are booked several months ahead for July and August. The climb requires no mountaineering skills, but ten to eleven hours of effort spread over two days.
Will you really see orangutans?
At Sepilok, sightings at feeding times are likely but not guaranteed: the more successful the rehabilitation, the less the animals come to the platforms. Along the Kinabatangan, encounters with wild individuals are frequent, especially early in the morning. Combining the two over three or four days leaves very little chance of going home empty-handed.
Is Sabah's east coast safe?
The area between Sandakan, Lahad Datu and Semporna has seen kidnappings at sea carried out from the southern Philippines, and a night-time maritime curfew has applied there since 2014. Check your government's travel advice for the area. The dive centres operate under naval escort and no recent incident has targeted tourists, but read the official advice before booking.
When is the best time to go?
From March to August, the driest period across the whole island, with calm seas for diving and passable trails. November to February brings the monsoon rains, with possible flooding on the Kinabatangan and disrupted domestic flights. Sipadan can be dived all year round, with visibility often better between April and December.
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