2 days · 1 night · flights from 45 minutes · private ground
Sepilok from Kota Kinabalu
Updated August 2026
You don't need to move to the east coast for a week to see the orangutans. Fly out of KK on the morning plane, be at the feeding platform by 10:00, spend the afternoon with the sun bears and in the RDC canopy, sleep in the forest, do the night walk, and be back in KK the next evening — or keep going down the Kinabatangan. We arrange the ground; flights we book or build around yours. Planning a longer trip? See how these tours fit a full Sabah week.
Day by day
Day 1 · KK to the feeding platform by 10:00
- 07:00 Morning flight, Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan (about 45 minutes; several daily with Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia).
- 08:15 Met at Sandakan Airport; 20 minutes to Sepilok, bags dropped at your resort.
- 09:30 Orangutan Centre for the 10:00 feeding and the nursery.
- 11:30 Sun Bear Centre, then lunch.
- 15:00 Either the afternoon orangutan feeding or the RDC canopy walkway in the good light from 16:00.
- 18:00 RDC guided night walk: flying squirrels at dusk, civets, tarantulas, sleeping birds. Dinner at the resort after.
Day 2 · The quiet morning, then back — or onward
- 09:00 Optional second visit at gate-opening, before the day-trip vans arrive, or a lie-in and the resort's forest edge.
- 12:00 Transfer to Sandakan Airport for an afternoon flight to KK or KL — or we drive you to the Kinabatangan instead and this becomes the 3D2N circuit.
Flights
KK–Sandakan is one of Malaysia's cheapest jet routes when booked ahead. We can hold ground arrangements while you book with points, or book the flights for you at cost. If you're already ticketed, tell us the times in the form and the itinerary bends around them; an 09:30 arrival still makes the 10:00 feeding at a push, and anything later flips day 1 to the 15:00 session.
Where you sleep
Any of the Sepilok resorts; we default to mid-range with a pool unless you say otherwise. Staying in the reserve is the point of the overnight: the night walk without a late drive, and the 09:00 gate before the crowd.
Included / not included
Included: airport meetings and all ground transfers, licensed guide on day 1, all entrance and camera fees, RDC night walk, one night's accommodation with breakfast, lunch on day 1. Not included: flights (quoted separately), dinner, tips.
Plan your Sepilok trip
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- Operated by a licensed Sabah tour operator
- English-speaking Sabahan guides
- Private departures; no fixed group dates
- Flights, Kinabatangan, Gomantong and Turtle Islands all bookable in one itinerary