4 days · 3 nights · private · caves + river + orangutans
Sepilok, Gomantong Caves & Kinabatangan
Updated August 2026
The 3D2N circuit with room to breathe: an extra river night, and a proper visit to the Gomantong Caves, the limestone cathedral where edible birds' nests have been harvested on rattan ladders for centuries, where wild orangutans hang around the entrance boardwalk, and where the evening bat exodus spirals out of the cliff by the hundred thousand. Not for the squeamish about smells and cockroaches; unforgettable for everyone else. Read the full Gomantong Caves guide for more.
Day by day
- Day 1 Sandakan or airport pick-up, the 10:00 orangutan feeding, Sun Bear Centre, lunch, drive towards the river. Late-afternoon check-in at the lodge, dusk cruise.
- Day 2 Dawn cruise, forest walk, siesta, afternoon cruise to an ox-bow lake, night cruise or night walk.
- Day 3 Dawn cruise, late breakfast, then out to Gomantong in the afternoon: the boardwalk through the forest reserve (red leaf monkeys and, often enough, a wild orangutan near the cave), the Simud Hitam chamber with its 90-metre ceiling, nest-harvesting scaffolds and guano ecosystem, and the bat exodus from about 17:30. Back to the lodge for dinner.
- Day 4 Final dawn cruise, breakfast, return to Sandakan (about 12:00) or onward to Lahad Datu.
Gomantong, honestly described
The cave is magnificent and it smells like what it is: the floor is guano, the guano is alive, and the boardwalk railings are best not held. Closed shoes are compulsory, a hat is wise, a face covering helps some people, and the walk itself is short and flat — ten minutes of forest boardwalk from the registration centre, then a loop inside the chamber. Harvesting seasons (roughly February–April and July–September) add the spectacle of licensed collectors working ladders far overhead. Entrance is RM30 international / RM5 Malaysian plus camera fees, included on this tour; the cave occasionally closes for boardwalk maintenance, in which case the forest reserve, entrance area and bat exodus are still visitable and we'll tell you before you book.
Included / not included
Included: everything in the 3D2N, plus the third lodge night, all meals on the river, the Gomantong entrance and camera fees, and six cruises in total. Not included: flights, tips, alcohol.
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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