Sepilok & Kinabatangan River, 3 days 2 nights

Day by day

Day 1 · Sepilok: orangutans, sun bears, and the road to the river

• 08:30 Pick-up at Sandakan Airport (morning flight from KK lands around 08:00) or your Sandakan hotel. If you've stayed in Sepilok the night before, we collect you at the resort.
• 09:30 Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. Tickets and camera fees done, lockers sorted, on the viewing deck for the 10:00 feeding; then the outdoor nursery.
• 11:15 Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, across the car park, while the bears are still active.
• 12:30 Lunch in Sepilok.
• 13:30 Drive east, about two and a half hours, to Sukau or Bilit on the Kinabatangan. Optional stop at Gomantong Caves on the way (see the 4D3N version).
• 16:00 Check in to the riverside lodge. First river cruise at 16:30: this is proboscis monkey hour, as troops come to the riverbank trees to roost.
• 19:00 Dinner. Optional guided night walk from the lodge for frogs, owls, sleeping kingfishers and civets.

Day 2 · Kinabatangan: the full river day

• 06:00 Dawn cruise up a tributary (Menanggul or Tenegang) while the river is glass and the hornbills are moving. Best light, best birds, and the hour most elephant and orangutan sightings happen.
• 08:00 Breakfast, then free time or a guided boardwalk walk into the lodge's forest.
• 12:30 Lunch and siesta through the heat.
• 16:00 Afternoon cruise, usually a different stretch of river or to an ox-bow lake.
• 19:00 Dinner.

Day 3 · Gomantong Caves, then back

• 07:30 Breakfast, check out.
• 08:30 Depart lodge, stopping at Gomantong Caves en route (swiftlet nests, resident bat colony) — see the Gomantong Caves stop, explained.
• 12:00 Continue to Sandakan Airport or town, or onward to Lahad Datu for Danum Valley or Tabin. Afternoon flights from Sandakan to KK or KL connect comfortably.

What you're likely to see

Proboscis monkeys, almost certainly, on every dusk cruise. Long-tailed and pig-tailed macaques, silvered langurs, oriental pied, rhinoceros, wrinkled and black hornbills, storm's storks and egrets, kingfishers, estuarine crocodiles, monitor lizards. Orangutans: good odds, either in the riverside trees or at a nest, but not guaranteed. Bornean pygmy elephants: the herds move along the river over weeks, so some visits see them daily and some not at all; your guide will know where they've been. Rarer: Borneo's ox-bow lakes hold otters and occasionally a clouded leopard has been seen on the bank. The river is also one of the world's best places to see wild Bornean gibbons if you're up early. For honest odds, species by species, see honest odds, species by species.

Where you stay

Two nights at a riverside lodge in Sukau or Bilit. We quote three tiers: a comfortable mid-range lodge with en-suite chalets and fans or air-con (the default), a simpler budget lodge with fan rooms and shared facilities, and an upper-tier lodge with larger rooms, better food and a smaller boat ratio. All include full board and all cruises; all have mosquito nets and electricity for at least part of the night. Tell us which tier in the form, or say "recommend" and we'll pick based on your dates and group. Not sure whether to base in Sukau, Bilit or Abai? See Sukau vs Bilit vs Abai: which stretch to base on.

What's included

• Private air-conditioned vehicle for all road transfers: airport/hotel to Sepilok, Sepilok to river, river to airport/hotel or Lahad Datu
• Licensed English-speaking guide at Sepilok; lodge naturalist guides on the river
• Entrance and camera fees at the Orangutan Centre and Sun Bear Centre
• Two nights' lodge accommodation, twin share, with all meals from day 1 lunch to day 3 breakfast
• Three river cruises (one on day 1, two on day 2), a Gomantong Caves stop on day 3, and one guided night walk
• Drinking water, boat life jackets

Not included

• Flights (KK–Sandakan from about 45 minutes; we can book or you can), travel insurance, alcoholic drinks, tips, RDC night walk unless you add a Sepilok night

Variations

Start in Sepilok the night before. Add a Sepilok resort night and the RDC night walk, and be at the orangutan gate at 09:00 before the vans. Recommended if you're flying in from KK the day before.

Add Gomantong. The caves are on the way to the river; see Sepilok, Gomantong & Kinabatangan 4D3N.

Add Labuk Bay. Possible on day 1 if you skip the 10:00 feeding in favour of 15:00, but it makes the drive to the river late. Better done as a separate day if proboscis monkeys are the priority; on this itinerary you'll see them wild on the river.

Continue to Danum Valley or Tabin. From the river it's about two hours to Lahad Datu. A Danum Valley lodge adds three nights and the chance of primary-forest orangutans and red leaf monkeys; Tabin adds mud volcanoes and elephants. We'll quote the extension.

Practical notes

Leeches are rare on the boat and common on forest walks in the wet months; long trousers and closed shoes. Mosquitoes at dusk on the river; repellent and long sleeves. River lodges are basic by design: generator power, simple food, no phone signal on some stretches. The cruises are small open boats; bring a rain jacket in any month and a dry bag for the camera. Wi-fi exists but don't plan around it. The river is not suitable for non-swimmers without a life jacket, which are always worn.

Best time

March to October is drier and more comfortable. Fruiting seasons bring more orangutans into riverside trees. November to February is wetter, with higher water levels that can actually improve access to ox-bow lakes and tributaries, and fewer visitors; cruises still run unless the river is in flood. Elephant sightings are not seasonal so much as positional; your guide will know where the herd has been in the last week.

Frequently asked

Will we see elephants?

Often, not always. If the herd is within reach of the lodges, you'll probably see them; if it's moved upriver, you won't. We won't promise what the river doesn't.

Is it suitable for children?

Yes, from about five. The boats are calm and the wildlife is close; the lodges have family rooms. Younger children find the 06:00 starts hard.

What about motion sickness?

The river is flat; the boats barely rock. It's not an issue.

Can I do it from Kota Kinabalu in the same three days?

Yes, with an early morning flight out of KK on day 1 and an afternoon flight back on day 3. We build the pick-up around your flight times.