One week itinerary for Borneo with kids

From its tropical islands to the amazing wildlife, it would be easy to spend weeks exploring Borneo with kids – but if, like most of us, you’re limited in time, you can still see some of the area’s highlights in seven days with this itinerary for Borneo with kids.

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Most visitors to Malaysian Borneo will spend their time in Sabah, one of two states making up east Malaysia along with Sarawak, and this one week itinerary for Borneo for families focuses on that part of the country.

Flying in to Kota Kinabalu, you’ll spend most of the week around Sandakan and Kinabatangan, and even with just seven days in Borneo with kids, you can see some unforgettable sights.

Our trip was arranged with Intrepid Travel, which has two different Borneo family travel itineraries available, visiting many of the same places we saw on our trip – those are 9-10 days long depending which option you choose, so they’re great if you have a little longer to spend or prefer someone else to handle the practicalities.

But for inspiration, or if you’re planning to exploring independently for your Borneo family holiday, here’s what to fit into your one week itinerary in Sabah.

Day 1 – Kota Kinabalu

Arrive in Kota Kinabalu – unless you’re visiting from another nearby country, you’re likely to travel via Kuala Lumpur, with regular international flights landing there.

Connecting flights from Kuala Lumpur take around 2 1/2 hours – ours landed just before lunch time local time. Bear in mind you’re likely to be jetlagged, so it’s worth planning a low-key day with time for a nap if needed.

Things to do in Kota Kinabalu with kids

If you’re feeling full of energy and fancy checking out some of the best things to do in Kota Kinabalu for families, there are a string of options.

For something fairly relaxed, take a stroll around the local handicraft market on the waterfront for a few souvenirs, or head out to explore Chinatown.

You can also discover more of the area’s history with a visit to the Sabah Museum, with everything from animal skeletons to information on Sabah’s culture and politics.

Where to eat in Kota Kinabalu with kids

Start your trip in style with a drink on the rooftop bar at Sky Blu Bar, watching the sunset over the water. You can grab food and ice creams here too, although it’s pricier than most places in the city.

Instead plan dinner at the fish market: there are a string of stalls all selling fresh fish and seafood – just pick what you want, and let them know how you’d like it cooked (there are signs showing the different options and sauces), plus tables to eat at.

You’ll find a string of places to eat along Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens – we headed to the memorably named Glam Station 3.

Where to stay in Kota Kinabalu

You won’t spend much time at this hotel, but stick to somewhere relatively central so you can walk to the fish market and the waterfront – we stayed at Horizon Hotel Kota Kinabalu.

Day 2 – Ara Dinawan Island

While you’ll find lots of snorkelling trips from Kota Kinabalu, the snorkelling closer to the city isn’t always that great – instead, spend your first full day and second night on Ara Dinawan island for a tropical escape. Day trips are also an option, but staying overnight is hard to beat.

From Kota Kinabalu, it’s around a 30-minute drive to the jetty. Ara Dinawan tented camp has a boat which takes guests out to the island, which takes around 10-15 minutes – look out for crocodiles on the banks as you go!

The villa tents are definitely at the luxury end of glamping with proper beds, their own shower and toilet, and a fan to keep the heat down. The focus is on sustainability, so there are limited hours for the electricity (and air con) as a result.

But this is somewhere to kick back and relax, unplug and enjoy the island. You can learn more about the local marine life from marine biologists before heading out to snorkel.

The water around the reef here is incredibly clear, and the corals are teeming with brightly coloured reef fish. Look out for the sea urchins, but otherwise it’s easy for kids with no strong currents (and life vests provided).

You can also borrow kayaks to paddle around the island or relax in one of the beachside hammocks. There are swings too, including some in the water, and lots of loungers dotted around – a good place for a nap if you’re still feeling jetlagged!

Check out my video of a day at Ara Dinawan Tented Camp

Where to stay

Stay at Ara Dinawan Tented Camp – the 14 tented villas sleep up to six and a stay includes food.

There’s a buffet provided for lunch and dinner, including vegetarian options and some child-friendly dishes, as well as breakfast the following morning, plus drink-making facilities in the tents.

Day 3 – Sandakan and Sepilok

Tempting though it is to stay, it’s time to leave Ara Dinawan after breakfast for the boat trip back to the mainland and Kota Kinabalu, to journey to Sandakan.

Internal flights take around 45 minutes or if you’d prefer to reduce the number of flights you take, you can make the drive in around 6 1/2 hours hours – break it up by stopping at Poring Hot Springs for a canopy walk and swim in the springs.

OPTIONAL: If you have longer, stop at Kinabalu National Park, where you can visit local villages to learn more about different cultures in Sabah, taste local food, or stroll through Mount Kinabalu Botanical Garden. You’ll also get a view of Mount Kinabalu (although climbing it is a major adventure, so you’ll need two extra days and older experienced teens if you want to try)

From Sandakan airport, it’s only around 20 minutes to Sepilok for the first of your wildlife experiences. In the late afternoon, head to the Sepilok Rainforest Discovery Centre to walk the Rainforest Skywalk, 620m above the ground for some amazing views of the forest and a chance to spot some of its inhabitants.

Set off around 4pm to have chance to explore before dusk falls and you can see the rainforest animals starting to wake for the night – keep an eye out for giant flying squirrels gliding from tree to tree in the twilight.

Check out my video of a rainforest canopy walk

Follow it with a guided night walk, with one of the Rainforest Discovery Center experts helping you to spot the forest’s nocturnal creatures – and stop you getting lost in the dark rainforest!

If you’re lucky, you might spot a Western tarsier – tarsiers have been around for 45 million years and these small mammals are very shy. Without our guide, we’d have no chance of finding one, clinging to a branch with its long spindly fingers, it’s huge eyes glinting in the weak torch light.

TOP TIP: You’ll need insect repellent for much of your one week in Borneo with kids, especially when you’re by the Kinabatangan river, but I’d recommend applying it VERY liberally for the night walk. This Boots Repel Maximum roll-on is suitable for kids aged 2+.

Wear long sleeves and long trousers as well, ideally with long socks under them – you’re unlikely to encounter leeches along the path but there is a possibility if you’re walking through the undergrowth to see tarsiers, so covering up will also keep them away.

Leech socks are another option, and they’re essential if you are planning any longer jungle hikes in Borneo with kids, but they’re not really required here – make sure you have decent walking shoes or sturdy trainers though.

Where to stay in Sepilok

We stayed at the lovely Borneo Sepilok Rainforest Resort for a taste of luxury – these jungle lodges have four poster beds with mosquito nets, air con and there’s also a small pool near the restaurant.

As an added child-friendly bonus, there are western dishes on the menu, as well as ice creams – very well deserved after a walk in the humid rainforest!

Day 4 – Sepilok and Kinabatangan

Tempting though it is to spend another night at Borneo Sepilok Rainforest Resort (this is going to be a running theme through most of the trip – we always wanted longer!), it’s time to move on once more.

However, not before visiting one of the highlights of any trip to Borneo with kids – a visit to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre nearby.

After an introductory video (in a very welcome air-conditioned room!) and talk from a representative of Orangutan Appeal UK to learn more about their work helping these wonderful great apes, you can head over to the nursery to see some of the babies and younger orangutans playing.

There’s one way glass in the room looking on to the nursery area, so the babies can act naturally without feeling like they’re under observation and it’s fantastic watching them together.

The youngest orangutans, many of whom are orphaned, are teamed up with a slightly older buddy who helps teach them the skills they’ll need as an adult in the wild.

There are ropes and a whole string of equipment to swing, relax and monkey around with, and apart from the orange fur, you could almost be watching any group of little ones in a playground.

As they get older, they’re moved to areas open to the forest, where they can head out into the wild. Some never return, others pop back every few days, while some females come back for longer periods when they’re pregnant.

Food is put out at the same times every day (10am and 3pm for the adults, 30 minutes earlier in the outdoor nursery) so you may see orangutans coming back to make the most of it. It’s always the same food, with the intention that the apes will get bored and want to forage for themselves rather than stay at the centre, but it’s not uncommon to see a couple pop back for an easy snack.

We were lucky enough to see a pair walking along the handrails on the wooden walkway, joined by a third one on the feeding platform itself.

Depending on your timings, you can try to get there early to beat any crowds – or if, like us, you’ve stayed to watch the babies when some of the bigger groups moved on, hang around the feeding platform a bit longer and wait for the numbers to thin, so you should get a good view.

There’s a chance to adopt an orangutan, to support the work the centre does (or to buy your own fluffy one to take home) but before you leave, head across the road to the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center.

Home to another of Borneo’s native wildlife, rescued sun bears – who’ve often been kept captive for years – are given a new home here, with the goal of eventually reintroducing them back to their natural habitat.

To read more about spotting Borneo wildlife with kids, check out this post

There’s information to read as you explore, as many of the bears will be hiding in the undergrowth but you can also spot them prowling around.

Don’t be surprised to see orangutans here as well – there’s nothing to stop the adults swinging through the trees from the centre over the road, and we actually saw a mother and baby sitting right by the walkways.

Check out my video of a visit to the Sepilok Orangutan sanctuary with kids

But that’s not the last of the wildlife you can expect to see today – move on to the Kinabatangan River, for an afternoon river cruise, the first of a series of cruises during your time here.

Along the banks of the river, you can spot various different macaques, proboscis monkeys, birds galore including hornbills, as well as crocodiles and even more orangutans (if you’re very lucky).

Barely 10 minutes into our first cruise, we were even lucky enough to see a family of pygmy elephants play fighting in the water and wading up the bank.

Where to stay by the Kinabatangan River

Stay at Borneo Natural Sukau Bilit Resort, one of the riverside lodges which arranges boat trips along the Kinabatangan river.

The wooden lodges have mosquito nets around the beds, some with little balconies overlooking the little lake – there’s air conditioning too, so you’re not entirely roughing it, although you won’t find five-star luxury here.

All meals are buffet-style with the menu changing every day – some delicious Malaysian dishes, including vegetarian options, and there’s usually something for even the pickiest kids.

Day 5 – Kinabatangan

With a full day at Kinabatangan, you can see the river at different points of the day – head out for sunrise with the mists over the tranquil river, and the animals just waking up for the day.

After lunch, another afternoon cruise exploring another part of the river – we headed down a little tributary to an oxbow lake, covered in purple lake hyacinths, as well as spotting more wildlife settling down for the night.

We saw several troops of proboscis monkeys, one with his harem, another bachelor group, all with their backs to the river as predators are more likely to approach from land at night.

Elsewhere, we saw families of macaques playing down by the water – chasing each other, somersaulting into the water and generally having a lot of fun.

Then after dinner, a night cruise, to see a very different side to the Kinabatangan river. Torches illuminate baby crocodiles sliding noiselessly into the river, owls in the trees and if you’re lucky (again), a chance to spot a slow loris in the trees.

Similar to a western tarsier, with its big eyes and small furry body, it’s another shy nocturnal mammal but an amazing experience if you do spy one high up in the trees.

Check out my video of cruising along the Kinabatangan River with kids

Where to stay

A second night at Borneo Natural Sukau Bilit Resort, to pack in as many different cruises as you can before you have to move on once again.

Day 6 – Sandakan

There’s time to fit in one final wildlife experience at the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary, which helps protect another of Borneo’s unique primates.

While you’ll probably have spotted some in the trees along the Kinabatangan river already, getting to see them close up is fantastic.

With their huge noses – which wobble as they eat, and can be used as snorkels when they swim – and their equally big bellies (in the proboscis monkey world, the bigger your nose and tummy, the better), they’re oddly endearing.

There are four feeding times throughout the day – two at Platform A and two at Platform B, where we saw them eating.

Check out my video of a visit to the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey sanctuary with kids

You’re also likely to see silverleaf monkeys – expect a sudden thunder of paws as they race across the wooden viewing platforms, as well as spotting them lined up on the wall near the toilets!

Depending when you visit, you can often see their babies. Unlike the adults, which are mostly a silvery grey colour, the babies are a bright orange until they’re around six months old.

From here, travel on to Sandakan for some downtime before the end of your trip – the English Tea House is a lovely place for lunch, looking down across manicured lawns towards the sea.

Head to the floating village for dinner at one of the seafood restaurants.

Where to stay in Sandakan

Sabah hotel is a good location for both the floating village and the airport the following day, plus a few mod cons to end your trip.

There’s a lovely pool, including a water slide, shallower areas for younger kids and sun loungers.

Day 7 – leave Sandakan

Depending when your flight leaves, there’s a last bit of time to enjoy the pool and the sun before you finish your week in Borneo with kids.

You can fly direct from Sandakan to Kuala Lumpur for international flights onwards – if you have a long transfer, I’d recommend booking a lounge. If you want to fit in some more exploring, you could also make your way back towards Kota Kinabalu to catch a flight to Kuala Lumpur from there.

Got more time to spend in Borneo with kids?

If you’ve got longer than just a seven-day itinerary for Borneo with kids, you could also include a visit to Turtle Island Marine Park from Sandakan – a short speedboat ride away from the mainland – especially if you’re travelling between July and October, when the seas are calmest.

There’s swimming and snorkelling to enjoy during the day, but it’s the night time which is the big draw, when green turtles come ashore to lay their eggs on the beach in the moonlight. You can also see hatchlings being released into the ocean too.

You’ll need to stay overnight, and accommodation is limited so make sure to prebook this well in advance.

For more inspiration about visiting Southeast Asia with kids, check out my itinerary for Cambodia and itinerary for Burma (Myanmar)

*First published 2024, last updated 2026*

Disclosure: My trip was organised with Intrepid Travel – I was not obligated to write this post, but loved our one week in Borneo so much, I wanted to share our family adventure. All opinions are my own (and my daughter’s). This post contains affiliate links – any purchases you make are unaffected but I may receive a small commission

Images copyright MummyTravels

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