Our favorite Borneo tours and excursions

From multi-day rainforest treks to tribal longhouse stays, Borneo offers some of the most unforgettable travel experiences on the planet.

You don’t come to Borneo to do things by halves. You want the very best guides, in the very best locations, with the very best range of activities, or nothing. In the world’s greatest wildlife destination, why settle for anything less?

By its very wild and untamed nature, much of Borneo impossible to explore without a guide – and we’re only interested in working with the very best. You can always spot them: they’re the ones who’ve never stopped being enthused about the sheer magnitude of the forest, and the ones who are as excited by a big cat’s pawprint as by the tiniest rare spider, even after years of guiding. Those are the people we want to show you Borneo.

Borneo isn’t just an untouched rainforest paradise. It’s a living, breathing island full of culture and contradictions, with street-food markets to explore, mountains to climb, coral reefs to marvel at, conservation challenges to face, and scores of different indigenous groups with whom to share an evening and a little tuak rice wine. These are the experiences that’ll get you beneath the surface.

Mount Kinabalu climb

Watching sunrise from the top of the highest mountain in Southeast Asia is an unforgettable experience.

It’s an 8.8 km steep trail to the summit, taking you from lush and humid lowlands to misty forests of tea and eucalyptus trees thick with moss, where you’ll stop at a shelter for the night. Rising at 2am the next day, you’ll continue for the final stretch through cooler granite boulder forest and treeless subalpine scrub to Low’s Peak, to be rewarded with views as far as the Philippines in the distance. Be warned: the ascent is steep, the summit is cold, and altitude sickness can strike anyone – but the rewards really are spectacular.

Evening street food tour of Kuching

Kuching is the gastronomic capital of Borneo, and this guided tour is about sampling its many delights.

Slurp Sarawak laksa, invented by a Chinese hawker in 1945, then cool off with a mung bean pudding believed to lower the body temperature. Eat shaved ice piled high with sirups, fruits and jellies, then take a sampan across the river in search of the Battenberg-on-steroids that is Sarawak layer cake. Sample sugarcane coconut drinks, rojak fruit salad, and stuffed Bornean kompia pastries, then finish it all off with some mangrove palm ice cream topped with black sugar. All we can say is – pace yourself!

Hiking Bako National Park

Don’t be fooled by its petite dimensions: at just 27 square kilometers, Bako may be one of Borneo’s smallest national parks, but with seven different ecosystems it packs a massive punch when it comes to diversity.

In fact, this is the only park where you’re (almost) guaranteed a mammal sighting, whether it’s a famous, big-nosed proboscis monkey, silvered langur, or long-tailed macaque. What’s more, with well-marked hiking trails of various lengths and strenuousness, leading through the forest to beaches dotted with wave-carved pinnacles, we’ll tailor the day’s exploration to your fitness and energy levels.

Whitewater rafting

Whitewater rafting is one of the most exhilarating ways to see the Bornean jungle, whether you want heart-pounding drops and tricky maneuvers, or a more relaxed ride through the forest.

If you’re after something family-friendly, the Kiulu River offers 15 km of gentle rafting with plenty of chances to soak up the magnificent jungle scenery. To get the adrenaline pumping, there’s the more challenging Padas River – where you can bounce over waves, tumble down drops, and battle your way through rapids with names like “Head Hunter” and “Washing Machine”. Whichever you choose, expect an unforgettable day out.

Wildlife safari on the Kinabatangan River

A riverboat safari on the Kinabatangan River just might be the best wildlife experience in the world. One of the most ecologically diverse regions on the planet, this “corridor of life” is a cornucopia of species – so much so that it can feel like playing animal bingo.

Orangutans, pygmy elephants, gibbons, crocodiles, hornbills, pythons – you name it, the Kinabatangan’s probably got it. Head out at dawn and you’ll see a whole different show from in the afternoon, and after dark it’s a new cast again. For animal sightings, we’ve never been anywhere to match it.

Gaya Island marine sports

Borneo is a firm contender for top marine destination on the planet, and there are few natural environments more magical than the coral reefs around Gaya Island.

This is a vivid, alien world of rippling anemones, spiky sea urchins, luminous butterflyfish and huge shoals of squid – expect every snorkeling trip or dove to feel like an episode of Blue Planet. And if you like to eat seafood as well as look at it, we can charter you a trip to Mengalum Island to land yourself a wahoo, dorado, or giant trevally. However you want to experience Gaya’s underwater world, we’ve got you covered.