Best Kinabatangan Wildlife River Cruise Tour from Sandakan
Overview
Discover Borneo's untamed beauty on the Best Kinabatangan Wildlife River Cruise Tour from Sandakan, an unforgettable 8-hour eco-adventure into the heart of Sabah’s rainforest. This Kinabatangan River day trip begins with a convenient pickup from your hotel in Sandakan and transports you through scenic landscapes and rural villages to the Kinabatangan River, one of the richest ecosystems in Southeast Asia. On your Kinabatangan River cruise, witness exotic wildlife such as proboscis monkeys, hornbills, crocodiles, and if you're lucky, Borneo pygmy elephants—all in their natural habitat.
This Kinabatangan day safari includes a 2-hour guided wildlife boat tour through lush jungle riverbanks and an authentic local dinner at a riverside lodge, offering a close-up look at Borneo’s diverse flora and fauna. Whether you're coming from Sandakan or planning a Borneo day tour, this itinerary is designed to maximize wildlife viewing while offering comfort and cultural immersion. The Best Kinabatangan Wildlife River Cruise Tour from Sandakan offers small-group, eco-conscious exploration with private hotel transfers, making it ideal for nature lovers, photographers, and families. Perfect for those wondering what to do in Sandakan, this is the top Kinabatangan tour for immersive jungle experiences.
Tour Highlights:
- 8-hour Kinabatangan jungle river tour with private hotel pickup and drop-off from Sandakan
- 2-hour Kinabatangan River boat cruise for optimal wildlife viewing
- Chance to spot proboscis monkeys, crocodiles, hornbills, macaques & pygmy elephants
- Guided wildlife river safari led by knowledgeable local experts
- Traditional Bornean dinner at a riverside eco-lodge
- Scenic countryside drive through Sabah’s villages and palm oil plantations
- Ideal for families, couples, and small groups seeking Borneo eco-tourism
- Best Kinabatangan River tour for day-trippers from Sandakan
Tour Amenities
The sightseeing will proceed according to the itinerary.
Confirmation will be received at time of booking.
Get a full refund if cancel the booking 72 hours before it begins.
We offer 24/7 global customer support.
Included
Pick-up from your Sandakan Hotel.
Tour and transfers on a seat-in-coach basis.
One afternoon wildlife cruise on the Kinabatangan River.
Local dinner at a riverside lodge.
Services of an experienced in-house guide.
Drop-off at your Sandakan Hotel.
Excluded
Personal expenses are not included.
Tour Plan
Why Choose Our Kinabatangan Wildlife River Cruise Tour?
- Operated by Mam Holidays, a trusted Borneo tour provider
- Includes hotel pickup and drop-off in a private vehicle for maximum comfort
- Guided by knowledgeable local experts with deep wildlife insight
- A small group Kinabatangan safari to enhance your nature experience
- All-inclusive Kinabatangan tour—transport, cruise, and dinner
- Perfect for a Kinabatangan one day wildlife cruise from Sandakan
- Flexible, eco-conscious, and suitable for all age groups
- High chances of wildlife sightings—great for first-time visitors to Borneo
- Rated as one of the best Kinabatangan river tours with excellent reviews
Book Your Kinabatangan Wildlife River Cruise Tour Today!
Whether you're a wildlife enthusiast, nature photographer, or family traveler looking for an unforgettable Borneo river wildlife cruise, our Kinabatangan Wildlife River Cruise Tour from Sandakan is the perfect choice. With seamless Sandakan pickup, a scenic jungle boat ride, expert-guided wildlife spotting, and a hearty dinner by the river, this tour delivers a complete Kinabatangan nature experience in just one day. Join us for a memorable Kinabatangan River eco tour and get ready to explore one of Malaysia’s top rainforest destinations.
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Reviews (18)
Verified Reviews You Can Trust
Bourlinguer
Source Trip Advisor
Kinabatangan river
For this activity and many others in the sector, we recommend the services of Azrien Alimuddin , mail: azrienalimuddin738@gmail.com. She is a pleasant, efficient and honest person. He organized for us tours over 4 days, with very good advice, and a car always on time, for very decent prices. And all this despite the monsoon that tarnished our experience on the Kinabatangan River. An excellent record for him, as an independent, and we thank him for it! (independent of MAM Holidays)..
Written February 17, 2025
Peter L
Source Trip Advisor
Nonexistent Excursion
I would love to write a review of this excursion, however we didn’t get to go on it. Everything appeared fine until the morning of the trip when the freelance travel operator contacted me to say the the travel agent MAM Holidays Malaysia had reduced their previously agreed price by 17%. This made it economically unviable for him, which I had great sympathy for. There was no contact made by MAM Holidays Malaysia to inform us of the situation or any attempt to arrange for another guide. We waited for 30mins to no avail. We are still waiting for the situation to be resolved i.e. full refund from Viator...
Written October 6, 2024
Chen Tai Ho
Source Trip Advisor
Elephants, crocodile and proboscis monkeys
We saw 5 elephants crossing the river, so lucky. And another 15 more on land, walking by the river. Plus a crocodile by the river, which dashed in into the river after a while. There was a group of proboscis monkey, and an even larger group of macaques. The boatmen were very accommodating. Our driver Abdul drove us here. He's reliable and super friendly, reasonable prices. His WhatsApp is +601116695114..
Written September 4, 2024
Candice B
Source Trip Advisor
cancelled less than 24h before our tour
pretty disappointed. Our tour was cancelled at 12.30am, the morning of our trip. Waited half an hour for our pickup and couldn’t contact the number provided, or anybody of that matter. Refund takes 3-5 business days and it’s a Friday. Not happy..
Written July 25, 2024
Louise_A
Source Viator
Great cruise, terrible transport
The river cruise was amazing. However, the transport was an old taxi driving on rough roads, including at night, and the ‘guide’ didn’t really share much insight...
Written July 2, 2024
Ronan_B
Source Viator
Amazing!
Amazing river tour got to see all of the Borneo big 5 ,had a great guide for the expedition and I would highly recommend to anyone who’s a fan of nature tours. 🇮🇪..
Written March 8, 2024
Elisabeth_K
Source Viator
Sandakan-Rundfahrt ohne Höhlenbesichtigung
Für die Leistung ein unangemessener Preis: Eigentlich schöner Ausflug zum Kinabatangan mit Tiersichtungen mit Guide vor Ort. Die Abfahrt wurde am Tag vorher von 11 Uhr auf 11:45 Uhr verschoben, dann haben wir noch Leute vom Flughafen und von diversen Lodges abgeholt um sie zu einer Lodge am Fluss zu bringen. Dort haben wir nochmal eine Stunde gewartet, bis alle ihre Zimmer bezogen hatten. Die in der Ausschreibung angekündigte Fahrt zur Gunung-Höhle fiel dann ohne Erklärung einfach weg Ich fand es einen ziemlichen dreisten Nepp...
Written March 4, 2024
Fiona C
Source Trip Advisor
Borneo wildlife
Mixed review on this one as we were highly anticipating the day and had booked it as my birthday treat. Single mum 3 teens. The caves were worth the visit - smelly but great to see - disappointed nobody advised us the collecting nests would start the next day as we would have changed the date to see this. Arrived for lunch in loads of time and hung around for 3 hours for Boat trip. Didnt realise people were heading to the jetty to queue for the boat so we were last on and could not sit together. All the tourists who had been on the boat already knew the best seats were on the outside so everyone took these first leaving single seats left spread out. The boat was crammed with 20 guests whilst on the water we saw other companies with smaller boats and less people and this would have been our preference. The trip was great the wildlife was fab and we enjoyed it just disappointed not to be sitting together with my kids on my birthday when we were first to arrive at the venue. If you go queue up at the jetty ready to jump on the boat or book with another company with smaller numbers.
Written March 10, 2020
Townsville
Source Trip Advisor
Taxi Ride
Our hotel concierge and I tried for several days to confirm the trip and pick up time, but received no response. On the day a local taxi turned up, complete with taxi sign on top and with non English speaking driver. We had no idea of how long it would take to get to the caves or when we would eat and received no information on route as the driver could not speak English. At the caves, we walked around with no information given at all and then set off for the river cruise. The river cruise part however, was enjoyable with a good boat driver/guide. We certainly did not get an English speaking guide and would have been better off just hiring a local taxi, then we could at least have got aircon, an English speaking driver and saved quite a bit of money to boot! Quite disappointing really and a tour I would recommend you avoid...
Written November 14, 2019
Ali
Source Trip Advisor
More a taxi ride than tour
Fantastic experience but sadly our tour guide Argus was really just a taxi driver. He had no knowledge of the caves or river... In fact I knew more about it all than he did but that didn't stop us having an amazing day. He didn't take us to the Kinabatangan river camp for our 2hr explore of the area so felt a bit cheated there but he did arrange a nice lunch in a family home right on the jetty which was a lovely experience. He was also a friend of the boat driver so sat at the back chatting to him the whole time. It didn't stop us enjoying the cruise though. We got to see loads of Probuscus monkeys, a crocodile and a pigmy elephant not to mention the many birds. I think the tour needs to be 2hrs longer to fit it all in and we noticed the other tours offer this. All in all it was a great experience but would use another private tour guide if we did it again...
Written September 29, 2019
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