Hi all.
I have arranged a family trip to Sabah from the 18th March for 16 days. We are staying at the Shangri-la Rasa Ria for 4 nights, Sepilok for 2 nights, Selingan for 1 night, and 7 nights at the Shangri-la Tanjung Aru. My family consists of 2 adults, and 2 children aged 10 and 14.
We are flexible and have a few more days in which we could arrange more excursions. 1)Would anyone recommend a 1 night stay in either the Sukau River or Rainforest Lodge? Would this excursion be suitable for children?
2) Would it be worth considering a stay in the Gayana Island Resort in Gaya Island, or would it be better to consider a day trip from one of the hotels.
3) Is it possible to do a day tour to the Klias Wetlands from the hotels or Kota Kinabulu? Would anyone know prices?
4) Can the Labuk Bay monkey sanctuary be visited easily for a morning from Sepilok? Would this be a worthwhile trip?
5)Does anyone know which daily trips are offered from the Shangri-la Raisa and Tanjung Aru approximate costs.

Any comments or ideas would be very much appreciated, especially those concerning the children. Thanks a lot.

Posting this for the 2nd time, because the first one didn't show up - apologies if it gets duplicated.

Hi Gordon

We stayed at the Rasa Ria (excellent hotel btw!)in April and did some trips from there, but it's about 30 minutes drive into Kota Kinabalu, where most of the tours start from. So if you're staying at the Tanjung Aru as well, I would suggest you do your tours from there - cheaper from there as well, because of the shorter distances.

We booked all our tours with the agent in the hotel, Discovery Tours and the Klias Wetlands tour cost us RM215 each inc a meal (RM185 from T-A). It was one of the highlights of our holiday - highly recommended.

You can do the trip to Gaya Island from either hotel - it's only a short hop from the T-A. The one we did included a guided trek on Gaya and then a hop over to Sapi for fantastic reef snorkelling and a bbq lunch. Cost RM215 from R-R or RM180 from T-A.

I still have the price list for Discovery Tours' trips, so I can try scanning and emailing it to you if you want.

Hi Xenos,

Thanks very much for your reply and comments; exactly what I was looking for. I really enjoyed looking through your photo album; some wonderful shots. I think we will take up your recommendation of the Klias Wetlands tour, and visit Gaya as a one day tour from the Tanjung Aru. We are flexible on our hotel stay. I am not quite sure how to split the hotel stay; whether to have 4 days at Rasa Ria and 7 at Tanjung Aru, or split 6 and 5, as we have two children. I would appreciate the price list for the Discovery Tours by email if possible. I really appreciate your comments and assistance.

Thanks,
Gordon

That's strange, your email was there yesterday, but now it's disappeared.

I don't like putting my address straight on this forum since I got loads of spam and a couple of viruses a few years back, but if you want to email me you should be able to work this one out ;-)
xenosinmalaysia at yahoo dot cotton dot uncle ken

Thanks for the comments on my photos - glad you liked them. As for the Rasa Ria v the Tanjung Aru, well the Rasa Ria has a fabulous beach and the orang utans, but the Tanjung Aru is closer to town and the islands, so they both have different things going for them - depends what you want most really.

BTW, if you haven't done so already, make sure both adults register for Shangri-la's Golden Circle Club before you go. Membership gives you free continental breakfast, or a good allowance off the full breakfast, plus daily paper, fruit in your room, etc.

Hi Xenos,

Thanks again for comments. I took the email address off the board for similar reasons!
My wife and I are both Golden Circle members. I will send an email and perhaps you could email the tour prices, and more info.

Thanks again,

Gordon

The Sukau Forest Lodge is wonderful and deserves two days. If your children are into nature, they woudl also enjoy it. I was just there and we saw a lot of birds, Proboscis monkeys, forest elephants, etc. The food is good, the setting is lovely and the staff attentive.
We visited the islands of Gaya and Sapi, the snorkeling was pretty good and it was fun to lay around on the beach, but they Gaya is very crowded with tourists and locals.
We did like Selangan Island where the turtles lay their eggs every night and the snorkeling is good. Sepilok and excellent---the Orangs are wonderful. Be sure to try the food everywhere, not just the hotels---it is some of the best I have ever eaten and no one in our group had any problems. Ellen

Hi Ellen

Thanks very much for your response. It is great to hear that you had a wonderful time at the Sukau Rainforest Lodge. I am thinking of spending a night there with my family. Do you think that 2 nights would be necessary?
Did you arrange the trip to the lodge with a tour company? If so could you inform me of which company. Did you enjoy the river and ox-bow cruises? I am a bit concerned of the presence of leeches during the jungle walks which could be an unpleasant experience for my 2 children ( girls aged 10 and 14 ). Were leeches a problem? Could I also ask what type of meals are available. Are the meals/ breakfast generally Malaysian, or westernised?
I have arranged a night on Selangan and 2 nights at the Sepilok Nature resort, and I am looking forward to those visits. You certainly had a great time. If you stayed at Sepilok, did you take any treks or tours from Sepilok? Would you recommend a visit to Gaya Island for the children to have time on the beach or do you believe it to be rather crowded?

I must apologise for trying to pick your brains!! Your comments have greatly helped us.

Thanks,

Gordon

If you fancy diving (learning or just trying it out) the Tanjung Aru has an excellent dive school attached (PADI Gold Star). There is fabulous diving available around the National Park 5 minutes boat ride from the hotel (you can also go snorkling here). Highly reccommended!

I would go to Google and look up their website----they have one, but I can't find it. You can probably arrange the trip in Sandakan which is where the boat leaves from. The packages are 3 days, 2 nights---I would recommend no less, since the boat trip is fairly long. Loved the river trips---that's where we saw so many monkeys.
Leeches are certainly present and we all got them, however they aren't those big clunkers you see in old Humphrey Bogart films. They are painless and you can flick them away. We only had them on one hike and they are not nearly as bad as you would think.
The food: American breakfast with lots of juice. Dinners: buffet with rice, meat and vegetables. I can't remember the lunches. The food in Borneo has a strong Chinese influence, but is far superior to any Chinese that I have had in the US. The fish and and shellfish and fresh vegetables are absolutely wonderful. If your kids eat fish, shrimp, prawns, etc.,you have it made. They serve chicken a lot, but it appears that the bird is just whacked into unidentifiable chunks with lots of bones. The beef and pork we had was not great. There's always fast food places which are in all the cities. The beach at Gaya is crowded, although we may have been there on the weekend. There is a nice beach at Turtle Island, if you just want some beach time for the kids. Ellen

Ellen, Thanks very much for your comments. You have given me all the information I require.The food sounds fine. Unfortunately, we don't have time for the 3Day/2Night tour to Sukau. I was wondering if we could arrange a trip on the river from Sandakan, for a few hours, after we arrive from Turtle Island,but before departing to Kota Kinabalu later in the day. I think we should spend a day on Gaya Island and have time on the beach. Could I also thank Walter for his comments, as we must try snorkling during our stay at the Tanjung Ara.

Gordon