Tentative Borneo itinerary - any suggestions?
 

My husband and I are going diving and will be adding on land tours both before and after going on our liveaboard dive boat. Note that the itinerary has a little more flying back and forth than I would like, but in order not to have to drag 100 lbs of dive gear all over the place, we need to leave stuff in KK, so that's why it will look a bit weird.

At first, I wanted to have all hotels/activities nailed down tight, but the more I read, the more open I am to being flexible and taking suggestions from those who have come before me. So...

Day 1 - 3 Arrive KK in evening and look around next 2 days; leave gear in KK.

Day 4 - 6 Go to Sandakan and overnight Turtle Island and 2 nights on the Kinabatangan River.

Day 7 By car to Lahad Datu and stay overnight

Day 8 - 10 Borneo Rainforest Lodge

Day 11 Fly back to KK and meet up with dive group

Day 12 More KK

Day 13 - 23 Dive Sipadan/Mabul on the Celebes Explorer

Day 14 Back to KK

Day 15 FLY TO Kuching

Day 16 - 23 Explore Kuching, Bako, maybe longhouse and up river

Day 24 - 25 fly to Mulu and hike

Day 26 Return KK

Day 27 Leave Borneo

The questions are:

1. How to divide up the time in Kuching area

2. What to do with days in KK

3. Where to stay in Kinabatangan - it is choice between Sukau Rainforest Lodge or Kinabatangan Riverside Lodge

4. Is there a best place to have a chance to see turtles laying in April or is Selingan the only one to stay on for this.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, as the more I read guide books, the more confused I get. One wants to do everything, but obviously, can't! Thanks.

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ttt

No one wants to chime in?

I just heard that Turtle Island is full up for March and am now wondering whether it would be good to go up towards Mt. Kinabalu and do some day hiking around since I have an extra day or so now, before we would fly to Sandakan. We had read someone's blog where they had seen many large pitcher plants and other flora. Do you see those around the Danum Valley as well?

I didn't see this when you first posted it, so I'm glad you topped it.

Let me comment on Kinabalu Park. As you know from my trip report, we were very unimpressed. A complicating factor was that we went to the Danum Valley before Kinabalu, so any place would look "ruined" after the pristine state of the primary rainforest there. I expected Kinabalu to be a wilderness park, perhaps like Glacier. Instead, there were lots of playgrounds and children's areas. We took a couple of the "best" walks for seeing local flora, and saw very little because of how used the park is. We went specifically to Poring to see pitcher plants and saw almost none.

I'm sorry, I don't remember whether we saw pitcher plants in the Danum Valley. I tend to think we did, but I don't have a specific memory of it. We did see amazing flora and fungi in the Danum Valley.

KK does not have a lot to recommend it. Is there any way you can add a day to Sandakan?

I'd suggest minimal time in kk. Because you are going diving, climbing Mount Kinabalu is not an option. I thoroughly enjoyed the Kinabatangan area. Did a short tour with SI tours and stayed at the Kinabatangan Riverside Lodge. (Was impressed)

If you are going on a longhouse tour in Sarawak you will probably stop at Semmangoh orangoutang rehabilitation centre. If not its well worth a visit. I stayed out at Boko for a couple of nights and loved it. Some people do complain about the food and accommodation though. (Very basic) Lots of pitcher plants on Boko.

One thing that you can't plan for is the chance to see a rafflesia flower. Plenty of people will offer to take you when one does flower though.

I'd suggest spending more time in Sarawak as opposed to Sabah but that's just me.

Thanks for replying. I don't have any flexibility in the dive portion as that's been booked for a year, so that why it's divvied up between Sabah and Sarawak the way it is. After Borneo, we head to the Lembeh Strait in Sulawesi for more diving, so I'm sort of restricted to these dates. Also, the price at BRL goes up April 1st, and as it's already expensive, I wanted to get in there before April. However, if there were a raffleesia blooming somewhere, I would like the flexibility in the schedule to go chase it.

Also, I noted Kathie, that Mt Kinabalu did not wow you after BRL, and I thought if I did have 3 days upon arriving at KK, maybe that would be the time to see it, before being spoiled by the better stuff. I don't think there's all that much I want to do in the city. Silver wool, another day in Sandakan would also work, but what would you suggest in the way of activity that's not already covered by the 2 night Kinabatangan trip. Is there anything to see in the town itself?

I did not spend a lot of time in Sandakan itself. Went to Sepilok (orangutans) and a Chinese temple on a hill overlooking the bay. However these were both part of the SI tour. There is a War Memorial commemorating the soldiers who died on a death march during the 2nd World War but I did not have time to visit it. I think they were mainly Australians on the march but its not my particular area of expertise.

I was going to travel across Borneo by bus to see the countryside but was told it was mainly palm oil plantations so I flew from KK to Sandakan with Air Asia.

I am also planning on flying Air Asia and have had trouble in the past trying to book a ticket from the US (for instance with domestic flights in Indonesia). Were you able to do it online or did you make a reservation once you got there?

Has anyone booked from the US? If you are reading this Bob, I know you have used this airline.

Mulu is great but do be aware that if you are intending to hike to the Pinnacles it is a VERY tough trek. The caves are amazing and I also recommend a trip on the river.

I agree with previous comments re KK park not being in pristine condition (way too many visitors for that) but would highly recommend the ascent to the summit the views as dawn breaks above the clouds are one of those memories that stays with you forever! The ascent is tough and the descent even tougher and the scenery changes along the way from rainforest to cloudforest to Alpine and then to bare rock lots of weird and wonderful plants along the way (inc. the famous Pitcher plants). You stay overnight in a basic hut and rise at 2.00am for the final ascent. Tough but IMHO well worth it. The ascent, or flying for that matter, should not be tackled too soon after diving - I believe 12 hours is the current thinking of dive physicians but longer if you are doing any deep dives or decommperession diving.

There is a recent long thread (and many previous threads) about booking Air Asia online from the US. People have had to go through great contortions to get those flights booked, but they have been able to do it.

Here's the most recent thread: http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...th-website.cfm

We booked lots of Air Asia tickets on line from US within the last several months without any difficulty at all.

Thanks Kathie and Glover. I will try to get those flights from here.

Crellston- When I saw the photos of the Pinnacles I was really wanting to see them, that is, until I found out how difficult it was to hike there. So we will be doing the canopy walk and the caves (although I did just read on the Sarawak Forestry website that the Wind Cave is temporarily closed and I don't know for how long). As to ascending Mt Kinabalu, we considered, but are not going to do that. This is primarily a dive trip, and we get pretty paranoid about not getting hurt before we go diving, since we do about 4 dives a day for 10 days and later for 12 days on this trip. And also...DH looked at me like I was crazy when I suggested the ascent!

susncrg - keep looking out of the window on the flight into Mulu and you should catch a sight of the Pinnacles on the way in. Probably a sensible decision to miss climbing KK!! Looking forward to hearing about the diving!

Have a wonderful time! I'll look forward to your trip report!

Crellston- any idea which side of the airplane if we come from Kuching?

susncrg - Sorry it was a while ago, but if you are flying with MAS, the planes are very small 12-16 seats, so you should get a view whichever side you sit.

Kuching is good for about 1 or 2 days max. There is not much to see other than the Cultural Village and the history museum. We didn't go out to the longhouses, feeling that the cultural village gave us enough of an education about them. Some have said the river cruise in the early evening is nice. Air Asia is a budget, budget airline and we did not have trouble booking tickets. However, at the airport it is a bit confusing as boarding is a bit like boarding a bus - not much info. provided and the boarding process takes less than 20 minutes!

We found much more to do in Kuching that you did, Ichin. We liked walking the area near the river, pausing in Little India, looking at local crafts, etc. We also enjoyed visiting some orchid growers (I know, not to everyone's taste), and we went out to Damai one afternoon/evening. We could have used more time there - we didn't get to Bako, for instance.

Ichin- what was your final itinerary? Where did you stay in Kuching?

We were at the Grand Margherita which was really nice, good breakfasts. Ask for a newer remodeled room. The Riverside Majestic is also close by. Their restaurant has great Chinese food. I read elsewhere that the Hilton is also very nice. They are next to each other. Btw, we could see the top of Mt. K. flying from KK to Lahad Datu. The plane flies very low so the view is amazing.

We stayed in the Hilton. While I'm not generally a fan of Hilton Hotels, this one was very nice. Their Chinese restaurant was superb. The butter prawns are a famous local dish.

We were on one of the top few floors (a club floor) and had a beautiful view of the river and the city.