Reviews

We've booked a tour from Sandakan over Sukau to Lahad Datu with Borneo Eco Tours in Summer 2025. We were 4 people with 2 children aged 8 and 11.

We've stayed in two different lodges (Sepilok Forest Edge Lodge and Sukau Rainforest Lodge) and had multiple transfers with ship and car.

Overall, the experience was top notch and I can highly recommend them.

- Transfers were smooth with no waiting time. Most of the time it was just the four of us in a minibus. Drivers were friendly and competent and even accommodated extra stops to e.g. buy some drinks.
- The lodges were excellent. Small number of villas (maybe 20-40), very friendly personnel, great food.
- The excursions were accurately described, with guides speaking good english and being friendly and accomodating.

Be aware that:
- In the Sukau lodge, all excursions happen via boat. There is a "trail" through the surrounding forest, but it is very short.
- The morning excursions happen early, around 6:30am. There is a small breakfast served before, and a full breakfast after. This makes sense because that's when you see most animals, but can be a bit strenuous.

We've booked a tour from Sandakan over Sukau to Lahad Datu with Borneo Eco Tours in Summer 2025. We were 4 people with 2 children aged 8 and 11.

We've stayed in two different lodges (Sepilok Forest Edge Lodge and Sukau Rainforest Lodge) and had multiple transfers with ship and car.

Overall, the experience was top notch and I can highly recommend them.

- Transfers were smooth with no waiting time. Most of the time it was just the four of us in a minibus. Drivers were friendly and competent and even accommodated extra stops to e.g. buy some drinks.
- The lodges were excellent. Small number of villas (maybe 20-40), very friendly personnel, great food.
- The excursions were accurately described, with guides speaking good english and being friendly and accomodating.

Be aware that:
- In the Sukau lodge, all excursions happen via boat. There is a "trail" through the surrounding forest, but it is very short.
- The morning excursions happen early, around 6:30am. There is a small breakfast served before, and a full breakfast after. This makes sense because that's when you see most animals, but can be a bit strenuous.

来自中国的爱！

我们是一个4人的小团队，在山打根和苏高（Sandakan & Sukau）进行了4天3晚的旅行，体验非常棒！旅途中每个人都很耐心、很乐于助人，我们的导游 Cleff 更是我见过最棒的导游之一，他知识渊博，讲解清晰，而且特别热心和善良。在他的帮助下，我们顺利看完了婆罗洲的“大五”!

同时也要特别感谢餐厅里友善的服务员、前台那个总是笑眯眯的小伙子、另一位导游 Arnold，以及这段旅程中遇到的每一位朋友！

Love from China!

We are a group of 4 people and touring Sandakan & Sukau for 4 days 3 nights, great experience! Everyone in the tour is patient and helpful, our tour guide Cleff is one of the best guides I have ever known, he knows a lot, explains well and is very very helpful and kind, we finished seeing the Borneo big 5 with his help!

Also shout out to the friendly waiters in the restaurant, the dude always smiling in the reception, Arnold another guide, and every one in this journey!

来自中国的爱！

我们是一个4人的小团队，在山打根和苏高（Sandakan & Sukau）进行了4天3晚的旅行，体验非常棒！旅途中每个人都很耐心、很乐于助人，我们的导游 Cleff 更是我见过最棒的导游之一，他知识渊博，讲解清晰，而且特别热心和善良。在他的帮助下，我们顺利看完了婆罗洲的“大五”!

同时也要特别感谢餐厅里友善的服务员、前台那个总是笑眯眯的小伙子、另一位导游 Arnold，以及这段旅程中遇到的每一位朋友！

Love from China!

We are a group of 4 people and touring Sandakan & Sukau for 4 days 3 nights, great experience! Everyone in the tour is patient and helpful, our tour guide Cleff is one of the best guides I have ever known, he knows a lot, explains well and is very very helpful and kind, we finished seeing the Borneo big 5 with his help!

Also shout out to the friendly waiters in the restaurant, the dude always smiling in the reception, Arnold another guide, and every one in this journey!

My partner and I had the most incredible experience on this tour!
We did a 3-night wildlife safari in the Deramakot Forest reserve and it was certainly a life highlight.

From the beginning, we were very looked after. We were picked up from our hotel in Kota Kinabalu by our Captain, Joe and our guide, Eddie. The drive into the forest takes about 7.5 hours plus some stops, which made it all the more convenient as part of the tour.
The accommodation is modest and decent, and we found the meals provided were fantastic.

Eddie and Joe were incredibly flexible and provided their expertise to maximise opportunities to see the amazing wildlife in Borneo. Being a private tour, we were able to extend our safari outings sometimes while skipping others as we wished. One of the highlights was an extended night safari where we managed to see so much wildlife, including a leopard cat, a porcupine, and a slow loris to name a few!

We had an amazing experience watching a pair of rhinoceros hornbills. Eddie and Joe were kind enough to lend us binoculars (we didn't bring any) to see them close up and set up a tripod so we could capture them on video! We followed the sound of the gibbons, getting off the 4x4 onto a trail to try and find them. The beautiful, dense rainforest meant we couldn't spot them in the end, but getting closer and listening to them in their habitat was so special.

If you are looking a memorable trip to the Borneo rainforest, I highly recommend booking with Borneo Eco Tours!

My partner and I had the most incredible experience on this tour!
We did a 3-night wildlife safari in the Deramakot Forest reserve and it was certainly a life highlight.

From the beginning, we were very looked after. We were picked up from our hotel in Kota Kinabalu by our Captain, Joe and our guide, Eddie. The drive into the forest takes about 7.5 hours plus some stops, which made it all the more convenient as part of the tour.
The accommodation is modest and decent, and we found the meals provided were fantastic.

Eddie and Joe were incredibly flexible and provided their expertise to maximise opportunities to see the amazing wildlife in Borneo. Being a private tour, we were able to extend our safari outings sometimes while skipping others as we wished. One of the highlights was an extended night safari where we managed to see so much wildlife, including a leopard cat, a porcupine, and a slow loris to name a few!

We had an amazing experience watching a pair of rhinoceros hornbills. Eddie and Joe were kind enough to lend us binoculars (we didn't bring any) to see them close up and set up a tripod so we could capture them on video! We followed the sound of the gibbons, getting off the 4x4 onto a trail to try and find them. The beautiful, dense rainforest meant we couldn't spot them in the end, but getting closer and listening to them in their habitat was so special.

If you are looking a memorable trip to the Borneo rainforest, I highly recommend booking with Borneo Eco Tours!

Awesome experience. Well planned and coordinated. We enjoyed our time with Borneo Eco Tours and would recommend them.

Awesome experience. Well planned and coordinated. We enjoyed our time with Borneo Eco Tours and would recommend them.

Our family with children aged 7 through 11 absolutely loved the tours and service offered by Borneo Eco Tours. They get very high marks with me (an experienced traveler with the family) for their professionalism and authenticity. They provide great information on their tours beforehand and the communication prior to the trip with the team is excellent. They have a wonderful offering, with great experience, and are rooted in the community and respectful of the beautiful natural environment. This is just not some cynical package tours operator but an authentic outfit in for the long run.

We had great guides and conversations and company from other visitors in our 3-day visit to the beautiful Sukau Rainforest Lodge (thanks Vincent!). Our kids (and the parents) loved just as well the farmstay in the village next to the Kiulu River, this was such an nice get-away (thanks a lot to our young local guide Leo!).

When a traffic hiccup in the busy KK rush hour prevented us from going to a guided tour and dinner at the night market, the team handled this very gracefully and provided a prompt reimbursement.

The flexibility and attendance was great, and made us feel very welcome indeed!

Our family with children aged 7 through 11 absolutely loved the tours and service offered by Borneo Eco Tours. They get very high marks with me (an experienced traveler with the family) for their professionalism and authenticity. They provide great information on their tours beforehand and the communication prior to the trip with the team is excellent. They have a wonderful offering, with great experience, and are rooted in the community and respectful of the beautiful natural environment. This is just not some cynical package tours operator but an authentic outfit in for the long run.

We had great guides and conversations and company from other visitors in our 3-day visit to the beautiful Sukau Rainforest Lodge (thanks Vincent!). Our kids (and the parents) loved just as well the farmstay in the village next to the Kiulu River, this was such an nice get-away (thanks a lot to our young local guide Leo!).

When a traffic hiccup in the busy KK rush hour prevented us from going to a guided tour and dinner at the night market, the team handled this very gracefully and provided a prompt reimbursement.

The flexibility and attendance was great, and made us feel very welcome indeed!

My partner and I (Americans in our 30s) had an awesome trip with Borneo Eco Tours. More U.S. travelers need to explore Borneo! For the value, the price felt like a great bang for your buck considering the quality of accommodations, guiding, and wildlife activities. What impressed us right away was how responsive and helpful our travel consultant William was. From the very first email he was on top of everything, answering all of our questions quickly and clearly.

One of the biggest advantages of booking through them is that they own Sukau Rainforest Lodge, so even when other companies were sold out, they were able to fit us in. That alone was a huge relief since Sukau ended up being the highlight of our trip. We stayed in villa cabins at both Sukau Rainforest Lodge and Utan. It was also awarded as a Nat Geo lodge which interested me as I work for Nat Geo.

The whole experience was very well organized, eco-friendly, and rooted in the local community, which was important to us when choosing who to travel with. Our main goal was to see wildlife. We were lucky enough to spot the “Big 5” of Borneo. Seeing orangutans in the wild was the big draw for me, but the river safaris were great and loved seeing the pygmy elephants.

During our week we saw such a mix of travelers — couples, families, friends, even solo travelers.

What we also appreciated was Borneo Eco Tours’ use of more eco-friendly boats. Many river operators still rely on noisy two-stroke engines, which can pollute and disturb wildlife. They however have Sukau boats with electric motors that are quieter and less disruptive allowing for a much closer, gentler experience with the animals. It’s the kind of forward-thinking, sustainable practice we hope becomes the standard across Borneo. The government needs to make this a requirement moving forward.

My partner and I (Americans in our 30s) had an awesome trip with Borneo Eco Tours. More U.S. travelers need to explore Borneo! For the value, the price felt like a great bang for your buck considering the quality of accommodations, guiding, and wildlife activities. What impressed us right away was how responsive and helpful our travel consultant William was. From the very first email he was on top of everything, answering all of our questions quickly and clearly.

One of the biggest advantages of booking through them is that they own Sukau Rainforest Lodge, so even when other companies were sold out, they were able to fit us in. That alone was a huge relief since Sukau ended up being the highlight of our trip. We stayed in villa cabins at both Sukau Rainforest Lodge and Utan. It was also awarded as a Nat Geo lodge which interested me as I work for Nat Geo.

The whole experience was very well organized, eco-friendly, and rooted in the local community, which was important to us when choosing who to travel with. Our main goal was to see wildlife. We were lucky enough to spot the “Big 5” of Borneo. Seeing orangutans in the wild was the big draw for me, but the river safaris were great and loved seeing the pygmy elephants.

During our week we saw such a mix of travelers — couples, families, friends, even solo travelers.

What we also appreciated was Borneo Eco Tours’ use of more eco-friendly boats. Many river operators still rely on noisy two-stroke engines, which can pollute and disturb wildlife. They however have Sukau boats with electric motors that are quieter and less disruptive allowing for a much closer, gentler experience with the animals. It’s the kind of forward-thinking, sustainable practice we hope becomes the standard across Borneo. The government needs to make this a requirement moving forward.

I contacted borneo eco tours direct to arrange a tour of borneo,
In doing so I cut out the UK travel agent, making a significant saving,
After a few emails with Brandon one of borneo eco tours tour consultants, I agreed on a tailor made tour itinerary,
We went to sepilok nature resort for 2 nights, Sukau Rainforest Lodge for 3 nights, Borneo rainforest lodge for 3 nights, and to finish off with 7 nights in bungaraya island resort on Gaya Island,
I was a bit nervous about booking a holiday with a company in Borneo to start with,
But Brandon made the whole experience from beginning to end a really easy process,
I did have to arrange flights myself, but Brandon told me times and dates I needed to arrange flights for, so that was an easy process to,
All of the places we stayed were first class, no complaints about any of them,
All the transfers were included in the price, every transfer was on time, and every driver was so nice,
The whole holiday was the best we have ever had, a big part of that was down to borneo eco tours, especially Brandon who has been brilliant from start to finish.

I contacted borneo eco tours direct to arrange a tour of borneo,
In doing so I cut out the UK travel agent, making a significant saving,
After a few emails with Brandon one of borneo eco tours tour consultants, I agreed on a tailor made tour itinerary,
We went to sepilok nature resort for 2 nights, Sukau Rainforest Lodge for 3 nights, Borneo rainforest lodge for 3 nights, and to finish off with 7 nights in bungaraya island resort on Gaya Island,
I was a bit nervous about booking a holiday with a company in Borneo to start with,
But Brandon made the whole experience from beginning to end a really easy process,
I did have to arrange flights myself, but Brandon told me times and dates I needed to arrange flights for, so that was an easy process to,
All of the places we stayed were first class, no complaints about any of them,
All the transfers were included in the price, every transfer was on time, and every driver was so nice,
The whole holiday was the best we have ever had, a big part of that was down to borneo eco tours, especially Brandon who has been brilliant from start to finish.

Where do I begin… from the moment we first enquired about a tour with Borneo Eco Tours, to the moment we got dropped off at the airport at the end of our tour everything was amazing!!!

We’re a family of four with two children (7 and 10) who love to travel and enjoy doing things that are a little more exciting than your average trip… and this one certainly ticket that box.

We chose to go with Borneo Eco Tours because of the elements included in their tours, their approach to supporting the environment, their commitment to supporting their local community and their history. We put through an enquire about tours on their website and got connected with Lisa Stephan (Tour Consultant). Lisa talked us through their various tours, what was included etc. and helped ensure we selected the tour best suited for our needs (this ended up being the Orangutan Search - 4 day, 3 night tour staying at the Sukau Rainforest Lodge). Lisa booked us in, made sure we got all our details correct and kept in contact with us as our tour approached.

This is an all inclusive tour, so all our accommodation, meals and transportation are covered in the price and Borneo Eco Tours takes care of everything - each and everyone person involved in the company want to make sure you have an amazing time.

We were super lucky on the tour to see all of the Borneo Big 5, with the wild orangutans being all our highlight!!! Our naturalist guides (Jimmy and Jan being our main two) were simple outstanding. Their knowledgeable was vast and their enthusiasm for sharing this with you was so appreciated (especially by our 7 year old who became everyone’s best friend). The guides are with you daily, from the first pick up through to the end and they keep you fully informed about what’s happening, what’s going to happen next and also all the nature you’re getting to play in. For those that do go I’d also recommend the free Orangutan Talk (we went twice it was so good).

If you are considering a trip to Borneo and want to know you’re booking with the best company then I can’t recommend Borneo Eco Tours more!!!! A+++

Where do I begin… from the moment we first enquired about a tour with Borneo Eco Tours, to the moment we got dropped off at the airport at the end of our tour everything was amazing!!!

We’re a family of four with two children (7 and 10) who love to travel and enjoy doing things that are a little more exciting than your average trip… and this one certainly ticket that box.

We chose to go with Borneo Eco Tours because of the elements included in their tours, their approach to supporting the environment, their commitment to supporting their local community and their history. We put through an enquire about tours on their website and got connected with Lisa Stephan (Tour Consultant). Lisa talked us through their various tours, what was included etc. and helped ensure we selected the tour best suited for our needs (this ended up being the Orangutan Search - 4 day, 3 night tour staying at the Sukau Rainforest Lodge). Lisa booked us in, made sure we got all our details correct and kept in contact with us as our tour approached.

This is an all inclusive tour, so all our accommodation, meals and transportation are covered in the price and Borneo Eco Tours takes care of everything - each and everyone person involved in the company want to make sure you have an amazing time.

We were super lucky on the tour to see all of the Borneo Big 5, with the wild orangutans being all our highlight!!! Our naturalist guides (Jimmy and Jan being our main two) were simple outstanding. Their knowledgeable was vast and their enthusiasm for sharing this with you was so appreciated (especially by our 7 year old who became everyone’s best friend). The guides are with you daily, from the first pick up through to the end and they keep you fully informed about what’s happening, what’s going to happen next and also all the nature you’re getting to play in. For those that do go I’d also recommend the free Orangutan Talk (we went twice it was so good).

If you are considering a trip to Borneo and want to know you’re booking with the best company then I can’t recommend Borneo Eco Tours more!!!! A+++

The most incredible trip! Vincent was an incredible guide, and the whole experience was just just wonderful. We saw all the big 5, including over 60 wild elephants crossing the river. I would recommend them thoroughly and if found back to Borneo in the future, would definitely use them.

The most incredible trip! Vincent was an incredible guide, and the whole experience was just just wonderful. We saw all the big 5, including over 60 wild elephants crossing the river. I would recommend them thoroughly and if found back to Borneo in the future, would definitely use them.