Sabah 7-Day Itinerary: Kinabalu, Wildlife and Islands

Afternoon: Fly into Kota Kinabalu International Airport, around 20 minutes by Grab from the city centre, and check in near the waterfront. Spend the afternoon on foot: walk the Waterfront esplanade, the old shophouse blocks around Gaya Street and the Filipino Market, where stalls sell pearls, handicrafts and dried seafood.

Evening: Watch the sun set over the islands from the waterfront, then eat at the night food market by the sea, choosing your fish, prawns or lobster from the ice and having them grilled. Try a bowl of tuaran mee or the local ngiu chap (beef noodle soup) if you prefer something simpler.

If you arrive on a Saturday night: stay up for the Gaya Street Sunday Market, which fills the street from early on Sunday morning with fruit, orchids, local snacks, rattan goods and pets. Go before 9am, when it is cooler, and shift the island day to Monday. Otherwise, use this evening to confirm tomorrow’s boat and pack swimwear, reef-safe sunscreen and a dry bag. Your three nights in KK make it easy to swap days one to three around the weather.

Morning: Island boats to Tunku Abdul Rahman Park now leave from South Jetty at KK Port, near JQ Central, rather than the old Jesselton Point site. Arrive by 8am for the first departures. The crossing takes around 30 minutes, and fares rise with the number of islands you visit. The international marine park conservation fee was RM25 for adults at the time of writing.

Midday: Choose two islands rather than four, so you have time to swim. Sapi has good snorkelling off a small beach and the zipline to Gaya, Manukan is larger with a long beach and restaurants, and Mamutik is the smallest and calmest. Rent snorkel gear on the jetty if you do not bring your own.

Afternoon: The last boats back usually leave the islands at about 4pm, so plan accordingly. Back in KK, rest before dinner.

Evening: Try Sabah’s signature dishes: hinava (raw fish cured in lime with ginger and chilli) and sayur manis at a seafood restaurant, then walk off dinner along the waterfront.

Morning: Hire a car with driver or join a day tour and leave KK by 7am, while the mountain is most likely to be clear. The drive to Kundasang takes about one and a half to two hours, with a stop at Nabalu market for views of Mount Kinabalu’s granite summit. At Kinabalu Park headquarters, walk one of the short trails through montane forest and visit the botanical garden. Pack a fleece, as it is much cooler up here than on the coast.

Afternoon: Have lunch in Kundasang, where vegetable farms cover the slopes, then visit the Desa dairy farm for its mountain views or Sosodikon Hill viewpoint. Clouds usually build after lunch, so do your photography in the morning.

Evening: Drive back to KK for a final night in the city and an early start tomorrow. If you have swapped the island day and this day for the Mount Kinabalu climb, today is summit day: a pre-dawn start from Laban Rata, the descent to park headquarters and the drive back to KK.

Morning: Take a morning flight from KK to Sandakan, about 45 minutes, and transfer to a lodge in Sepilok, where most of the wildlife sights are within walking distance of each other. Sepilok is around 30 minutes from Sandakan airport by car.

Afternoon: Visit the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre for the 3pm feeding, when semi-wild orangutans swing in through the canopy to the platform. At the time of writing the entrance fee for non-Malaysian adults was RM30. Bags must be left in lockers, and insect repellent should be put on before you arrive, not on the boardwalk. Across the car park, the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre is worth an hour for the world’s smallest bears.

Evening: Join a guided night walk at the Rainforest Discovery Centre nearby, where you may see slow lorises, tarsiers, stick insects and flying squirrels. Dinner is usually at your lodge, as there is little else in Sepilok after dark.

Morning: Return to Sepilok for the 10am feeding, which is usually quieter than the afternoon session, or walk the Rainforest Discovery Centre canopy walkway at dawn for hornbills and other birds.

Midday: Your Kinabatangan lodge transfer will usually collect you at Sepilok or Sandakan around lunchtime. The road journey to Sukau takes about two to two and a half hours through oil palm plantations, a sobering reminder of why the river’s forest corridor matters. Some packages stop at Gomantong Caves on the way.

Afternoon: Check in and head out on your first river cruise around 4pm, when wildlife becomes active again after the heat of the day. Proboscis monkeys gather in riverside trees to sleep, and you have a good chance of long-tailed macaques, hornbills, monitor lizards and, with luck, orangutans or pygmy elephants.

Evening: Many lodges offer a night cruise or night walk after dinner to look for kingfishers roosting, owls and crocodiles.

Morning: Wake before dawn for the 6am cruise, the best of the trip. Mist hangs over the water, birdlife is at its most active, and boats often head into a tributary or oxbow lake where hornbills, egrets and storm’s storks feed. Return for breakfast around 8.30am.

Midday: Rest through the hottest hours, or take a guided jungle walk in boots and leech socks. Sukau and Bilit lodges are basic but comfortable, and most of the time is spent on or watching the river.

Afternoon: Take a final afternoon cruise. Elephant herds move along the river at unpredictable times, so guides often share sightings by radio and will chase a tip if one comes in.

Evening: Enjoy a last lodge dinner and an early night. If you are heading to Semporna tomorrow, confirm your road transfer tonight: it runs south via Lahad Datu and takes most of the day. If you are returning to KK, book a late-morning flight from Sandakan.

Option A, back to KK: Take the morning transfer back to Sandakan, about two hours, and fly to KK. In the afternoon, join a tour to Mari Mari Cultural Village in the hills outside the city, where guides from Sabah’s indigenous communities, including the Kadazan-Dusun, Rungus and Murut, show traditional houses, rice wine, blowpipes and fire-making. Tours run at set times and include transport, so book ahead. Spend your final evening at the waterfront food market.

Option B, Semporna: Drive south from the Kinabatangan towards Lahad Datu and on to Semporna, a full day on the road with the final stretch taking about two and a half to three hours. Semporna is the base for island hopping to Mabul, Kapalai and the stilt villages of the Bajau Laut. Sipadan Island, one of the world’s great dive sites, is only reachable with a permit booked through a licensed dive operator, ideally months ahead. Plan at least two more nights here and fly home from Tawau, about an hour from Semporna.