Looking for a Borneo tour that combines wildlife with local living, while being easy on the wallet? The East Sabah Adventure with G Adventures is perfect for you! Here’s all you need to know about it.
On my recent solo trip to Malaysia, I wanted to spend a couple of weeks exploring the state of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo, particularly to get up close and personal with their unique ecosystem. Orangutans, sunbears, proboscis monkeys, tarsiers, to name just a few!
So many magical things to discover, so little time, even littler energy to figure out the logistics of getting around Borneo without an organised tour 🙃
I had no safety concerns about travelling solo in Borneo, but the logistical load was biiiiig, and I had no one to share it with!
Transport infrastructure is somewhat limited, at least in terms of what info is available online. Authentic cultural experiences are often off the beaten track and difficult to get to with public buses. Your chances of spotting wildlife are infinitely better with an experienced guide, which can be pricey if you’re booking one independently.
It made sense to book a group tour for my Borneo trip, and my immediate choice was G Adventures. They’re my go-to tour provider for small group adventures with a focus on culture, wildlife and (obviously) adventure, I’ve previously explored Morocco, Indonesia and Thailand/Cambodia/Vietnam with them, so this was my fourth trip!
To summarise our 8 day East Sabah Adventure tour in one sentence, it was the *perfect* way to explore Sabah and get amongst the wildlife, while having the safety and security of a local guide, a well-planned route, and some epic experiences I could never have found by myself. It was one of the highlights of my Malaysia and Borneo itinerary.
And for a more detailed tour review, including why I chose G Adventures to see Sabah, everything we got up to on tour, and things I wish I knew before I went to Borneo, read on 👇🏼
Disclosure: I partnered with G Adventures to experience this trip free of charge in exchange for coverage on my channels, but they have no editorial control over any content and my review is completely based on my personal experience. I’ll always share my honest and true thoughts with you regardless of any partnership.
G Adventures Borneo review: A quick summary of the East Sabah Adventure
About G Adventures: G Adventures is one of the world’s leading adventure tour operators, with epic trips available in more than 100 countries around the world. Their tours range from cheap and cheerful backpacker trips for 18-40s, to family-friendly getaways, to luxury adventure expeditions. Sustainable tourism, animal welfare and local culture are all front-of-mind in their itineraries.
Tour itinerary: East Sabah Adventure, 8 days, 7 nights! Started in Kota Kinabalu (KK), then Kota Belud, Kinabatangan River, Sepilok, Libaran Island, and back to KK.
Chief Experience Officer (tour guide!): Ronald, wildlife spotting superstar and fellow tech nerd who answered all my (many) camera questions
Tour group: 15 of us in total, it was an all ages tour so we had two teenagers with their parents, four solo girls from 29-36ish, a solo guy in his 40s, a couple in their 70s/50s, sisters in their 60s and two solo women in their 60s and early 70s
Accommodation: Our accomm was a real range, from a big hotel in KK to a village homestay (dorm rooms, no air con but fans), to rustic jungle lodge huts, to tents on the sand on our island stay.
Inclusions: Lots! A village walk and cooking class at our homestay, three wildlife river safaris, a night walk at our jungle lodge, a bush walk, the orangutan rehabilitation centre, releasing baby turtles into the water on the island.
See the full tour details on the G Adventures website >>
FAQs about G Adventures & the Borneo tour
What is G Adventures?
G Adventures is a Canadian small group adventure travel company that operates all over the globe, running authentic and immersive tours that focus on local culture, responsible travel and getting amongst nature.
They have a huge range of tours available, from back-to-basics backpacker trips to active adventures to luxury outdoor getaways, and everything in between.
Why choose G Adventures for Borneo?
Any time I’m heading somewhere a little off the beaten track, G Adventures are the first travel company I think about. They’ve got a brilliant network of epic itineraries in remote destinations around the world, and you can trust that their trips are created with sustainability, conservation and local culture in mind.
I also think that a passion-led company like G Adventures attracts a certain type of traveller, so if you’re aligned with their values, chances are you’ll meet fellow tourmates who are on the same page.
What is the G Adventures Jane Goodall Collection?
G Adventures has a strict animal welfare policy that runs throughout all their operations (they were one of the first global travel companies to implement one!), but the Jane Goodall Collection is a series of tours that are particularly dedicated to wildlife experiences, endorsed by the conservation queen herself, Dr Jane Goodall.
The East Sabah Adventure in Malaysian Borneo is a part of this collection, with a bunch of up-close-and-personal wildlife-spotting moments sprinkled through the eight day trip.
If you book any tours in the Jane Goodall Collection, a portion of your trip cost goes straight to the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada, which is doing amazing things to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental inequity.
Travelling Borneo on a G Adventures tour vs. travelling independently
If you’re a confident traveller with a bit of time to spare and some leeway in your budget, you’d probably be able to plan out a Borneo trip independently, but an organised tour with G Adventures has a bunch of benefits in terms of saving time, money and stress. Here’s what you have to toss up:
Borneo tour pros:
- Transport, accomm, activities and lots of meals all covered in one upfront package
- Chance to meet fellow travellers with a passion for wildlife too
- No single supplement for solo travellers
- Local guide with wildlife-spotting experience
- All your logistics sorted for you
- Access to remote destinations that’d be hard to reach independently, like a village homestay, river lodge and island
- Safety and security of travelling with a tour
- Itinerary that hits the main wildlife spots
- Confidence that all activities and accommodation have been thoroughly vetted to ensure they meet animal welfare and sustainable travel standards
Borneo tour cons:
- A decent amount of travel distance to cover in a short trip
- Not much time time to explore independently as most overnight stops are fairly out-of-the-way
- No flexibility to change your plans based on weather and/or wildlife
Travelling independently pros:
- Flexibility to stay somewhere longer to see the wildlife you want to see )or leave earlier if you’ve seen what you were hoping for!)
- Ability to get deeper into the jungle (if you have more time)
- Could book private tours for ultimate wildlife experiences without anyone else around you
Travelling independently cons:
- Public transport is limited in Borneo, especially outside of the main tourist centres, and can be difficult to navigate and unreliable. Bus timetables are more of a guideline than a rule 🙃
- Private transport is affordable compared to many countries but can really add up if you’re taking 2-3 hour private transfers or taxis
- Most tourists in Borneo are doing some sort of organised tour, so if you’re travelling independently you might find it hard to meet people
- Solo travellers will pay more for private accommodation/transport with no one to split it with
- There are safety warnings for some parts of Malaysian Borneo based on incidents from 8-10 years ago, from my research I wasn’t concerned about the current situation, however being on a tour did make me feel more comfortable
Which brings me to…
Is Borneo safe for solo female travellers?
Overall, most of Borneo is considered safe for solo female travellers and I personally didn’t have any safety concerns after three weeks there, but there are some key things to be aware of.
The main safety concern you need to know about before booking the tour is the (low) risk of pirate activity along the coast of the Sulu Sea, which entails the northern and eastern parts of the state of Sabah, including Sandakan and the islands that lie off it (one of which, Libaran Island, is a stop in this G Adventures tour). In the past, there have been kidnappings for ransom, with militant groups targeting island resorts and foreign tourists to garner global attention.
BUT at the time of writing (August 2024), the last incidents happened in 2015 and 2016, and since then the Malaysian government have implemented strong military presence in the area to monitor and protect their coastline, which is clearly working.
The main difficulty for us as tourists is that part of Borneo actually has travel warnings placed over it by a number of Western governments, and if you travel somewhere with an official warning in place, it can impact the validity of your travel insurance policy during that part of your trip, and it can also hamper your chances of getting support from your embassy if anything was to go wrong.
Australia, New Zealand and the UK all classify parts of the Sabah coastline as Level 3 out of 4 in terms of risk, however the US government (who are usually pretty harsh with their foreign travel warnings) only classify it as a Level 2 out of 4.
To me this kind of says that the AU/NZ/UK travel alerts are more of a bureaucracy issue or just not a priority for those governments to reconsider and update, but obviously everyone has their own risk appetite and you need to seek out the information for yourself before making any decisions.
Aside from the coastal security concerns, the only other thing to be aware of in Borneo re: safety is nature and wildlife. It’s a tropical destination that can have changeable weather patterns so check the forecast and be prepared if you’re heading out into the wild, obviously be aware of your limits when hiking, and listen to your guide’s instructions when you’re around wildlife to avoid any dangerous encounters with orangutans, elephants, monkeys or snakes.
Can I travel with G Adventures if I’m solo?
Absolutely! G Adventures is ideal for solo travellers because they don’t have a single supplement, if you’re travelling alone they’ll pair you with another solo traveller of the same gender for no extra cost, or you can pay to upgrade to a private room.
I was solo on this Sabah trip, and there were three solo gals in their 20s and 30s, as well as two solo ladies in their 60s and 70s, and a solo guy in his 40s too.
G Adventures Borneo honest review: East Sabah Adventure
For a full play-by-play of our Borneo itinerary each day on tour you can scroll down to the next section, but here’s a quick overview of the best bits and key things to know about the tour.
East Sabah Adventure itinerary
Day 1: Kota Kinabalu
Day 2: Kota Kinabalu to Kota Belud
Day 3: Kota Belud to Kinabatangan River
Day 4: Kinabatangan River
Day 5: Kinabatangan River to Sepilok
Day 6: Sepilok to Libaran Island
Day 7: Libaran Island to Kota Kinabalu
Day 8: End in Kota Kinabalu
Highlights from our G Adventures tour in Sabah, Borneo
- Meeting the crew on the first night for a big family dinner
- A village walk around Kota Belud learning about life in rural Sabah
- A cooking class at our homestay on the first night, we made a pineapple curry that was 🤌🏼 (and by ‘we’ I mean everyone else because I was taking photos and couldn’t get my hands dirty 🙃)
- Tasting local moonshine rice wine at the homestay, dangerously delicious
- A fiery sunset at the homestay, and then Mount Kinabalu finally saying hello at sunrise the next day
- Our jungle lodge at Kinabatangan River, dreamy views with monkeys playing on the roof
- River safaris! We saw LOADS of proboscis monkeys, macaques, langurs, crocodiles, lizards, hornbills, kingfishers and even a wild orangutan very briefly through thick vegetation (and I have a very pixelated video to prove it)
- Seeing a tarsier on the night walk through the lodge jungle
- Watching a mama orangutan teach her baby how to climb at the nursery of the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Sepilok
- Learning about the plight of sun bears from Dr Wong at the Borneo Sun Bear Conservation Centre in Sepilok
- Wandering the tree canopy at the Rainforest Discovery Centre in Sepilok (we did this in our free time)
- Releasing baby turtles into the ocean under the moonlight at Libaran Island
- Exploring the village of Libaran Island on a guided tour learning about local life, crafts and cuisine
- CATS EVERYWHERE
What was the tour group like?
This is an all ages tour with a light physical rating so it attracts travellers of all types!
Our group was made up of:
- Four of us girls from mid-20s to mid-30s, all solo
- A solo guy in his 40s
- A family of four with two teenagers
- A pair of sisters in their 60s
- Two solo ladies in their 60s and 70s
- A couple of 54 and 74
We were all from New Zealand, Australia, the USA and the UK.
What was the guide like?
Ron was our CEO (Chief Experience Officer), he’s worked for G Adventures for years and is a passionate wildlife photographer and guide. His animal-spotting skills were next level 😲 we would literally be 30 metres away from a tree, in a moving boat, and he’d be able to see a camouflaged owl hiding amongst the branches. Crazy!
He was incredibly patient, extremely knowledgeable about all the creatures we were looking for as well as local culture, and he’s a brilliant photographer who shared all his best shots with us at the end of the tour.
What was the accommodation like?
The official service level was ‘standard’ which is above ‘basic’ and below ‘upgraded’ on the G Adventures scale, but the accommodation was a real mix throughout the tour.
Our Kota Kinabalu hotel was a typical tour hotel and a bunch of other group tours started there too, dated but comfortable enough rooms, air con, a decent buffet breakfast, and easy to reach from the airport.
We had one night at a homestay in Kota Belud which was back to basics, with four-bunk dorms and some double rooms, no air con but fans above the beds, shared bathrooms, and a pool with a beautiful mountain view.
In Kinabatangan River we stayed at an epic jungle lodge in these spacious wooden huts on stilts with balconies, where we could spot monitor lizards swimming in the pond and monkeys playing in the trees. Beds were comfy, air con worked well (and loudly haha) and there were private bathrooms with hot showers and flushing toilets. This one was semi-off-the-grid, no phone reception but some (weak) WiFi in the common area for a small price.
In Sepilok we stayed in similar-style huts that were a little newer and nicer, and our lodge there had a huge swimming pool which was the perfect escape from the humidity 👇🏼
On our island stay at Libaran we were in two-person tents, with single beds, fans, and shared bathrooms.
If you’re keen to explore Borneo with a higher standard of accommodation, G Adventures also have a 12 day National Geographic Journeys tour which is more of a comfort & luxury tour.
What was the transportation like?
For most of the drives our group were split into three vans, they weren’t anything fancy but were totally fine for getting from A to B, with air con and enough space to get comfy.
For a couple of journeys we had the whole group on a big bus which was also more than comfortable.
To get from Sandakan to Kota Kinabalu at the end of the tour we had an included flight on Air Asia.
This tour is right for you if…
- You’ve got limited time in Sabah and want to hit the key wildlife destinations
- You don’t mind a fast-paced trip seeing the hot spots of Sabah
- You’re looking for an authentic Borneo experience with a small group of like-minded travellers
- You’re an animal lover hoping to see some of the unique creatures that live here
- You’re wanting an easy way to explore a remote destination, without having to spend days figuring out your movements
- You’re an in-between traveller in terms of travel style, not on a backpacking budget but still looking for good value for money
This tour isn’t right for you if…
- You want a secluded jungle experience away from any crowds (Kinabatangan River is a popular tourist destination so you do see other boats)
- You don’t like the outdoors or the creatures that live there
- You need WiFi and air con every day
- You’re wanting a dedicated photography tour. We got to take loads of photos (and our guide was a very skilled photographer) but to be fair to the other guests you can’t take 30 minutes trying to shoot the perfect photo of a rare rainforest frog while everyone waits, if you want a photography tour then best to book one specifically for that.
Can I plan this itinerary by myself?
You could book a similar itinerary yourself, but you’d need to get private transport to Kota Belud, wouldn’t get the village walk experience, would probably struggle to organise the transport to Libaran Island, and wouldn’t have the benefit of a local guide with you the whole way through.
Do you have to be physically fit for this tour?
The physical rating for the tour is Level 2 out of 5, which means light exercise like walking suitable for most fitness levels. There were a few walks that were an hour or two, but nothing too strenuous or steep.
The only thing to be aware of is that Borneo isn’t particularly accessibility-friendly, so we had things like rickety boardwalks at the lodges, jungle walks over muddy trails, and had to be able to climb in and out of boats for the river safaris and island trip.
We had a few older people in our tour with bad knees/hips who were able to handle these with some help (or opted out of the longer jungle walks) but if you have more serious physical limitations and require ramps, flat ground and no-step access to rooms and transport then this tour wouldn’t be an option for you.
Does this tour include the Mt Kinabalu hike?
The Mount Kinabalu hike isn’t included in the East Sabah Adventure, but with selected departures you can add on a four day guided Mount Kinabalu trek after you get back to KK.
G Adventures East Sabah Adventure detailed itinerary
Day 1: Arrive in Kota Kinabalu
Day one was just the arrival day, you can organise a transfer through G Adventures if you wish, or you can catch a Grab from the airport to the starting hotel in KK.
We had a welcome meeting in the evening to meet the crew and our guide, before we headed down the road to a restaurant for dinner (optional but a good way to get to know everyone).
Day 2: Kota Kinabalu to homestay in Kota Belud
Our first full day took us to Tambatuon Village, to a charming homestay amongst the paddy fields with a pool and a view.
We wandered the village with the homestay owner learning about local life and culture, learnt how to cook some traditional dishes like a delicious pineapple curry, celebrated one of our tourmate’s birthdays with a cake baked by a very kind villager, drank homemade rice wine from a teetotaller we lovingly called Jimmy Moonshine, and then a few of us stayed up late solving the world’s problems and screaming when bugs flew towards the light sitting on our table. Blame the moonshine!
The accommodation was basic but fine for a night, the only thing I’d say is that the top bunks are riiiiight under the fan which moves in a circle all night and kept me awake for literal hours, but I’m super super sensitive to temperature and any feeling on my skin so honestly that’s probably just my brain making my life difficult! If you’re like me then take the bottom bunk.
Day 3: Kota Belud to Kinabatangan River
The morning view at the homestay was incredible, with Mount Kinabalu coming out from the previous day’s cloud cover to say hello.
After breakfast we hit the road to head towards the jungle, kicking off the much-awaited wildlife part of the tour!
Arriving at our jungle lodge was super exciting, our huts were literally built amongst the trees. Inside our rooms there was loads of space and even a little desk that I used as a workspace, a bathroom with a hot shower and flushing toilet, and a balcony out the front overlooking a pond.
At the lodge all our meals were included, buffet style with a range of stir fries, curries and noodles.
After lunch we had a bit of downtime before jumping on the boat for our first river safari, to see what we could spot in the trees and the water.
Our first sighting was a croc floating along the riverbank, then we came across loads of monkeys, including the weird and wonderful proboscis monkeys that Borneo is famous for, as well as langurs and macaques.
My camera kit isn’t ideal for wildlife photos unfortunately, I don’t have a zoom lens, but I was pretty happy with my Lumix S9’s hybrid zoom as a consolation prize!
Dinner at the lodge was another buffet, before we headed out with our guide for a night walk to see nocturnal animals!
We were told not to wear tight, dark clothing because of the leeches (tight means they can bite you through them, dark means you can’t see them) and I was traumatised after my Sri Lanka leech bite, so I sacrificed my beautiful WHITE flowy trousers and tucked them into gumboots to try minimise the damage. RIP trousers.
Ruined clothes aside, the night walk was an immediate success! Only a few minutes away from our huts our guide told us to be quiet and then pointed his torch towards the bush, where we saw a huge-eyed Horsfield Tarsier clinging onto a tree. SO cool to see something this unique in the wild!
We continued for another 45 minutes or so and found some reptiles, insects and birds, and then got stuck into some competitive Uno before bed.
Day 4: Kinabatangan River
It was an early wake up for our morning river safari, catching the animals as they start their day. A little foggy to start with, but the haze subsided for beautiful blue skies and we saw hornbills, more monkeys and a baby crocodile.
Breakfast was a range of noodles, pandan pancakes and fresh fruit, and there was a quick morning break for a rest before our daytime jungle walk to Oxbow Lake.
The walk wasn’t strenuous at all, but it was across very uneven ground and had been a bit rainy in the days before, I’m amazed none of us ended up slipping in the mud! You can often see wildlife on this walk but all we saw were bugs, birds and bats, no monkeys, no pygmy elephants, nothing else of note. Oh, and approximately 20 million mosquitoes. Still worthwhile for lake views though!
We got back to the lodge for our afternoon break and a sweet treat, before getting back in the boat for our third and final river safari.
Now THIS was a tour highlight, we saw a WILD ORANGUTAN 🦧😍
Wild orangutans can be incredibly difficult to spot, they are solitary and few and far between, they move slowly so they aren’t as obvious as the monkeys, and they cover themselves in leaves to sleep in their nest so you have a limited timeframe to see them.
We saw an orangutan nest but our guide said the orangutan would’ve just gotten inside it about ten minutes earlier, we were a bit gutted but hey, wildlife does what wildlife wants!
Then on the way back to our lodge we saw a few boats stopped on the side so we pulled over with them and tried to follow the pointer lights, my eyes aren’t good at the best of times let alone at dusk looking into a dark forest, but after ten minutes of intense staring I saw an orangutan swinging behind layers of branches!
SUCCESS, huge thing to tick off my bucket list, we were all absolutely stoked.
Back at the lodge after dinner I transferred my phone content to my laptop and started to scour those videos for photographic proof of our sighting, and I am not joking when I say it took me about four hours of looking at 15 minutes of videos, cropped to a 10x zoom, frame-by-frame, to find it. It was grainy, and you can’t tell from just a screengrab as you need to see the movement, but I promise I’m telling the truth!
Day 5: Kinabatangan River to Sepilok
We took our orangutan experience to the next level today, departing the river for the journey to Sepilok, known for its world-leading Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre.
The local wild orangutans are free to roam the reserve that the centre backs onto, but there are daily feedings (supplementary food to ensure they’re not reliant on it) as well as a nursery that houses orphaned babies and medical care/rehab for injured orangutans, so your chances of seeing one or more of these majestic creatures is high.
We went straight to the nursery and oh my gosh, what a show. A mama orangutan was teaching her baby how to climb and it was maybe the cutest thing I’ve ever seen 🥺
We also saw a mother and her baby swinging along the trees right next to the boardwalk, look at the eyelashes on the lil kiddo!
After the orangutans we went just next door to the Borneo Sun Bear Conservation Centre, a lesser-known but equally as important wildlife project that’s committed to protecting the smallest bear in the world. These cuties are classified as vulnerable, and their population is being impacted by deforestation, hunting and the wildlife trade.
Though the centre is literally across the road from their orange friends, it’s unfortunately left off the itineraries of many tours and it’s far less known and therefore gets less funding, they really, really need our tourism support to keep doing incredible work for the sun bears.
It’s included in the G Adventures Sabah tour but consider buying souvenirs to help them even more, and if you choose to travel Borneo independently then I’d highly recommend making sure the BSBCC is included in your Sabah itinerary.
The afternoon in Sepilok was free time, some people chose to go back to the orangutans for the afternoon feeding, but I joined a group to visit the Rainforest Discovery Centre, where you can wander the canopy walkway that’s been built amongst the trees.
This place was epic, the scale of the forest is pretty mind-blowing, but we decided to boost it home once the weather packed in and we realised we were standing on a giant metal conductor in the middle of a lightning storm 🌩️
Our Sepilok lodge was lush, same kind of huts as the river place we stayed but a little newer and nicer, with beautiful flowers along the boardwalk and a swimming pool.
Day 6: Sepilok to Libaran Island
Time to swap the jungle for the beach, with a quick drive from Sepilok to Sandakan and then a boat ride to Libaran Island a.k.a. Turtle Island.
We checked into our tents, they had proper beds (just singles) and fans, not fancy by any stretch but comfortable enough for one night.
Our first activity here was a village tour, where we met some locals and learnt about their weaving techniques, how they repurpose plastic trash to artwork, and how to make pandan pancakes. We met local kids who were SO cute, even though one of them called my friend ugly to her face 😂 (in Malaysian of course!) and played with tiny kittens, obsessed.
In the afternoon here you can generally snorkel or kayak, but unfortunately we visited just after a huge storm had hit Sabah and the water was too murky to see anything. A bit of a bummer, but we passed the afternoon with card games, hammock hang outs and an epic sunset that completely set the sky on fire. And more cats!
Dinner on the island was delicious, my favourite food of the trip, simple but flavourful veggies, seafood and stirfry.
We’d learnt about the island’s turtle conservation programme during our tour earlier in the day, and then we got to get involved ourselves with a baby turtle release that evening!
We took a bucket of tiny turtles down to the beach under the moonlight, where the local conservation team guided them into the ocean with their torches. What an incredible thing to witness, I hope those turtles all live a long and happy life, and maybe I’ll see them next time I’m diving in Borneo.
As if the day couldn’t get any better, the sky started to clear for the first stargazing opportunity of our trip, and we got to see the Milky Way sitting bright and beautiful over our island home.
Day 7: Libaran Island to Kota Kinabalu
Day 7 is pretty much a travel day, and the schedule is dependent on the flight times. We had a late morning flight so got to wake up at a normal hour, took the boat to the mainland and then caught the quick and easy flight back to Kota Kinabalu, where we checked back in to our first hotel.
The afternoon was free time, some people opted to explore KK’s floating mosque, shopping malls or bustling markets, some took the chance to do laundry after our time in the wild, and I just found a cafe with WiFi to get some work done. Boring, I know.
We all decided to have our final dinner together at Jesselton Point, sipping tropical cocktails and sharing the best bits of our Sabah experience.
Day 8: End of the tour
Breakfast is included on the final day, and that’s the end of the tour!
After the tour
Most of our tour group were heading home or off to their next stop once our tour was over, but I had two more Borneo adventures locked in.
First of all I had a couple of nights at Gaya Island Resort, a dreeeamy luxury island retreat just 15 minutes from KK by boat, with plenty of eco-friendly activities like coral reef restoration, a wildlife centre with guided walks, and the chance to see the turtles they’re rehabilitating to release back into the wild. Highly recommend if you want to treat yourself to a lush getaway after your outdoor adventures!
And after that I had another wildlife experience booked, but this time underwater… Spending five days on the world’s only dive rig and scuba diving at Sipadan!
I hope this detailed review of the G Adventures East Sabah Adventure tour has helped you figure out if it’s the right trip for you!
And if you have any questions about my experience on the tour, let me know in the comments. Enjoy Borneo!
MY GO-TO TRAVEL PLANNING RESOURCES
Flights ✈️ I use Skyscanner to find the best flights for my trip and then I’ll always book direct with the airline to protect myself from having to deal with dodgy third parties if anything goes wrong.
Trains 🚂 If I’m travelling through Europe, I try to travel by train wherever possible! For an extended trip (2+ weeks) I’ll calculate if a Eurail Pass is worth it, or I’ll book point-to-point tickets through RailEurope or the local train operator.
Accommodation 🛎️ I book almost all of my accommodation through booking.com, they have a user-friendly website + app and many of their options are free cancellation, easily cancelled with a simple click of a button.
Activities 🗽I use GetYourGuide, Klook and Viator to look for activities in the places I visit, or I just Google ‘things to do in [city]’! P.S. If you book anything on Klook you can use the promocode FINDINGALEXXKLOOK to get 10% off
Travel cards 💳 I’m a Wise gal through and through, they’ve been my chosen travel card for more than five years now. You can easily top up your card from your bank account or through Apple Pay, convert your money to local currency, and spend money with minimal fees and the best exchange rates around.
Travel insurance 🩺 I use Cover-More NZ travel insurance for my own trips, I have a comprehensive policy and I’ve only had good experiences with them. Cover-More also has an Australian company, but if you’re from elsewhere then two popular insurance options for global travellers are SafetyWing (cheaper policy, lower coverage) and World Nomads (more expensive but significantly better coverage).
Luggage 💼 I travel with Samsonite Cosmolite suitcases, one 75cm check in bag and a 55cm carry on bag, and I absolutely adore them and will never travel with anything else! They are SUPER lightweight (2.8kg and 1.9kg respectively) so I have much more space for my actual stuff.
Camera gear 📸 I use a iPhone 15 Pro Max for phone photos/videos, and my camera kit includes a Lumix S9 (incredible lightweight full-frame camera, a game changer for travel creators!) with a 20-60mm lens, a Lumix G9 with an 8-18mm and 12-60mm lens, a DJI Mini 3 Pro drone and a GoPro Hero 10. I do all my writing and editing on my ASUS Zenbook 14, it’s lightweight but powerful enough for photo editing and intense blogging sessions.
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