Borneo Holidays | begin your dreams

Don’t just visit Sabah, Malaysian Borneo | #sendit

Welcome to Borneo Dream | Your gateway to your next amazing Borneo holiday.

Come and join us for your Borneo Holidays and experience Asia’s third-largest island. Borneo is politically divided into three Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. 73% of Borneo is Indonesia leaving 26% for the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. Brunei only represents just 1% of Borneo. Borneo also has three times the landmass of the United Kingdom. Being such a vast land, it is home to amazing wildlife, cultures and activities. Join us, and let’s make your holiday in Borneo fantastic.

Who we are | Borneo Dream Travel & Tours have been in operation Since 2007. We have been specialising in offering the best Borneo Holidays. Based in Sabah, we possibly can. As a fully legal and licensed entity in Sabah, Malaysia, you can be assured. We only offer you the best of what Sabah has to offer.

What do you suggest for my Borneo holidays?

Scuba diving | Borneo Holidays

#1 Scuba Diving Trips & Courses

Whether you want to learn to dive, expand your knowledge with further PADI Courses or simply want to enjoy some quality fun dives – Then look no further than Borneo Dream.

Snorkelling Tour | Borneo Holidays

#2 Snorkelling Tours

There is no better way to experience and explore the five islands in front of Kota Kinabalu than with a Guided Snorkelling Day Trip, whether you are on your own, with a friend or as a family.

Orangutan, Wildlife | Borneo Holidays

#3 Jungles & wildlife adventures

The jungles and wildlife Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, has to offer are simply amazing. Join us on a Kinabatangan River adventure or combine it with Turtle Island, Sepilok or Labuk Bay.

Climb Mount Kinabalu with Borneo Dream | Borneo Holidays

#4 climb mount Kinabalu

Push yourself with an amazing 2 or 3-day trip climbing Mount Kinabalu. It is the 2nd highest peak in South East Asia at 4096m tall. Discover amazing views and wildlife on your journey to the summit.

Borneo – Land below the wind | Adventures above and below

On land adventures

The wildlife in Borneo, and in particular, the northern Malaysian state of Sabah, has always been thought of as being some of the best in the world. Whether you are looking for small insects or birdlife, such venues as Danum Valley and the Kinabatangan River will be very high on your list. Looking for something larger? Well, both Danum Valley and Kinabatangan will generally not disappoint if you are looking for Bornean Elephants. These wondrous creatures are smaller than their African brothers and tend to only live for about 55 to 65 years. Those wishing to site a Borneo or Sumatran Rhino are unfortunately out of luck as, according to records (November 2019) there is none in the Malaysian states, only in Indonesia. On a brighter note, Sabah has a very successful breeding and conservation program looking after the Man of the Forest – the Orangutan. These can be seen on river cruises along the Kinabatangan River or on a visit to Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre.

Other wildlife swinging and climbing marvels to see are Proboscis monkeys, Silver Leaf Monkeys and long-tail Macaque. I’m still amazed at the beauty of the many types of Hornbills seen nesting and flying over areas such as the Kinabatangan River during one of the amazing river cruises. The wildlife to see and experience in Sabah – Malaysian Borneo is vast, and we could keep going on and on. The best thing is to come and let us show you the amazing Sabah.

Test yourself and climb mount Kinabalu with Borneo Dream | Borneo Holidays

Climb Mount Kinabalu | Believe in yourself

On land adventure, but with action | Borneo Holidays

Well, starting at the top and with the possibility of early morning views to die for is Climb Mount Kinabalu. Mount Kinabalu is 4095m above sea level and was last height surveyed in 1997. It is the 20th most prominent mount in the World. The 2nd highest mount in the area is Mount Trus Madi which is also very much worth a climb and preferred by some.

Mount Kinabalu is perched in the Crocker Range ‘the Malay Archipelago’ and its surroundings are among the most important biological sites in the world, with between 5,000 and 6,000 species of plants, 326 species of birds, and more than 100 mammalian species identified. Among this rich collection of wildlife are famous species such as the gigantic Rafflesia plants and orangutans. Mount Kinabalu has been accorded UNESCO World Heritage status.

Other things to consider, but you may not stay completely dry. We have some great white water rafting from family-friendly such as Kiulu White Water Rafting to hold on to your pants and Padas White Water Rafting. The Kiulu trip can be combined with Mountain Biking, Jungle Trekking and a visit to Mari Mari Cultural Village to see and understand the people and customs of Borneo. Please feel free to explore our website or take a look at Things to do in and around Kota Kinabalu. Basically, there is so much to do that you might as well come for a month! Have you considered a round of golf on one of Sabah’s PGA courses? Maybe a cookery class, or would you like to trek through the foothills or explore Kinabalu Park? Perhaps just relax 🙂

Visit the jungles of Borneo with Borneo Dream | Borneo Holidays

VISIT THE Jungles of Sabah | Borneo Holidays

Above and below the surface

Well, when I say on the water, some of the activities may be below the surface. Borneo, to be more accurate – The coral reefs around Sabah form part of the Coral Triangle and are recognised as some of the most important marine sites on Earth. It has some of the most diverse marine species you can find anywhere with some 500 different types of reef-building corals. The Coral Triangle (CT) covers 5.7 million square kilometres and supports 120 million people. The CT has over 3000 species of bony fish, including the world’s largest fish, the Whale Shark. And before you ask, we get a small handful of Whale Sharks passing through the waters outside Kota Kinabalu in January and February, but they are rare.

Borneo Dream is not only a licensed Tour Agent here in Sabah, but we are also a PADI 5-Star Rated Operator (s-36409) with a high reputation for delivering outstanding customer satisfaction in scuba diving days trips, courses and snorkelling tours. We are happy to deal with existing divers and offer you leisure diving/fun dives or further diver education. But we are also very happy to show non-divers the underwater world. Whether by a try-dive such as the PADI Discover Scuba Diving Experience or the World famous PADI Open Water Diver Course (3 Days). And if you are looking just to chill out and float around on the surface, why not try our Guided Snorkeling experience visiting 3 unique/different sites in one day.

Let Borneo Dream be your Guide in Sabah, Malaysia | Borneo Holidays

Scuba diving and snorkelling with Borneo Dream in Kota Kinabalu,  Malaysia | Borneo Holidays
Enjoy some beautiful scuba diving and snorkelling in Sabah, Malaysia

Considering learning to dive on your next trip? Well, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah offer all year round diving. Yes, you can pretty much get out to our impressive marine park every day of the year. The local marine park ‘Tunku Abdul Rahman‘ is just a 15 to 20 minutes boat ride from the local port of Jesselton Point Jetty. The water around the marine park offers almost perfect conditions for learning to dive. They are warm 🙂 low 20’s to as high as nearly 30C. There is no current (movement of water) to talk about. Visibility is from lows of 5m to 15m plus depending upon season and weather patterns. The bays and beaches where start your training are protected, shallow and buoyed off to prevent unwanted boat traffic. Basically, Learning to Dive or taking your PADI Open Water Diver Course in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, will be a very safe and enjoyable experience.

Still have some questions about your Borneo holiday?

  • What is Borneo known for?

    Borneo is the third-largest island in the World and is known for a range of things that help make it a special place to visit, and on the bucket list for many travellers. From it’s an amazing range of wildlife including the Bornean Orangutan, it’s ancient rainforests (some of the oldest in the World), world-class diving at Sipadan through to the highest peak in South East Asia – Mount Kinabalu. Borneo is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, being home to an estimated 15,000 different plant species including the World’s largest flower – the Rafflesia. Borneo is also famous for its rich culture and is home to > 200 tribes each with their own traditions, dialect, dishes, type of home they live in etc. The most famous tribe from Borneo are the headhunters (Murut tribe). 

  • Is Sabah a country?

    Sabah is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo. Borneo is home to four political regions: Kalimantan belongs to Indonesia, Sabah and Sarawak are part of Malaysia (often referred to as Malaysian Borneo), and the sultanate of Brunei.

  • Can you fly direct to Borneo?

    To fly to Sabah, Borneo you need to fly to one of three airports – Kota Kinabalu airport (BKI) the main gateway to Sabah, Sandakan airport (SDK) on the east coast and Tawau airport (TWU) on the south coast. Which airport you fly in to/out of depends upon your itinerary and your flight route to Sabah. There are currently direct flights to an airport in Sabah from a range of airports in South East Asia with most direct routes being via Kuala Lumpur, Singapore or Hong Kong. More recently you can fly direct to Kota Kinabalu (BKI) from South Korea, certain cities in China, Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines. For other parts of Borneo, you can fly to Sarawak’s Kuching airport and Brunei’s Bandar Seri Begawan airport.

  • What language is spoken in Sabah, Borneo?

    Bahasa Malaysia (Malay) is the official language spoken in Sabah. Other widely spoken languages include a range of Chinese dialects (such as Mandarin), Tamil and English. All the indigenous tribes also speak their own language – in Sabah the indigenous people speak Dusun and Kadazan, Bajau, Murut, Lun, Bruneian, Rungus, Bisaya, Iranun, Bawang, Sungai, Suluk, and Sama. For travellers visiting Sabah, you will find English is fairly widely spoken and understood in most areas you would visit, although if you tried to speak a few words in Malay it would go down a treat.

  • Which currency is used in Sabah?

    The Malaysian Ringgit is the currency of Malaysia. The currency code for Ringgit is MYR and the currency symbol is RM. We will quote all our prices using RM.

  • Is Malaysian Borneo expensive?

    Borneo may not be as cheap as some other countries in South East Asia, however, you can still have an affordable holiday here and experience some of the best Sabah has to offer. There are activities and accommodation for those on a budget, as well as more luxurious options for those wanting the 5* experience. The same goes for eating out you can eat very cheaply at a local cafe or food court, or you can choose to eat in a more expensive restaurant catering for the tourists coming here. Sabah, Borneo can be as cheap or as expensive as you want to make it means it is still a travel destination most can consider visiting.

  • Is it safe to go to Sabah?

    Sabah in general is a safe place to visit. There were over 4 million visitors to Sabah in 2019 and the vast majority of these visitors enjoyed trips to Sabah without incident.

    In recent years Sabah has put in place enforced security practices, via ESSCOM, to ensure Sabah remains a safe location to visit – these are focused on the south of Sabah (Semporna area) and the islands off the south and east coast of Sabah including those located near Sipadan. You can read the latest Travel Advice from Sabah Tourism.

    At Borneo Dream, we put our customer’s safety first. We ensure a safe environment is offered to our customers during their holiday in Sabah – whether it be suggesting restaurants to our customers, visiting the Kinabatangan River, white water rafting along Padas Gorge through to trekking in the jungle. We still suggest our customers take extra care if they go off exploring independently – this is the same for most other safe countries you could visit in the world.

    We do recommend you also read your country’s FCO Travel Advice for Sabah (Malaysia). You can also email the Borneo Dream Team with any questions or concerns you may have about visiting a specific location in Sabah and we’ll provide honestly informed feedback.

  • Will we still go diving or snorkelling if it is raining?

    The quick answer is “yes”. The longer answer for why rain does not ‘stop play’ when scuba diving or snorkeling in the tropical waters of Sabah:-

    • It is still safe to snorkel and dive when it’s raining.
    • You get wet in the sea when snorkelling or diving, you are not going to get any wetter if it rains.
    • You won’t get cold if it rains as the sea temperature, for most of the year, is a toasty 28C – 30C and even the rain is warm. Nice! We also provide all our divers and snorkelling customers with 3mm tropical wet suits for thermal protection.
    • The marine life doesn’t care if it rains and will still be there to see as you enjoy your scuba diving or snorkelling activity.
  • What will the weather be like when we are on holiday in Sabah / on my trip?

    Sabah has two seasons – The ‘Dry Season’ and the ‘Wet Season’. However, during the whole year we have a fairly constant temperature and humidity level – Sabah has a tropical hot and very humid climate. Most days normally start off with blue sky, sunshine and a calm breeze. Most days throughout the year we have a chance of rain typically later in the day, evening or night time – this is due to clouds building up during the day on the Crocker mountain range which rolls down into Kota Kinabalu normally during afternoon or evening.

    Online weather reports for Sabah will always say there is a chance of rain or thunderstorms every day in Sabah. This is true I that later each day we could get some tropical rain. But no-one can predict accurately what exactly the weather will the next day, the next week or the next month. All we’d say is don’t let weather reports rule what activities you choose to join. As long as you come on holiday prepared for a hot, humid and sometimes wet tropical climate you will have a great time!

    Find to more about Sabah, and Sabah’s climate, on Sabah Bah web site

  • Is it safe to visit Sabah, Malaysian Borneo?

    At Borneo Dream, we put our customer’s safety first. We have been operating in Sabah, Borneo since 2007 and all of our customers have experienced safe, enjoyable holidays. We ensure a safe environment is offered to our customers – whether it be suggesting restaurants to our customers to eat at in Kota Kinabalu, staying at a lodge along the Kinabatangan River, white water rafting along Padas Gorge or staying at an Island Resort. There are a small number of areas we suggest our customers take extra care if they go off exploring independently – this is the same as most other safe countries to visit in the world.

    Sabah itself has put in place enforced security practices over recent years to ensure Sabah remains a safe location to visit – these are focused on the south of Sabah (Semporna area) and the islands off the south and east coast of Sabah including those located near Sipadan. You can read the latest Travel Advice from Sabah Tourism

    We do recommend you also read your country’s FCO Travel Advice for Sabah (Malaysia). You can also email the Borneo Dream Team with any questions or concerns you may have about visiting a specific location in Sabah and we’ll provide honestly informed feedback.

  • Should I take malaria tablets for my Borneo holiday?

    Borneo typically as a whole is classified as a ‘high risk’ area for malaria. In reality, there will be areas in Borneo that are higher risk – like inner rainforests and rural areas – and areas in Borneo that are a lower risk which typically includes most of the places tourists visit in Sabah e.g. Kota Kinabalu, Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary etc. We would always recommend you seek your Doctors advice on what medical precautions you should take when coming on holiday to Sabah, Borneo. It then comes down to the level of risk you want to take when coming on holiday regarding your health.

  • Can I book when we arrive in Kota Kinabalu?

    You can choose to wait until you arrive in Kota Kinabalu to book your trips. However, we’d always recommend you book your tours in advance if you are travelling to Sabah during a peak period, joining a specific tour really matters to you or you have limited time in Sabah (so little flexibility to join a tour on other dates).

    All the trips/packages we arrange for our customers in Sabah will be subject to availability. Some tours do tend to get fully booked in advance throughout the year as there is limited capacity and they are very popular e.g. Turtle Island, Resorts near Sipadan and climbing Mount Kinabalu. During peak periods in Sabah other tours/activities can also get fully booked e.g. Kinabatangan River packages and our own diving and snorkeling trips.

  • Which currency is used in Sabah, Borneo? What is the difference between MYR and RM?

    The Malaysian Ringgit is the currency of Malaysia. The currency code for Ringgit is MYR and the currency symbol is RM. We will quote all our prices using RM.

  • Can you look after my child/children while I join an activity?

    We help many families come on holiday to Borneo and organise tours that the full family can enjoy together. During activities, our guides and PADI Professionals are there to provide advice, tuition and supervise the activities they are running. We do not employ qualified childminders. As a parent, you are responsible for the child or children in your care and are required to supervise and be with them during all activities. This is for your child’s safety and protection, as well as helping you enjoy your time together as a family.

  • Best time to go to Borneo to see Orangutans?

    During the period of March to October is the best time to visit Borneo and see the Orangutans. This is when the weather is at its hottest but more importantly driest. The daily air temperatures range from 27°C to 32°C with humidity hitting 80% often. Orangutans can be sited at Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre or on one of our many Kinabatangan River cruises.

  • What is the weather like in Borneo?

    Borneo is a tropical destination located approximately 6 degrees north of the equator. Let’s look at three destinations located in Sabah. Sabah is the northern Malaysian State of Borneo. On the west coast of Sabah is its capital Kota Kinabalu, and on the east coast, we have Sandakan. They are approximately 180 km apart. 125 km South of Sandakan is Danum Valley.

    Kota Kinabalu – The rainfall of 85 to 317mm per month, with the wettest months being September to January. Temperatures are pretty steady at 31°C to 32°C.

    Sandakan – The rainfall of 120 to 450mm per month, with the wettest months being August to February. Temperatures are pretty steady at 29°C to 33°C.

    Danum Valley – The rainfall of 165 to 220mm per month, with the wettest months being October to January. Temperatures are pretty steady at 27°C to 29°C.

Hopefully, that has answered most of your questions, if not, we are happy to discuss them with you. Please contact us today by either email or WhatsApp +60178118149

So much to offer | Your Borneo Holiday

Whether you are coming on holiday to Borneo with your family, for your honeymoon, with friends, arranging a company event or travelling on your own. We can help create your perfect Borneo Dream trip. We also are experts in Sabah in arranging school overseas expeditions and school field trips. Just click on ‘Sabah Tours’ above to find out more about all the tours and packages we can help arrange. We hope you enjoy using our online Shop to help you easily discover more about Borneo Dream’s courses, tours and experiences. And why you should choose us to help you arrange your dream holiday in Sabah, Malaysia.

Visit Kota Kinabalu on your Borneo Holidays

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

The people we follow | The ones we trust | Those who believe in us | Bodies that govern

The people we follow, the ones we trust, those who believe in us and the bodies that govern | Borneo Holidays
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