Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan Shuttle
When I was looking at how to get to Sandakan, the cheapest option was flights. However, while looking at trips on the Kinabatangan River, I noticed that the tour company I was using offered a Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan bus called the West to East shuttle. This would pick me up in Kota Kinabalu and then drop me off anywhere in the Sepilok and Sandakan region. On the way, we would stop at several different locations. It was in essence a day trip from Kota Kinabalu, with the added bonus of dropping me off at Sandakan.
It was more expensive than just flying. However, it was also cheaper than most of the day trips to the places we would be visiting. I thought it was a great way to turn a travel day into an adventure day, and if you have the time then I would definitely recommend taking the West to East shuttle with River Junkies. The shuttle only runs one way, from Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan. However, you are able to get off at the different stops on route and continue the journey on another day if you want to spend more time at any of the locations.
How to Book
I booked directly with the company via their website, which was very simple. The minimum number of people for the shuttle to run is two, so that means as a solo traveller you might not be able to travel on the day you want. For this reason, I recommend booking in advance. The day I wanted didn’t have any bookings, but they were able to offer me either the day before or the day after. I chose to spend an extra day in Kota Kinabalu, which gave me time to do a lovely firefly and proboscis monkey tour.
Mount Kinabalu
The first stop on our Sandakan shuttle was Mount Kinabalu. We got our tickets for the national park, and then visited a viewpoint to give ourselves an excellent view of the mountain. It is absolutely stunning, and photos don’t do it justice! The drive there was also beautiful, and the landscapes were incredible. For those that are interested in climbing the mountain, the shuttle can drop you off here and you can then get picked up at a later date to continue the journey to Sandakan. One couple on our shuttle had chosen this option, so we dropped them off at their accommodation.
You don’t spend that long here: just enough time to get a few photos and pay for the entry fee to the national park area, before heading onwards to the main stop, which is Poring Hot Springs.
Poring Hot Springs
The Poring Hot Springs was the main stop on the tour, and it is absolutely huge. One of the girls in the shuttle had taken a day trip there already but was happy to return as there was so many different things to do. I didn’t have time to use the hot springs themselves, but she did and said they were very relaxing. She also told me a little about some of the plants we saw in the area which was really interesting. If I went back, I’d definitely do a guided tour there to learn more about the wildlife.
Canopy Walkway
What I was looking forward to doing was the Canopy Walkway. This was an additional 10 MYR, but it’s definitely worth it! I made my way there immediately, as I wasn’t sure how long it would take me. It took approximately 30 minutes to hike up to the start of the walkway, and the whole trail took me just over an hour. However, you could easily spend much longer if you were lucky enough to spot any interesting wildlife. I didn’t look too hard, as I knew I would see plenty at the Kinabatangan River.
If you are afraid of heights, I definitely wouldn’t recommend the walkway though! The walkways are rope and so they move as you walk, which can be quite scary. I spent most of my time on them making sure I didn’t fall, rather than enjoying the views. It’s a one-way route, so once you start you’ll need to keep going until the end. It was quite quiet when I was there, so I would always wait until I had a walkway to myself to feel a bit more secure.
Other nature areas
After I had finished the canopy trail, I made my way back down and went to the Ethnobotanical garden. This featured a range of different plants with some interesting sculptures that seemed to be inspired by Lord of the Rings. There were mini buildings that looked like hobbit houses, while my favourite sculpture was the large Entlike creature. After the garden, I visited the Rafflesia garden which is next to it. Sadly, there were no Rafflesia in bloom at that moment, but there were some interesting informational signs to learn more about them. Thanks to the signs, I was able to spot a flower bud, but it was nowhere near ready to bloom.
My final stop at Poring Hot Springs was the butterfly garden. This was delightful, with so many beautiful butterflies to see. Sadly, I had to rush through this as I was running out of time. You could easily spend ages here just watching all the butterflies. I did still manage to get a few good photos but I would have loved to capture even more of them.
Rafflesia
After visiting the hot springs, our driver mentioned that there were some rafflesia in bloom at a nearby location. He was happy to stop there for us if we were interested. I was super excited as we’d not been able to see any at the hot springs. So many souvenirs in Borneo featured the rafflesia, and so I was keen to see one in person.
The place we stopped at was a very small garden on the side of the road. They had a lot of rafflesia plants that they cultivated, with just one in bloom at that moment. It cost 30 MYR, which is a bit expensive, but I felt it was worth it for such a rare plant. This was not part of the itinerary, so don’t expect to see rafflesia if you take the Sandakan shuttle. If you’re lucky though, you might get a bonus stop too.
At the stop, the staff guided us down to the bottom of a small hill. On the way, they showed us some dead rafflesia that had bloomed recently. They don’t last very long so it was also really interesting to see the stages of decay. At the bottom, there was one large rafflesia that was in bloom. We got an excellent view from the pathway, and the trail then leads up giving you a view from above.
Sabah Tea
The final place we would be stopping at was the Sabah Tea plantation. At this point, we transferred from our Kota Kinabalu shuttle bus to the Sandakan shuttle bus. This was our lunch stop and the restaurant looked out onto the plantation with beautiful views. The food was expensive for Malaysia, but still very cheap compared to the UK, and it was delicious! There was one page with Borneo cuisine, and I ordered Bambangan Chicken from that which was very good. There are different sizes, and the small size is more than enough for one person.
As I don’t like tea, I wasn’t expecting to try any, but they had a lovely honey tea with lemon. Attached to the restaurant is a small shop where you can buy tea. I bought some as a gift for my sister as I’m not really a big tea drinker myself. After lunch, we had time to wander the grounds and enjoy the views. There was an informational board to educate visitors about the Sandakan Death Marches which occurred during World War II.
Drop off
After the tea plantation, it was back into the shuttle and time to head towards Sandakan. It then took about five hours to drive there and the shuttle dropped each passenger off at their accommodation. Although this took much longer than flying, I thought the Sandakan shuttle was a great way to see more of Sabah and would definitely recommend it. Pretty much all of us ended up napping for the drive to Sandakan as the shuttle was quite comfortable. One couple had got off at Mount Kinabalu too, which meant we had lots of space.
Does the West to East shuttle to Sandakan sound like something you would enjoy? Have you done similar trips where you start and finish in different cities? Let me know!
