Bilit village sits on the lower Kinabatangan, about two hours inland from the coast and two hours from Sandakan airport. Most guests fly to Sandakan and start their tour from there but it is worth knowing the alternatives in case they fit better with your plans.
Bilit or Sukau? Same river, same wildlife
If you have been researching this trip you have probably seen Sukau far more often than Bilit. Sukau is the larger and better known of the two villages, and for years it was the default base for a Kinabatangan river safari, so most search results, guidebooks and older tour listings still point there.
They are neighbours. Bilit and Sukau sit on the same stretch of the lower Kinabatangan, a short drive apart on the same road in from Sandakan, and the same boats work the water between them. The wildlife does not recognise the boundary: orang-utans, proboscis monkeys, pygmy elephants and all eight Bornean hornbills move through both. Our afternoon cruises run downriver as far as Sukau village and upriver to Bukit Batangan.
The practical difference is traffic. Sukau has more lodges and more boats on the water at peak hours. Bilit is the quieter end of the same corridor. So if you have been comparing Sukau accommodation, you are looking at the right piece of river, and Hornbill Lodge is simply the next village upriver.
The standard route: fly to Sandakan
Nearly all of our guests do this, and it is the option we recommend unless you have a reason not to.
- Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan is a 40-minute flight, with several departures a day. Kuala Lumpur to Sandakan is around two and a half hours direct.
- Sandakan airport to Bilit is roughly two hours by road, on sealed highway most of the way with a short stretch of gravel road at the end.
Scheduled transfers run daily and are included in our packages. The first decision to make is whether you want to join a guided tour of Sepilok sanctuaries with us or not. If the answer is yes, then you either need to fly in before 8am (there is one flight from Kota Kinabalu that allows you to do this), or arrive the day before and stay a night in Sandakan or Sepilok first. If you want to skip the sanctuaries or visit them independently, then your pick up will be around midday.
Unless you are on a tight schedule, the best option is always to arrive one day before your tour starts to avoid stress and last-minute taxi arrangements if your flight is cancelled or delayed.
Coming from the other direction
From Lahad Datu
About two hours by road, making it easy to combine a trip to Hornbill Lodge with Danum Valley or Tabin Wildlife Reserve, both of which are reached through Lahad Datu. You can do these places in either order, but if you want to visit Sepilok sanctuaries with us, then this is the best order:
Sepilok sanctuaries (morning visit) > arrive at the Kinabatangan for the afternoon cruise > continue to Lahad Datu (Tabin Wildlife Reserve or Danum Valley) after check-out.
From Semporna
Around four and a half hours. This is the connection for people combining Sipadan or Mabul diving with wildlife. It is a long day in a van, but as long as you leave Semporna by 11am you can arrive in time for the afternoon cruise at 4pm.
If you are taking the public bus, it leaves from Semporna at 7.30am and will drop you at Kota Kinabatangan between 12.30 – 1pm. You will then need to wait an hour or so until our transfer vehicle passes through Kota Kinabatangan (approx 2pm) and whisks you away to Hornbill Lodge.
Overland from Kota Kinabalu
You can skip the flight entirely and join River Junkie’s West to East Shuttle with stops at Mount Kinabalu, Poring hot springs and Sabah Tea Plantation along the way. The West to East Shuttle allows you to hop off and hop on again the following day, or to complete the journey in one day. A night in Poring hot springs is highly recommended.
Public buses also run between Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan. With either of these options, you will need to stay one night in Sepilok or Sandakan before transferring to the lodge with us the following day.
Where the road actually goes
One thing worth preparing for, because it surprises people and is the subject of a lot of online argument: the last hour of the drive runs through oil palm.
The lower Kinabatangan is a wildlife corridor, not an unbroken wilderness. The forest survives as a strip along the river, and beyond it is plantation. You will see that from the van window before you see any of the forest, and it can be a deflating first impression. Then you get on a boat, the banks close in, and within twenty minutes you are watching proboscis monkeys.
Both things are true at once, and we would rather you knew before you arrived. The concentration of wildlife along this river is partly a consequence of how little habitat is left elsewhere. It is also why the riverbank forest that remains — including the 30 acres we manage at Bilit — is worth protecting.
Arriving at the lodge
The last leg is a 10 minute bone-shaking ride on a gravel driveway, bringing you straight to our doorstep.
Worth knowing before you pack: there is no step-free access at the lodge. The rooms sit on a small hill above the restaurant, reached by covered wooden walkways and steps — the nearest rooms are 10 to 20 steps up, the furthest around 85. Our staff will assist with your bags but if you have any issues climbing steps, tell us when you book and we will place you as close to the restaurant as we can.
Leaving
Check-out transfers run back to Sepilok, Sandakan town or Sandakan airport and depart from Hornbill Lodge at 8.30am. If you are flying out the same day, we recommend a flight depart after 1pm so that a dawn cruise and breakfast still fit.
Onward transfers to Lahad Datu or Semporna can be arranged on request, but they need to be booked at the time of your reservation rather than on the morning you leave. The same goes for adding the Gomantong caves as a check-out day excursion — it runs from early afternoon through sunset, so it only works if your flight leaves Sandakan at 5.30pm or later.
