Name: Tabin Wildlife Resort
Address: KM 49, Jalan Tungku, Tabin Wildlife Reserve, SA, Malaysia, Lahad Datu, Tomanggong, Tomanggong, 91108, Malaysia
Rating: 8

Air conditioning

General

Restaurant (buffet style)

Meals

Internet access

Internet

Hiking

Recreation

Free parking

Parking

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

At the resort

Sahabat 16

Lahad Datu Airport

Tabin Wildlife Resort

Lahad Datu

We booked a long trip to Malaysian Borneo through an agency with long experience in the field, Naturalis Expeditions inc. with which we had already traveled previously, remaining very satisfied.
Unfortunately, this trip was a total disaster.
Although the Tabin rainforest is wonderful, even if it is next to an endless expanse of oil palms, the Tabin Resort is one of the poorest, worst organised, dirty, unsafe and decaying places I have ever seen around the world (I have over 20 years of experience in nature travel).
I attach some photos of our room only. Without commenting on them.
The staff, although courteous, is in disarray, also because they are very young. Instead of organizing the work, management sits holed up in their air-conditioned office doing nothing. Don't trust the photos and videos they publish because it's something else entirely. The 4x4s are old and run down, dangerous, you risk falling off. There is no first aid kit (and we needed it). The food is always the same and, I believe, what is left over is reheated the next time. The exits are almost useless, at least in terms of how they are organised. The tower on Lipad volcano was closed because it was at risk of collapse. Other structures closed because unusable. Safe deposit boxes closed perhaps because other people have reported money stolen from the boxes. So you will have to bring everything with you (even your passports).
The animals are there, but there is no communication between the guides who simply take you on tours for hours without any interest in what they are doing (at least ours).
The price paid for the services is a steal.
If you come from far away, trust my experience, better to go elsewhere.
After sending several written warnings, no one ever responded to us. We contacted law firms in Malaysia to obtain compensation.

Desolation in the rainforest

A hidden simple gem, we saw some very different wildlife to other sites including a Bear cat and great views of gibbons. Guide Moui (sp?) was very knowledgeable and restaurant staff were so friendly and caring. We had the riverside chalets which suited us perfectly (we were happy not to have to climb steps up to hillside chalets).

Terrific Tabin

Tabin is located in a picturesque setting in secondary rainforest, and a beautiful, peaceful place to be. 
Whilst the chalets are basic, the resort as a whole is beautiful, and the people are exceptional. Our guide was knowledgeable, professional and fun.  We didn't see much of wildlife, but he didn't stop searching for us!
I personally found the experiences of driving in the trucks, visiting the mud volcano and waterfall, and the night walk to be great. For the bird lovers you will see a lot!  Plus an abundance of long tail macaque all over the resort.
The food was good, and the foot soak experience a very sweet addition. 

A Special Experience

We stayed at Tabin for 2 nights as part of our tour. We stayed in Hill lodge 2 which was only 20 steps from the main boardwalk. The room itself was clean and spacious, although the safety deposit box "wasnt working" so we needed to keep pur valuables on us. Shower wasnt great but was hot so that was fine. The food was OK but the portions were waaaay too big! Other guests commented about this also- wasnt a buffet! However the best part of our experience at Tabin were the staff! Our guides Earnest and Alaistair were amazing, really friendly and could spot a Civit cat in the dark from miles away! They really couldnt do enough for us and make the experiance amazing! The journey to Tabin I must say was rather bumpy and around 2 hours long! But you really are in the jungle here, we saw lots of wildlife and the treck to the mud volcano was great as was the mud facial we had in the afternoon. Wifi was free and available in the main building. 

In Nature!

Tabin Wildlife Resort is a small collection of cabins located at the end of an extremely unmade road on the edge of fairly dense jungle.A small river runs through the resort and in the morning you can step out on your balcony and watch troupes of monkeys bathe and play. The cabins are extremely well designed and blend in with their surroundings. Central open-air restaurant serves excellent local food and western alternatives. Our guide was Alastair, and he and his team were extraordinarily quick at spotting wildlife (including a tiny warbler on a night-safari that nobody else would have seen). We saw many species of birds from Hornbills to Serpent Eagles as well as Civets and a Leopard Cat. The walk into the jungle followed by swimming under a waterfall was an absolute highlight. Lovely staff, both friendly and knowledgeable, and we can't wait to return!

Extraordinary jungle experience!

The only reason why this review hasn’t had 5 stars is because we found the food was not as good as what we had been used to. The journey is very long and bumpy!
The accommodation was lovely. You are really in the jungle. 
We had riverside lodges which were great. 
Our guide Mawi was so good. He was happy to adapt our plans to whatever we wanted to do. 
We loved his knowledge of the birds and the highlight was seeing the gibbons. 
One point to mention is there are leeches. Wear leech socks and check all the time. We went on the river walk and had them on us. 
The night safari was wonderful to see fireflies 
The walk to the mud volcano was very authentic 
If you want a jungle experience then this is for you.

True jungle experience

A two night stay here in a river cabin was just amazing, absolutely back to nature.
We had Aslan as our guide and he was very caring towards us “elders”. We trekked to the mud volcano which was a very difficult trek due to the recent rain. Unfortunately when we got to the volcano there were no animals to be seen. It’s a good job the resort supplies wellies, we brought our own leech socks. We had night safari on the first evening but didn’t see much except for the leopard cat which we spied twice. We are not bird watchers so spotting a bird in the tree at a distance wasn’t our “thing” but appealed to others in the jeep.
The following day we went to Lapid waterfall but didn’t know we had to cross the river ,holding onto a rope from bank to bank to see the falls. The water by the falls was too deep for us to swim in. It was quite an experience though, and a challenge.
We had the lovely foot soak and then the heavens opened so no more safaris that day.
We mentioned to the very helpful staff that instead of a full lunch with rice, chicken, fish vegetables etc, we just wanted sandwiches. They obliged us for the next two lunches. At 3.00 each day there was tea/coffee and cakes
The resort and the guides are keen for feedback. I suggested making a short video of the trek to the mud volcano and the river crossing for the falls. This might allow guest to decide if their fitness level allows them to do these activities.
The staff, guide , food and rooms were very good, just need more communication as to what the activities entail

Great experience brilliant surrounding

Wow…. We had a rivers side lodge it was lovely, the staff are very friendly, the resort is very well run and looked after the activities are really good the feet soaking after trekking was nice, the highlight was the swim by the waterfall, the trekking was good, the night and dusk drives are also good our guide Rafel was amazing he really looked after us.

Amazing 2 nights stay

We stayed for two nights in a hill lodge which was located at mid tier level which at c 50 steps up was manageable for us. Some of the other hill lodges were much higher and would be a struggle for those less fit or with limited mobility.

Our room and bed were clean and comfortable. We were aware that other guests staying in River Lodges  (closer to the dining room) complained to us about sewage smells emanating from the vents opposite their lodges.

Food was average and buffet style and we did not like the scramble when the food appeared. Don’t expect a la carte dining and the bar has a very limited stock of drinks.

The staff were extremely friendly and helpful and went out of their way to please. We had an early morning departure (before breakfast) but they still brought up a cooked breakfast of fried eggs, chicken nuggets and baked beans without us asking for it! The staff are also keen to learn and embrace feedback as they try and improve their offer.

The guided activities were mixed. 4x4 vehicles were used (seating 8 guests + guide) whoever was unfortunate to be sat in the middle seat were left with nothing to hold on to for a bumpy ride which was not comfortable - those seated at the rear were inhaling diesel fumes for large parts of the trips.

Speaking with other guests it was apparent that the quality of individual guides was not consistent as two different tour groups on the same trip had very different experiences.  Wellington boots were provided (free) for walks in the jungle.  

A small but well stocked shop was available to purchase leech socks, insect repellent and gift items.

Room for improvement

We had an absolutely fantastic time at Tabin! Our guide Aslan was very knowledgeable and brilliant with our 9yo daughter. The resort is basic but clean and food was simple but good,   3 of the 5 of us are vegetarian and they made sure we had an extra veggie option. 

A few things to note;  most of the 1.5 hour journey from Lahad datu to Tabin is on rough plantation tracks  They recommend wellies for most of the walks … if you are taking anyone with particularly small feet (our daughter has uk size 11 kids size) it’s worth considering taking your own! Finally although I’ve seen some places promote Tabin as luxury it’s jungle luxury (hot showers and air con).

We had such a brilliant time! Aslan suggested slight amendments to our package to suit us and what we were interested in -  highlights included seeing a male orangutan, watching a family of gibbons up close, swimming in the waterfall spotting 6/8 species of hornbills and seeing a pair of Bornean falconers!

Tabin Wildlife Resort

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