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An environmental education centre situated within the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve. Its primary function is to create public awareness and appreciation of the importance of conserving forests, as well as the sustainable use of forest resources. RDC has a 347 m-long canopy walkway strung between huge towers that allows great views of the forest canopy and is also good for bird-watchers.
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Established in 1964, its purpose is to rescue orphaned and abandoned juvenile orangutans and teach them to fend for themselves. The best time to visit is at feeding times, 10AM and 3PM (they advise you to arrive 15 minutes early), when orangutans and monkeys such as the long-tailed macaques are likely to appear for the bananas and sugar cane. Feeding times may be delayed due to rain.
An informative video about the work of the centre is played at 9AM and after the morning feeding. Within the reserve, the visitor is restricted to the boardwalks leading to the feeding area and outdoor nursery (the best place to watch young orangutan if they’re there, as they exercise / play on the ropes and with each other). Visitors can only bring cameras into the reserve. Bags, water, and food must be left in the free lockers near the entrance. You can buy drinks and souvenirs from the outdoor nursery. There is an average cafe outside the reserve by the car park. As the centre is in a rainforest, you may want to apply insect repellent before you go in, but you can’t put on any inside. Keep an eye out for signs of rain. There is no shelter at the feeding area, but the nearby outdoor nursery viewing room has a roof and air conditioning.
Expect that morning feeding time will be crowded with tour buses full of travelers from Kota Kinabalu, all keenly jostling for that perfect photo. For those with the luxury of time, the afternoon has the added delight of likely seeing a larger number of the animals in a more personal, peaceful atmosphere.
Each ticket is valid all day, so you could arrive for the 9AM video, see the morning feeding, visit the sun bear centre next door, have lunch nearby, and return for the afternoon feeding.
The only sun bear sanctuary in the world with about 40 bears living there. Divided into several separated areas so child bears can live apart from the adult ones (as older ones often bully younger), as well as to separate adults that try to fight each other. Bears tend to hide in the shade during the heat hours and start being very active once sun is not very high or hidden by the clouds, so it's better to get there not on a very hot day or in the morning. Centre itself is not very big, 30-40 minutes will be enough to see everything inside.
A local recreation park popular among locals, to fish, paddle boats and feed local species of deer and crocodiles in their individual sanctuaries in the park.