Arriving at Kota Kinabalu

Introduction

We kick started our Sabah road trip hopping across 3 of the 5 islands that make up the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, located a short distance offshore from Kota Kinabalu. Besides snorkeling, all of us parasailed for the first time. Scouting online, prices seems to range pretty wildly, but we eventually found a good deal, and engaged En Wahab (contact below) to arrange the activities. For the 2 nights in KK, we booked ourselves into a new service apartment, Jesselton Quay CityPads just 5mins walk from the Jesselton Point. It is also a mere 10mins walk from the weekend Tamu held along Gaya St. 

Flying MAS: Penang -> KLIA -> Kota Kinabalu

We were all excited and left the house slightly earlier than planned. As we were flying MAS (as oppposed to a low cost alternative), we were more relaxed in our packing, and ended up with 3 luggages. Girls were also finally allowed to open the new books their Aunt (thanks Siew Ku-Ku) bought them earlier, to bring along for the trip.

We had a 3+ hour layover at KLIA. We took the KLIA Transit over to KLIA2 (tip: purchase your ticket online to enjoy a 10% discount of the regular price of RM2/adult, RM1/child. You can also take the KLIA Ekpress, whichever comes first), and chilled in the lounge over there. There are no Plaza Premium Lounge for domestic travellers at KLIA (tip: check to see which credit card allows domestic lounge access. You can use different cards with your boarding pass to bring in family members).

Long queue at the Kota Kinabalu immigration when we arrived. Girls wondered why we were still required to clear immigration even though we are still within Malaysia (tip: bring your passport and you will not need to fill up an arrival card. You can still enter with IC, but you will be required to fill up an arrival card). 

Kota Kinabalu At Last

It has been more than 10 years since the last time I set foot in Kota Kinabalu (last time here was to climb Mount Kinabalu). During the drive from the airport to Jesselton Quay CityPads apartment where we would be staying for the next 2 nights, there were many many new buildings that I don’t recall seeing the last time over. Good to see that the new buildings did not block the view of the coastline as we drove into the city, and views were still stunning. We checked in, dropped our luggage and headed out for dinner.

Dinner was at Little Sulap, a quaint restaurant nestled at the bottom of the stairs up to Signal Hill. Stairs were closed for maintenance, so plans to hike up had to be abandoned. We sampled some local Sabah food including Tuhau (pickle), Klupis (steamed rice with peanut dipping), Batod (sago worm), etc. 

Weekend Tamu at Gaya Street

Since I was up early, I walked over to the weekend Tamu (only on Sunday from 7am – 2pm) at Gaya Street. Lots of odd and ends on display, including plants, pets, fruits, food, craft, etc. Didn’t have too much time to meander and browse all the stalls, but was still able to sample/stop at some. (1) At one end of Gaya Street; (2) assortment of kuih muih including pecal, tapai, kalupis, pulut; (3) a beat up ice cream truck; (4) different type of avocado plants with fancy names like butter king, pumpkin, bacon, Miki, etc; (5) couldn’t resist getting a couple of rice dumplings; (6) colorful budgie for sale; (7) not white, not red but pink dragon fruit; (8) local coffee beans from across Sabah including Tenom, Tawau & Ranau; (9) handpainted fridge magnets; (10) sampled and purchased lihing (sweet rice wine, roughly 10-15% ABV) & montoku (above 40% ABV), Sabah’s equivalent of Tuak and Langkau which is available in Sarawak.  

Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park

Hauled breakfast back to the apartment to wake everyone up, as we were to meet En Wahab, at 830am for our day trip to Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park. Jesselton Point is just 5 mins walk away from the apartment. There are many many operators operating at the jetty, and though it seems that the price has been standardize, please ensure you negotiate as the actual price ranges (read below for what we paid). 

4 of the 5 islands are just a short boat 5-10 mins boat ride away. Pulau Manukan was the busiest of the islands we visited, and it is the primary island for sea activities like parasailing, banana boat ride, jetski, sea walks, etc. Honestly, unless you are doing one of the above mentioned activities I would recommend skipping Pulau Manukan as it is usually crowded, and snorkeling was not that fantastic. I will be combining a video taken while snorkeling at the 3 islands

Pulau Manukan

We booked ourselves parasailing, and we certainly had a memorable time soaring up in the air. Ann summed it up really well “I’m scared but I love this and want to do this again!” 

Pulau Mamutik

The next island we went to was Pulau Mamutik. There were less people here and there were better snorkeling sights here. 1 thing I remember was coconut being ridiculous sold for RM15!

Pulau Sapi

By 2pm, it was time to head to our 3rd and last island of the day, Pulau Sapi. Pulau Sapi has the best snorkeling points in my opinion, and also was relatively quiet compared to the earlier 2 islands. 

We boarded one of the last boat back to Kota Kinabalu. It was hilarious seeing the operators chasing the stragglers to board the boat with threats of them needing to swim back to town if they don’t hurry it up.  

Snorkeling

Here’s a short video comparing what we saw snorkeling at the 3 islands. Our favorite was Pulau Sapi, followed by Pulau Mamutik and finally Pulau Manukan.

Seafood Dinner

Back to the apartment for a short rest before heading out for dinner.

We headed over to Welcome Seafood and enjoyed some delicious seafood after a day out in the sun. Dishes were prepared ala Chinese style and seems pretty popular amongst tourist. Price was comparative to what we get in Penang (ie higher than local prices) but it was worth the money. 

Before we realized it, it was already time to call it a night, as we will be collecting our car and will be heading inland to Kundasang for a whole different set of adventure and experience.  

TLDR  

Places of Interest

• Sunday Morning Tamu @ Gaya Street = morning market selling odd and ends. Local food (kuih, lihing, chang, milk coffee… ), plants, fruits, crafts, etc.  
• Borneo/Local food @ Little Sulap = good place to sample Sabahan cuisine 
• Seafood @ Welcome Seafood = Chinese styled cooking, a little pricier than the stalls at Todak/Waterfront but of higher quality and better tasting too. 
• Jesselton island hopping = Manukan Island (more for activities, can skip); Mamutik Island; Sapi Island (best place to snorkel).
  • Contact = En Wahab (+60102428661), who is part of Classic Hallmark tour operator. Our only complaint was the short flight parasailing time, where we airborne for only 5 mins of the promised 10mins. 
  • Cost = 3 islands RM55/adult, RM50/child, including snorkeling equipment rental, terminal, admin, insurance and conservation fee. Parasailing 10mins tandem flight 60/pax. 

Lodging

Jesselton Quay CityPads Tower 1 (nearest to the jetty), booked via Agoda. Airbnb had cleaning fees making it more expensive! Very convenient with 24hours laundry & convenience store located on the ground floor (ie Orange, a 7-11 equivalent).

Misc Tips

• Bring some snacks and water as they are costly over on the islands. Also bring along a couple loaf of bread to feed (and attract) the greedy fishes at the islands. Trust me, you will never have enough of bread! 
• Skip Manukan, and hop max of 2 islands. 
• Asia Ride seems to be cheaper but wait time is longer when compared against Grab 
• Though QR code was prevalent but some only supported direct bank transfer (ie payment via MAE) vs other e-wallets (ie TnG, Grabpay, etc).  
• Sun rises and sets earlier vs peninsula, roughly an hour earlier. Plan your day with this in mind.