Snorkeling at Manukan Island

 

A view from the boat

30 minutes boat ride to Manukan

Enjoying the beach

I love to swim and snorkel; and the best nearest place to do this in Kota Kinabalu is in Manukan Island.  Its a short 30-minutes breezy ride boat to Manukan from Jesselton Point jetty.  This island has some good strectches of beaches on the southern coastline.  Offshore of Manukan are coral reefs, which is ideal for snorkeling, diving and swimming.

So make sure you bring along your swimming suits and snorkel to see the beautiful reefs and fishes.  On the island you can buy food from the stalls but its quite expensive so it is better to bring your own food.  Just bring along cooked food and lots of drinking water, get a good spot on the beach, and enjoy the day.

Snorkeling at Manukan is fantastic.  There's lots of marine fish and corals and if you go far offshore you can see more beautiful species of marine fish and variety of corals.  The beach is spectacular with long stretch of white sandy beach and clear waters.  Have fun, relax and enjoy the breathtaking views of Manukan island.  End of the day, tired but happy!

White Water Rafting in Padas River

Super awesome!

  
Are you an adventure seeker? If you are, come to Padas River and let's get wet with a wild fun ride rafting through the raging river of Padas.  This river is situated in the interior of South-Western part of Kota Kinabalu and it is only accessible by train.  

Beautiful scene along the way

In the train to Rayoh

The train ride was an awesome experience as you will ride an old train from the late 19th century in Borneo.  After a 2 hours train ride, we reached Rayoh Station and took another train to Pangi.  At Rayoh we had to push through the crowd as there are many passengers taking the small train.  Since it was a small train, passengers can sit on the rooftop of the train and that was a super awesome experience.  Along the way - splendid view!

The Padas White Water Rafting is basically an excursion of class III to IV river and suitable for rafters aged 12 to 55 years old.  This exhilarating excursion covers a distance of 9 kilometres and holds 7 exciting and tough rapids.  Making it more interesting is the amusing names of each rapids.  There's  Merry-Go-Round Rapid, Break Point Rapid, Scooby Doo Rapid, Cobra Rapid, Curve Rapid, Lambada Rapid and Head Hunter Rapid. All this exciting names of the rapid will give you the feel of the motion as what the name means.

The best part of this thrilling activity is that moments of your rafting are caught on camera and video.  Yes, we have to pay for it but its worth the money.  At the end of the rafting, we were exhausted, happy and hungry but all is good.

Happy faces after the rafting

This exhilarating excursion covers a distance of 30 kilometers—making it the longest rafting route in Borneo by far. Padas River has also been rated to have some of the best and safest rapids in South East Asia. It is suitable for rafters aged 12 to 55.
At the end of the journey, you’ll feel quite warrior-like for your feat in conquering the Padas rapids. Three cheers for courage!
- See more at: http://www.sabahtourism.com/destination/padas-river-white-water-rafting#sthash.q7MrijkQ.dpuf

Climbing Mount Kinabalu

Awesome view from Mount Kinabalu



Watching the sun rise

There are many places in Sabah that you should go.  One of it is to climb Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in South East Asia.  Mount Kinabalu is quite easy to conquer.  It takes 2 days and 1 night to reach the summit and you don't need any previous experience in mountain climbing.  Anyone with a reasonable level of fitness and the willpower to push through fatigue and discomfort can climb to the summit of Mt Kinabalu. It is achievable and incredibly rewarding.

Me and friends on top of Low's Peak

Climbers need to hike from the park’s headquarters (1,866m above sea level) and walk 5 to 7 hours to get to the Laban Rata rock slab (3,280m above sea level), where houses a group of mountain lodges.  Here you will stay for the night before your journey to Low's Peak begins at 2.30 a.m. After a tiring hike, climbers will sleep early and to gain energy before climbing the summit. At 2.00 a.m. everyone's up taking their meal and getting ready for the climb.  It takes 3 to 4 hours to reach the summit before sunrise.  For slow climbers like me, I always miss the sunrise but still manage to be at the top of Low's peak.

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I have climbed Mount Kinabalu seven times and reached the summit successfully.  Its an awesome experience and the view up there is worth the climb.  What you need when climbing the mountain is not so much on fitness but the will power and persistence.  So if your are thinking to climb Mount Kinabalu, don't wait, just climb it!

Pulau Tiga the Survivor Island

Pulau Tiga is one of the popular islands in Sabah.  This island is also known as Survivor Island after a hit reality tv series, 'Survivor' cast here.  It is located at Kuala Penyu, 120km from Kota Kinabalu.  Register yourself at Sabah Park office then hop on a boat and make you way to Pulau Tiga.  The boat ride takes around 45 minutes depending on the weather.

I have been to Pulau Tiga several times with family and friends.  We stayed overnight at the Sabah Park hostel (for locals only).  We snorkel, swim, cook, eat, walk on the beach and enjoyed every moment of our time on the island.

Besides its beautiful sandy beach you can also take a mud volcano bath, 1.2 kilometer away inside the forest.  Just walk and follow the trail that will lead you to the mud.  Just wear a short and dark t-shirt and dip yourself in the mud.  After the bath, mud sticks all over your body, so just relax and walk back to the beach then jump in the sea to wash all the mud off your skin.

When walking along the beach, you will find beautiful scenery, so stroll along the beach until sunset and get a breathtaking view of the sun sinking at the back of the sea.  The next morning, after a quick swim, we took our breakfast and packed our belongings before we head home.