Kota Kinabalu Trip 2009 – Day 2 (Manukan Island)

Posted by azuan on Apr 11, 2009 in :: All Posts ::, Adventure, Featured Articles, FOOD, TRAVEL | 15 comments

After a full and exciting first day (see here for Day 1 Report), the group including myself was tired but satisfied. The 2nd day starts early for us as we had planned to explore the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park. The marine park is a cluster of islands comprising Pulau Gaya, Pulau Sapi, Pulau Manukan, Pulau Mamutik and Pulau Sulug, all only 10 – 20 minute speedboat ride from the city of Kota Kinabalu. The five islands of the Marine Park are characterized by shallow waters, sumptuous coral gardens and all boast splendid white sandy beaches (Source: SabahTourism.com). Due to limited time, we decided to focus only on Manukan Island.

We were at luck as one of the taxi drivers we took knew a person that run a tour operator business. We were planning to just take the hourly boat from the KK terminal but upon knowing the tour operator we opted for boat transfer from Sutera Harbour. At RM50 for return (both-ways) boat ride and jetty fees, it’s more expensive (usually RM23++) but definitely less crowded, no waiting and we got the boat all to ourselves and a tour guide that will be with us for the whole day.

Our ‘chef-de-mission’ making arrangements.

All excited.

Check out the yacht at Sutera Harbour, definitely for the rich and famous….

The Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park is accessible via 15 – 20 minutes speedboat ride from Kota Kinabalu. It was a fun ride!

The moment I saw the Island, I was amazed with this God’s creation. Beautiful indeed.

Once we were on the jetty, you can see everyone smiling and looking around with lot’s of “Wow!” can be heard.

Crystal clear water…

Excellent view.

The beach stretch at Manukan got crowded as more people arrive around 11 onwards. Luckily we were early and managed to get a good spot. Basically if you’re there for swimming only, get to the island as early as possible to avoid crowd. But there are designated areas for snorkeling, so if you have the equipment (can be rented), there are ample space for everyone!

Initially I do not want to do snorkeling, but I immediately changed my mind the moment I saw the clear water.

“Sekiranya berlaku kecemasan, tarik di sebelah kiri untuk menggelembungkan jaket anda. ”

All set, of course i purposely put my nose out to breathe…not my best look!!

Jiji and I snorkeled together since I can’t see far without my glasses.

Me and Jiji in action, swimming and feeding the fish. It’s an unexplainable feeling when all the colourful and never seen before school of fish came to get the food off my hand right in front of my goggles. God is Great!

The fun was not all smile. 5 minutes into the water, I felt something on my wrist. Suddenly I was in pain. A stinging sensation kind of pain. I got off the water and talked to my tour guide who brought me to the lifeguard stand who literally poured 2 bottles of vinegar.

It was a minor jellyfish–kind of sea creature that got my hand. It took me 2 days before the pain was totally gone but it was never an alarming thing. Just a bit of ‘panic-attack’ on my side.

Still I was one happy men to be able to swim with Nemo

There are many other activities that can be done in Manukan. Sports like parasailing, jet ski, snorkeling, swimming, picnicking,, sun-bathing, and sand activities for kids. My favorite activity after snorkeling is of course “human appreciation”. I even spotted a Malay celebrity female famous for acting in a few tv series wearing a 2-piece!

The children enjoying the clean beach.

I love Manukan Island!

and after 5 hours, we left Manukan and return back to KK

After a tiring time in Manukan Island, Jiji and I went out for late lunch and last minute shopping at the Pasar Filipina and Warisan square. Just some window shopping looking for normal tourist staff and looking at the consumer behavior in Sabah’s market.

We stopped by at the wet market selling seafood, vege and stuff next to the craft market. Since everyone were still crazy about seafood, one of Jiji’s colleagues suggested for us to utilize the fresh and cheap seafood along with the kitchen facilities in apartment to cook our own dinner.

A great idea indeed so everyone went to buy stuff which was super cheap and fresh.

But something that hit me, seeing so many kids ‘working’ at night. Yes they might be helping their family, but it still touched me when I see these kids working till late night doing hard labor I myself find challenging like lifting cartons, pushing carts etc.

As the night came, we were ready for our dinner cooking session.

So fresh that you have to chase it, knock it before you can cook it.

This cost 20% from the price in KL

Yummy.

and 40 minutes later. As good as in the restaurant. With of course half the price.

and we had a nice long dinner, chatting about the whole experience and already talking about possibility of coming again to explore the national parks, and did I hear someone planning to conquer Kinabalu in 2 years time?

Yes, I made the pledge! 2-years for me maximum to prepare myself to conquer the peak.