Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, Sabah.

Since my previous post on my trip to Sabah, I have not been able to update more about my visit to the National Marine Park. Now that Christmas Production is over and I had completed my thesis, I have more time to blog. On the second last day in Sabah before flying back, we decided to spend some time doing islands hopping and also some snorkelling. We decided to go to Pulau Sapi and Pulau Manukan. Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park consist of 5 islands and easily accessible from Jesselton Pier, Kota Kinabalu. The trip to any of the islands should be about 20 minutes. It was a good boat ride and all of us simply enjoys the wind on our face and the smell of the sea. The weather was good and the sun was shining brightly as we were leaving the pier. We can customised our trip to the island when we buy the ticket at the pier. All the prices were the same and you just choose the operators you prefer. However, we have to pay extra for the snorkels and also for the fins if you want. The prices also did not includes the marine park entrance fees which is just RM2 and can be use all day to all marine park.
The first island we stop was Pulau Sapi. This is a nice coral ialand and a lot of people were snorkelling and spending time at the beach. The place is hot but we can find some tables under the tree provided by the marine park. However, there are no food sold on this island. We brought our own food along and we don’t have to worry about it. I must say that traveling to this island was one of the highlights of my trip to Sabah. I have not been to such a nice island since I went to Pulau Payar. Indeed, Pulau Payar don’t have a nice beach and Pulau Sapi has more to offer. And it’s definately CHEAPER! Fishes here are not friendly though! I must caution you that they bite! I was bitten twice and I did heard others shouting too. In fact, one was bitten until he bleeds! We spend about 3 hours on this island before heading for Pulau Manukan. We expect to see more fishes and corals but we are disappointed when we arrive in Pulau Manukan. However, of the 5 islands Pulau Manukan is the island that offer the best facilities and you can find a restaurant on this island. In fact, there is a hotel on the island. However, on marine life wise, we were disappointed. The corals here were bleached and most of it destroyed by years of eco tourism. Marine fishes were little and were too far out and too deep to swim to. But if you have extra cash to spare you can sign up for the water scuba doo.
We spend some time swimming in the sea and do some snorkelling above the bed of dead coral before heading back to Kota Kinabalu about 4pm. Overall, the trip was a good trip but should I go again, I would not choose to go to Pulau Manukan but to Pulau Mamutik which have better marine life and better corals too.
The trip cost each one of us about RM50 and a good whole bottle of sun blocks and sun burn on my back! I left Sabah a happy man the next day knowing well, it will take some time before I can spend time doing what I love to do again.