AFTER
our day tour at Kinabalu Park and Poring Hot Spring, for our day two adventure
we decided to unwind and soak up some sun at Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park
which Kota Kinabalu(KK) is also known for.
Tunku
Abdul Rahman National Park is composed of five islands namely Gaya, Sapi,
Manukan, Mamutik and Sulug. The marine park was named after Malaysia’s first
Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman.
 |
| Striking a pose at Jesselton Point’s entrance. |
Getting there
Our
day did not quite went through as expected because our Uber ride (which we got
for free thanks to the very kind hotel staff) almost left us because we got
lost on our way out of the building. We were glad that everything went well and
we have safely arrived at KK’s local port - Jesselton Point, to jump off the
day’s itinerary.
 |
| Jesselton Point’s ticketing area. |
Upon
arrival at Jesselton Point we then went inside the ticketing area where you can
find a lot of island hopping tour providers. With our prior research we headed
straight to counter 11 to schedule our island hopping.
The islands are not that
quite far from each other, you can choose visiting from one to four islands and
schedule different pick up time for island transfer. Most visited islands in
the park are Gaya, Sapi and Manukan but since we just want to spend the morning
to relax, we just ended choosing only Manukan Island to avoid the hassle of
transferring and because it’s cheaper too.
Our
tour provider was Island Hop Express (Counter 11) and their rates are: 1 island
– RM 23; 2 islands – RM 33; 3 islands – RM 43 and 4 islands – RM 53. Upon
arrival to your chosen island, one must pay an environmental fee of RM 3 per
island so don’t forget to bring some spare cash. All tour providers also
provide snorkeling and diving gears for rent. Island hopping begins at 8-8:30am
and ends around 5pm but some islands also offer rooms for those who wish to
stay in.
Another
funny story on this day: the provider (who is a Filipina) gave us student
discount rates because she was impressed and thought we were locals because I
spoke to her in Bahasa so instead of paying RM 23 we ended up paying only RM 20
(yay!).
The
tour boat somewhat works like our local jeepney because it makes several stops
on every island and we are not complaining about that because we got a glimpse
of Gaya and Sapi islands during the stops.
 |
| Manukan Island. |
The Island Experience
When
we arrived in the island and after a short chat, we then found out that our
tour provider’s agent assigned in the island is Filipino. It really came up
to my research to be wary about them though because some tend to make you pay
higher but we were glad that he was very kind to us and even gave us discounts
on their parasailing in the island. We gave it a quick thought and did it! We
paid RM 140 instead of RM 150 for it.
 |
| Our parasailing experience. |
We
parasailed for about 10 minutes and it was one of my best experiences ever! The
view of the islands and the city from above was stunning. It was not that scary
at all either and the parasailing staff even offered to take photos and record
our entire experience.
 |
| Tourists visiting the island. |
After
our short but memorable parasailing experience, we then went back to the
island. One great thing about the island is that it already has table and
benches where you can eat and put your things it also has lots of trees for
shade. There’s also a store which sells food but we decided to bring our own
snack and drinks just to be sure.
 |
Getting my dose of Vitamin Sea. Werkin' it for the 'gram. lol
|
We
spent our time left for swimming and taking some photos. There were also a lot
of locals and tourists alike who went island hopping during that time so the
bathroom situation was really a disaster so we just quickly changed and took a
proper bath in our hotel instead. We then headed back to KK at around 12 noon.
To
sum this day up, even though it was not that perfect it was really fun since we
got to try parasailing for the first time!
P.S.
The boat ride going to the island was fun for us too, it was like riding a
motorcycle on sea. (lol)
More
about this trip next week!
*As published in Sun.Star Davao Newspaper on June 28, 2017*
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