How to visit the islands within the park
My favorite place that I visited when I was Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia was the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park. Close to the city, this park makes you feel as if you are on the islands!
To be completely honest Kota Kinabalu was not my most favorite destination and my expectations were let down quite a bit, but you live and you learn.
On the bright side, the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park is super close to the main city area and is a great day trip! To get to the islands you’ll need to head to the Jettson pier bright and early the day you wish to go. Getting there early, around 8 am will give you plenty of time to enjoy all 5 islands!
There will be multiple stands selling their own packages. The majority of them will all be the same but definitely take a look around and explore your options. After purchasing you will wait at the harbor area where the boat company you booked with will tell you which boat to hop on from here they will take you to your first island.
The first island you arrive on you will also need to purchase a ticket in order to enter the marine park, this is something that the companies may not mention, but it’s about 15 RM or around 3.50 UDS. Make sure to hold on to your tickets as you will need it for every island you visit. If lost you’ll need to purchase a new one. It is also necessary to have your original ticket in hand when leaving any of the islands as the park workers will check it and direct you on which boat to hop on next.
What to do on the islands
Most of the islands will have a beach spot to relax on or possibly a trail through the jungle that you can hike within the hour and a half they give you on each one. On my excursion I was able to visit Sapi, then Manukan, and finally Mamutik
Unfortunately, a late wake-up call meant not being able to see all five islands. On the bright side, the islands we did make it to were beautiful. Sapi had a nice trail that went all around the island and took about 50 minutes. This left a perfect amount of time for a nice dip in the water! I will say the snorkeling situation was quite different than I was used to as there was a small designated area to swim in. Then I thought that for a popular national park as there are thousands of people that come to visit a year, this is the best idea to protect the majority of the marine life.
Sapi was also the island that had a buffet included in all the island packages. Manukan was the next island visited, this island was quite larger than Sapi but not nearly as large as Gaya (the largest of the 5). Manukan also had a trail but was not able to walk the entire island as there was not enough time. We then headed back to the beach to relax and enjoy the water.
Manukan was an island that had the option of staying on for a night if desired. This is something that would be nice to do in the future as the island was beautiful and would need extra time to explore it fully. The last island of Mamutik was beautiful as well but not much different than the first two.
When in the water
If you do go into the water it is important to remember to respect the marine life. In tropical countries like Malaysia, you have the chance to see numerous beautiful organisms in the water! Although it may come close enough to touch, we should respect the marine life and keep a safe distance.
Ending an amazing day at the national park
I thought the day trip was worth it, although I do wish I was more adamant about an early start to see all 5 islands. Kota Kinabalu was not my favorite city to visit but this tropical trip made up for the 3 days in the city.
