Ara Dinawan Island - Dinawan Island, Sabah

- April 04, 2021

Ara Dinawan Island is located in Dinawan Island approximately 10 minutes speed boat ride from Beringgis Seafood Restaurant. There's a small jetty just beside the seafood restaurant and it's located in Kinarut, around 25 minutes drive (18.3km) from Kota Kinabalu International Airport. If you're planning for an overnight stay at Ara Dinavan Island, you can park your car at the open space car park right beside the seafood restaurant.

We booked a 2 days 1 night stay package (RM 450 for 2 pax in a Seaview Tented Villa). (Promotion only applicable from 1st March 2021 to 30th Jun 2021). Currently the resort only opens on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays. Package includes return boat transfer (Beringgis Seafood Restaurant Jetty - Dinawan Island - Beringgis Seafood Restaurant Jetty), 1 night accommodation (Seaview Tented Villa), full board meals and the below activities.

Activities:
a) Kayak
b) SUP (Stand up paddle boarding) paddle board
c) 1 time boat snorkeling
d) 1 time shore snorkeling (life jacket, mask, snorkel are provided)
e) Sunset tour at secret beach
f) 15 minutes banana boat or flying fish ride

Meals:
a) Breakfast: 8am to 9.30am
b) Lunch: 12am
c) Hi-Tea: 3pm
d) Dinner: 7pm

There's 3 types of package for you to choose from:
a) Seaview Tented Villa (2pax) - RM 450 (2D1N)
b) Exclusive Beach Front Tented Villa (2pax) - RM 500 (2D1N)
c) Family Rooms (2 adults & 2 children) - RM 650 (2D1N)

This is the first time I heard the word "glamping" which means glamorous camping and it's also my first time glamping! Ara Dinawan Island offers 14 glamping tents and since it's a non peak season, they upgraded our package from Seaview Tented Villa to Exclusive Beach Front Tented Villa. Our tented villa comes with a king size bed, in-room safe, mini fridge, a jug of drinking water, coffee or tea making facilities, mosquito repellent, portable air conditioner, hair dryer and basic toiletries such as shampoo and shower gel.

Our tent is spacious and clean. We have our own private toilet and shower. However there's no door for the toilet and shower except curtains. Apart from that, there's no lock for the tent. Just make sure you zip up your tent to keep mosquitoes or other insects away. Make use of your in-room safe and store all your valuable items inside. Electricity only available inside the tent from 3pm to 9am. There's a small extractor fan just right above the hand basin. Make sure you keep it running when there's electricity to keep the room ventilated. At night the tent tends to be warm even though there's a portable air conditioner. There's no Wi-Fi and TV in the tented villa but they have a TV room at the central open building. However, the place looks deserted and dusty.

Shower wasn't very pleasant because there's inconsistency in hot water temperature. Imagine you're trying to take a nice relaxing shower and suddenly there's burst of cold water followed by hot water. It's like having a contrast bath therapy! Besides that, water pressure was low and caused a weak or incomplete toilet flush. Overall, it's a good glamping experience. Nothing's perfect though...

Jetty location - Beringgis Seafood Restaurant
Boat depart from jetty - 14:30pm
Boat depart from island - 13:00pm
Check in time: 15:00pm
Check out time: 12:00pm