Manukan Island Resort, Sabah

We bought this KK Luxury Escape (KKLE) package which includes 1 night stay at Manukan Island Resort, 1 night stay at Shangri-La's Tanjung Aru Resort & Spa, one time KK Luxury Yatch Sunset Cruise with Hi-Tea for 2 person and one time 90 minutes Spa at Kama'A Rejuvenation & Wellbeing Spa for 2 person. Total package paid was RM 899 for 2 pax. Validity for this package is until 20th Dec 2021. However due to the current Covid situation, the package has been extended until end of March 2022 except for the Yacht Sunset Cruise which they have yet to get back to us on the date.

Last month before the package expired, we went for the 1 night stay at Manukan Island Resort (beach suite) which includes return boat transfer and breakfast for 2 adults & 1 child. Boat transfer departure schedule will be 10.30am or 11.30am at Sutera Marina Jetty. You need to confirm your boat departure time at the Manukan Island Resort front office upon check in. We decided to take the later departure time which is 11.30am at Sutera Marina Jetty. There's only 5 of us in the boat including the boat driver. It's a smooth boat ride and 10 minutes later we have arrived at Manukan Island. The water is not very clear but we can still see fishes swimming around.

Upon arrival at Manukan Island we need to pay RM 5 per person (18 years old and above) at the check in counter for the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park Conservation Fee. It's valid for one day to all destination within the same park. Then we were escorted to the waiting room. The friendly staff gave us a cold towel and a small cup of lemon grass welcome drink. Once all four of us has been settled down, they gave a short briefing. We were informed that there will be a 5 minutes black out at 10am and 10pm for the generator to switch over. Breakfast starts from 8am to 10am. You can have your lunch at Arang Restaurant from 11am to 3pm and dinner from 7pm to 10pm (last order 9.30pm).

Since our room isn't ready yet, we left our luggage at the waiting room and took a stroll around the island. There's a souvenir shop, some food stall selling sandwiches, Arang Restaurant, Marine Education Centre (free admission), an abandoned badminton court and an abandoned lodge.

Marine Education Centre opening hours:
Monday - closed
Tuesday to Thursday, Saturday, Sunday & Public holiday - 9am to 3pm
Friday - 9am to 12pm, 2pm to 4pm

We checked in at 1pm and went for parasailing at 2pm. The resort only provides snorkeling equipment subject to first come first serve basis. If you want to take part in various water sports activities such as parasailing, jet skiing, kayaking, banana boat ride, snorkeling and even sea walking, fret not because there will be people approaching you once you step down from your boat! Eight of us went for parasailing and we did a couple parasailing (Price: RM 75 per person for 7 minutes). It was my first time parasailing and I loved it. It's a really cool experience to be up in the air and at certain times, the boat driver will dip you down in the water! I wish we stayed longer up in the air.

We had our tea break at Arang Restaurant around 3.30pm. We ordered crumbed prawn fritters with chips and tartar sauce, Singapore fried mee hoon, watermelon juice and orange juice. I was quite disappointed with my watermelon juice because they did not sieve to remove the black seeds and orange juice could use a bit more sweetness. Overall our food wasn't impressive. My prawn fritters was unevenly coated. Perfect fries are fluffy inside and crispy outside but sadly, not mine.

After tea break I strolled along the beach but there's just too many sand flies. They attack people in swarms. Bites are painful and itchy that can last for days! I totally forgot to spray insect repellent and poor me I got bitten badly. Instead of waiting for the sunset at the beach, I ended up at the jetty. However, I couldn't get a perfect sunset photo because the view was blocked by the hills.

The island is very quiet at night because there's only one resort and majority prefers day trip since there's nothing much you can do on this island at night. We had our dinner at Arang Restaurant around 8pm. My partner had their signature stir fried black pepper beef served with ulam vegetables and chili paste while I had their Chef's signature delicacy flavoured with spices chicken curry with roti canai served with pickles. We don't really enjoy our dinner. My chicken curry was way too oily and his beef was too peppery. I think the only dish we enjoyed most was the fried bananas. They served it with a scoop of ice cream which looks more like a sorbet to me.

After dinner, I did a quick star gazing before we went back to our room and watched TV. Exactly 10pm there's a 5 minutes black out for the generator to switch over. I didn't have a good night sleep that night because since I'm a light sleeper, I can hear footsteps from the above guests at 1am and 3am. There's even chair dragging sound at 6.50am which's quite disturbing! I guess they can't do much about it because the ceiling is made of woods.