Manukan, Mamuntik and Sapi (Day trip)

Manukan, Mamuntik and Sapi (Day trip) - Sabah

- August 31, 2022

I can't recall when was the last time I went island hopping at Kota Kinabalu. It's a popular activity in Kota Kinabalu as most of the islands are just 10 minutes away by boat from Kota Kinabalu city. Since we have a guest who came all the way from Singapore, we decided to take her for island hopping. There's multiple tour operators to choose from and this round we opt for Star Marina located in Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa. Everyday, Star Marina provides scheduled round trip transfer to Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park via the resort's boats.

The earliest boat to depart from resort to island is 8am and the last boat to return to resort from island is 3.30pm. You may refer to their website for more details. The price for single island hopping is RM 50 per person (adult) and additional RM 10 for each island hopping excluding Tunku Abdul Rahman Park Conservation fee of RM 5 (valid for 1 day to all destinations within the same park). Instead of single island hopping, we decided to go all three islands - Mamuntik, Manukan and Sapi. So our total package per person is RM 80 (3 islands - RM 70, life jacket - RM 5 and one day Sabah Park entrance fee - RM 5). Don't worry if you forgot to bring your own towel because beach towels are provided by Star Marina free of charge.

We choose the 9am boat from Star Marina jetty to Mamuntik island. Glad that it's a sunny day and our boat departs at 9.10am. Ten minutes later we have arrived at Mamuntik island. Water visibility is only 60% but it looks clear to me. My partner and his friend went for snorkeling while I hang around the island enjoying the nice sea breeze. There's a cafe and a small souvenir shop. We left Mamuntik island around 11.30am to Manukan island. We waited for almost half an hour at the jetty because the staff told us the boat will picked us up at 11am.

We were so hungry by the time we reached Manukan island. It's a short boat journey that takes approximately 10 minutes. Water visibility is 80% and Manukan island is the second largest island in the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park. There's plenty of picnic tables but all has been occupied. Ended up we looked for a shaded areas and sat on the beach enjoying our pre-packed nasi lemak bought earlier from Fook Yuen Cafe, Damai. The weather is so hot that one small bottle of drinking water is definitely not enough for me. While our friend went for snorkeling again, we went to Arang Restaurant. Still feeling hungry I thought of ordering some food from the restaurant. Much to my disappointment, the restaurant was unable to serve us any food because there's an event happening there and they can only attend to us from 1pm onwards.

Luckily they still able to serve us drinks. My partner ordered a glass of watermelon juice while I had honey dew juice. Supposed I wanted to order their milkshake but they ran out of ingredients. My honey dew juice is tasteless and it still taste the same when I added in small amount of syrup. My partner's watermelon juice on the other hand came with crushed watermelon seeds without straining. Since we need to rush for the jet ski water sport at 1pm, we left the restaurant empty stomach and with utter disappointment.

Price for jet skiing water sport is RM 140 per person for a half and hour ride. We waited for the boat at Manukan jetty to bring us to the open sea. Glad that they allowed me to follow and stayed in the boat while my partner went for jet skiing together with the instructor. Due to recent crash involving two jet skis, they imposed a rule that an instructor must sit behind the driver. It's a great experience and thrill ride for my partner.

We left for Sapi island around 2pm. Water visibility is 90% and I saw a lot of small fishes from the beach shore. There's a small cafe but it's already closed when we reached there. Luckily the small convenience store still open and we bought a bottle of mineral water and ice cream. Last boat to depart from Sapi island is 3.10pm. That ends our one day island hopping at Kota Kinabalu. Among all the three islands, Sapi is my favourite because it's the cleanest. One good lesson learned from this trip is always bring some food, snacks and drinks when you go island hopping...