Mantanani Island (2D1N) - Kota Belud, Sabah

This is our third visit to Mantanani Island. While Alan and his family were here for the holidays, we decided to take them to Mantanani Island for a quick island getaway. My partner booked a two-day, one-night stay at the Sutera Mantanani Resort (RM 600 for 2 persons includes boat transfer and breakfast). We took Alan and his family to Andrew Wong's Hainan chicken rice shop for brunch. The shop opens at 10.30am, but customers are already waiting for the chicken rice at 10am. The chicken rice is flavourful, although slightly undercooked. However, the chicken meat is tough and rubbery.

Hainan Chicken Rice Andrew Wong

Soup

Chili and ginger

Hainanese rice - RM 3

Whole chicken - RM 98

Address:

Hainan Chicken Rice Andrew Wong

Lot 18, Damai Plaza,

Phase 4, Lorong Pokok Kayu Manis 2,

88300 Kota Kinabalu,

Sabah

Opening hours: 10.30am to 2pm daily

It took almost two hours to get to Jetty Sutera Mantanani. We arrived around 1.30pm, and there is an open-air parking right next to the jetty. We need to sign a liability release form before we board the speedboat. The speedboat was scheduled to depart at 2.15pm but was delayed by 40 minutes. The waiting area was hot and humid, with a limited number of seats. There's a total of three speedboats going to the island that day. Finally, our boat departed at 2.55pm and 40 minutes later we have reached Mantanani Island.

Jetty Sutera Mantanani

Waiting area

Jetty Sutera Mantanani

Speedboat

Speedboat

Waiting area

Speedboat

There's a table with welcoming refreshments at the resort lobby. However, there are only a few drinking glasses. Most of the Chinese tourists raced to get their drinks without bothering to line. Check-in was slow, and they couldn't even provide us a side-by-side chalet with our friends. They ended up on the far left side of the chalet, while we stayed on the far right.

Using a backhoe to carry our luggage

Sutera Mantanani resort lobby

Resort lobby

Resort lobby

Spotted a furry friend

We were assigned a Premium Chalet, whereas our friend had a Chalet Seaview. Our room comes with a king-size bed, a flat-screen TV with limited channels, disposable slippers, basic toiletries, a hairdryer, four complimentary bottles of drinking water, coffee or tea-making facilities, a couch, a writing desk, a ceiling fan and self-controlled air conditioning. The room is very spacious, but there's no fridge, in-room safe or bathroom floor mat.

Additionally, the bathroom is quite large. It has a separate shower area and toilet cubicle. To enter the shower area and toilet cubicle, there's a sliding door with no lock. The shower has decent pressure. However, the water is extremely salty, smelly and yellowish. That's probably why they provide an extra two bottles of drinking water in the basin for you to wash your teeth with. There's a note indicating umbrellas are meant for use on the island, but we can't find any. Our room's air conditioning is really cold and our chalet is equipped with a private balcony as well. There is no WiFi in the chalet, and my mobile service (U Mobile) is completely unavailable on this island.

Premium Chalet

Premium Chalet

Premium Chalet

Premium Chalet

Premium Chalet

Four bottles of drinking water and coffee or tea making facilities

Bathroom basin area

Toiletries

Dressing table and wardrobe

Bathroom

Sutera Mantanani

Seashell

We spent the rest of the late afternoon lazing on the beach, sipping beer and coke. I can only see a partial sunset at Sutera Mantanani beach because of the hills. While strolling along the beach, I came across a seashell similar to the one Shyan secretly brought back from Mantanani Island for me four years ago. After four years, I can finally return that seashell to the water and reunite with its siblings, where it belongs...

Sutera Mantanani

Chilling on the beach

Spotted a furry friend

Furry friend enjoying the sea breeze

Furry friend lazing on the beach

Mantanani beach

Sunset at Mantanani beach

Sunset at Mantanani beach

Seashells

Bye seashells...

Sunset at Mantanani beach

Sunset at Mantanani beach

Sunset at Mantanani beach

Sunset at Mantanani beach

Astronomy zone

Sutera Mantanani

Sutera Mantanani has only one restaurant, and that's where we can eat dinner at night. My partner had the Yong Chow fried rice and I had grilled chicken chops. The fried rice is a bit hard for my liking, but it's flavourful. My grilled chicken, on the other hand, has an unusual taste and comes in a small piece. However, the fries are crispy and tasty. Both of us shared a bottle of drinking water, but they only had a limited supply of ice cubes for us.

Drinking water - RM 4

Yong Chow fried rice - RM 36

Grilled chicken chop - RM 45

The resort set up a bonfire and I spent the night photographing the Milky Way. The beach is dark enough for us to see the Milky Way and it is visible to the naked eye as a faint "river" of light in the sky.

Sutera Mantanani

Bonfire

Can you spot the faint meteor

Milky Way

I got up at 6.07am with the intention of seeing the sunrise at 6.09am. However, I ended up sleeping in. One hour later, we met Alan and his family for breakfast at the Sutera Mantanani Restaurant. As usual, I ordered fried eggs and when it was my turn to order, the staff showed me his dark face and spoke rudely to me. I'm not sure what prompted the staff to respond in this manner, but his attitude completely ruined my morning. This is the first time I've seen resort employees behaving in such a nasty manner towards their guests. I have never seen him smile or greet guests that order eggs from him.

Pastry

Pomelo

Cereals

Salad section

Porridge section

Yellow rice

Condiments for nasi lemak

Curry chicken

Fried rice and fried vermicelli

Sausages

Ham slices

Baked beans

Chinese steamed buns

Potato wedges

Bread section

Egg station

My breakfast

Coffee, tea, milk and cold drinking water

My partner and Alan went snorkeling from 9am till 10.30am, while I decided to relax on the beach. After my partner returned from his snorkeling trip, there was no water in the chalet for him to bathe in. We called the front desk and were told there was an issue with their pipping system. My partner ended up showering outside the chalet, using water from the balcony pipe.

Mantanani beach

Mantanani beach

Mantanani beach

Mantanani beach

Mantanani beach

Mantanani beach

Mantanani beach

Mantanani beach

Mantanani beach

Ria Mantanani Island

Ria Mantanani Island

Ria Mantanani Island

Sutera Mantanani

Sutera Mantanani

Mantanani beach

Spotted another furry friend

We checked out at 11.30am and ordered a plate of tuna sandwich with fries at the Sutera Mantanani Restaurant. Surprisingly, it is good. The bread is soft and filled with chilled tuna and vegetables. Aside from that, the fries are crispy and nicely seasoned. The restaurant staff told us to get to the jetty by 12.45pm. Our speedboat departs at 1.10pm and the journey was rough, with us getting splashed with sea water before they closed the door. Everyone was sweating inside the speedboat due to a lack of air ventilation. The speedboat can accommodate up to 44 people and after 40 minutes, we arrived at Jetty Sutera Mantanani.

Drinking water - RM 4

French fries - RM 19

Tuna sandwich - RM 23

Jetty Sutera Mantanani

We took Alan and his family for Tuaran noodles at this Restaurant Tai Fatt, which was about an hour away from Jetty Sutera Mantanani. The noodles are springy to the bite and have a mild eggy taste. It is served with bbq pork, egg rolls, fried pork and beef. We end the day with early dinner at Fatt Kee Restaurant, also known as Ang's Hotel.

Restaurant Tai Fatt

Kit chai ping

Tuaran noodles

Address:

Restaurant Tai Fatt

Lot No. 7 Block 4,

Ted Teck Ong, Tuaran

89208 Kota Kinabalu,

Sabah