Tag Archives: fishing

sunrise at Mengkabong Bridge

Best Sunrise View of Sabah at Mengkabong River Bridge

Leave a reply

In year 2000, Mengkabong River Bridge (or Jambatan Gayang) is constructed to connect both sides of the Mengkabong River in Tuaran. Probably a bonus by accident, this longest bridge of Sabah also connects us to the perfect sunrise view of Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain of Malaysia. When motorists cross this bridge, they would have a 330+ Metres (1,080 ft) of enjoyable ride because of the beautiful scenery.

Mengkabong River Bridge is a popular photography spot for Sabah sunrise

Best Sunrise View of Mount Kinabalu

Mengkabong River Bridge is a landmark and attraction well-known among Sabahans, who have seen its amazing sunrise photos many times in photography contest, tourism calendar, social media, etc. The high vantage point of Mengkabong River Bridge allows photographers to fit Mount Kinabalu, sunrise, rolling hills, mangrove forest and river into one frame.

Breathtaking sunrise over Mount Kinabalu at Mengkabong River Bridge

In most days you have a good chance of seeing Mount Kinabalu in the morning. Just standby on the bridge by 5:30am or earlier, before sunrise starts between 5:59am and 6:33am. The sun rises from different spots in different time of the year, creating more variation of sunrise view. I did a Facebook Live Stream there for fun too.

My camera and tripod on the bridge
Another sunrise shot of Mount Kinabalu at Mengkabong

Fishing and Mangrove

Mengkabong River is an estuarine fish habitats where fresh water from river mixes with the saltwater from the South China Sea only 2 Kilometres away. The lush mangrove forest and brackish water of this river provide important feeding, spawning and nursery sites for some palatable marine fishes. Crabs and prawns grow bigger in such environment too.

Mengkabong River is where saltwater and freshwater meet. Crabs and prawns grow well in such brackish water.

During high tide, sea fishes follow the current to forage in Mengkabong River. Therefore, the bridge becomes a hot area to catch high-valued marine fishes such as barracuda, snapper, grouper, sea brass (selunsung / siakap), trevallies and Jack fish. Local anglers love to erect a few fishing rods at the jetties under the bridge.

Mengkabong River Bridge is over 300 Metres long. Note the jetties and fishing platforms at lower left and the floating fish farm at the right.

Before sunrise, the fishermen from nearby water villages has started their day fishing in Mengkabong River. You can bargain with them and buy their fresh caught for a good price on the spot.

Mengkabong River is a famous fishing spot. You can pay a small fee to use the sheltered fishing platform at the jetty.

Do take some moment to appreciate the mangrove forest in the river there. The net fisheries contribution from 1 ha of mangrove forest amounted to US$846 year (RM3,500 per year). According to a study by Omar et al, in 2017, Sabah had about 378,195 hectares of mangroves which covered about 60 per cent of total mangrove areas in Malaysia (and 7.6 percent of the global mangroves)!

You can buy fresh seafood from the fishermen on the spot in Mengkabong River. The tiger prawn is sold for RM15 each.

Firefly and proboscis monkey, the residents of mangrove wetlands in Borneo, also attract thousands of tourists and generate a lot of income for Sabah every year. Mangrove forest are really our money trees.

Note: There might be crocodile around there, so do not wander mindlessly on the river bank or swim in the river.

Cycling

Cycling is a popular sport of Sabah now, thanks to our scenic countryside. Mengkabong River Bridge is one of the favourite routes of cyclists, without doubt, is due to the spectacular sunrise.

Mengkabong River Bridge is a busy cycling route in the morning

Hundred of cyclists cross this bridge every morning. They would get off their bicycle in the middle of the bridge and selfie with Mount Kinabalu, to show the world how beautiful their lives are.

You have a good chance of seeing Mount Kinabalu from the bridge if the weather is good
The view of Mount Kinabalu is the highlight for cyclists here

Sunset Tour

If the sunlight is strong, you could have a nice sunset view of Mengkabong River after 6pm, with the sky of Mount Kinabalu being illuminated by pinkish or reddish color of sunset from opposite side, a phenomenon called alpenglow. The colors are less intense but a preference for those who are not early bird and always miss the sunrise.

Large area of mangrove trees in Mengkabong River

Personally I would recommend you to join the sunset tour below that can send you to Dalit Beach at river mouth of Mengkabong River for a magnificient sunset view. (This is not a sponsored post. I don’t get paid to promote this.) This tour is managed by Kinabalu Heritage Tours, a licensed travel agent owned by my friend.

Tour Package: Mengkabong Fireflies & Sunset River Cruise with BBQ Seafood Dinner

Duration: 3 hours
Departure Time: 4:00pm (Every Friday / Saturday / Sunday / Public Holiday)

Mount Kinabalu and the mangrove forest of Mengkabong

Tour Info & Activities

Mengkabong Village is part of the Tuaran district and home of the Bajau Sea Gypsies Malay Fishing Village. Experience the memorable and educational river tour about the importance of Mangrove forest with beautiful natural scenery along the river where water streams peacefully and see sea real-life one of our famous indigenous tribe Bajau fisherman lifestyle who still live in water village (i.e. house build on stilts and connected by narrow wooden planks) formerly known as the Sea Gypsies. Experience our local ways of crab catching activities during the cruise and visit the local Oyster and Fish Farm before heading to the river mouth to catch the spectacular view of sunset on the white sandy beach. After the tour, enjoy our BBQ SEAFOOD Dinner before returning to your respective home.

  • River cruise by boat
  • Crab catching
  • Dinner
  • Visit fish farm
  • Oyster
Photos of the tour activities (by Kinabalu Heritage Tours)

Tour Fare Inclusive: Land Transport, River Cruise, Fun Fishing using hand lines, Crab Catching, High Tea, Dinner and English Speaking licensed tourist guide

Promotion Rate!!! RM50 per person (Minimum 4 people). Rate is valid until 31 Dec 2021. You can book now travel later.

Tourists watching sunset at Dalit Beach, where Mengkabong River meets the sea

The tour is on deep discount now. I’ve taken the tour before. It’s fun and I even saw “Blue Tears” (Bioluminescent Sea) in the river. The sea water glowed when it’s disturbed by a wave breaking or a splash in the water by our boat at night.

The following is their contact for booking tour:
Hotline: +60 13-6068333 (Whatsapp available)
Company: Kinabalu Heritage Tours & Car Rental Sdn. Bhd.
KKKP/PLN (Tour License No.): 5189 (683895-A)
Address: Lot E–2-7, Block E, 2nd Floor, Tanjung Aru Plaza, Jalan Mat Salleh, 88100 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
Phone: +60 88–318311
E-mail: info@sabahborneotours.com
Facebook: KinabaluHeritageTours

Fiery sunset at the river mouth of Mengkabong River

How to get there?

Mengkabong River Bridge is about 29 Kilometres away from Kota Kinabalu City (KK) and highly accessible by highway (about 35 minutes by car). The bridge is never closed, so you can visit anytime, and you don’t need a tour company to bring you there. Just depart from KK at 5am, set your destination as “Mengkabong River Bridge” in Waze, Google Map or other navigation apps.

GPS: 6.14165, 116.15459 (see Location Map or Street View)

View of Mount Kinabalu from Dalit Beach, at the end of Mengkabong River

Once you arrive, park your car at roadside before or after the bridge, and walk up to this bridge. There are lampposts on the bridge to lit the way. The 5-feet-wide pedestrian lane on the bridge can keep you safe from busy traffic, but always keep an eye on incoming bicycles that use the same space as cycling lane.

After sunrise, you can drop by Tuaran town nearby to have the famous Tuaran Fried Noodle as breakfast. Please note the highway from Tuaran to KK is quite congested when people rush to work in the morning of weekdays. It’s also advisable to check weather forecast of Tuaran in advance, so you won’t waste your time and disappointed by the bad weather. Toilet is available in the building behind the jetties.

Photos taken in Tuaran, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Malubang, a beautiful fishing village in Pitas

2 Replies

When I was on a quest to explore the legend of Supirak, I found myself another wonderful seaside vacation at Malubang Village (Local Name: Kampung Malubang), a remote fishing village in Pitas near the tip of northern Sabah. Spend a few days there and you will experience a simple village life without electricity, Wifi, water heater, air-conditioner, asphalt road, etc.

Malubang Village (Kampung Malubang) in Pitas, north of Sabah

Kampung Malubang (Malubang Village)

Malubang Village is located at a beach in Marudu Bay. Most villagers are Sulu people who mainly work as a fisherman. Every morning you can see their fishing boats depart for fishing trip.

Every house owns a boat in Malubang Village

Malubang is facing Kudat town and Tip of Borneo is clearly visible at the horizon. In fact, Kudat is less than an hour away by boat, and Banggi Island takes about 20 minutes.

A fisherman fixing his fishing net

Some houses are still using well for water supply

Though tourists seldom come here, the friendly villagers are ok with outsiders taking a stroll in the village. They are shy but smile a lot. It’s a small fishing village with about 30 houses. Foreigners would find the fence-less stilt houses there interesting.

A house with colorful hanging clothes

During my visit, there was an open house wedding reception (of Mizrul and Mastura) in the village. They were kind to invite me to have lunch with them and watched them dancing and celebrating.

Married couple Mizrul and Mastura

Group photo with the cute village girls who dressed up for wedding function

This village is a close community, in contrast to city. I confess I don’t know most of my neighbours and never visit their home too. May be it’s not only me.. Nowadays kids in same neighbourhood don’t mix around. In old days, I went cycling, fishing and climbing tree with my young neighbours, so Malubang brings back memory.

I enjoyed every moment in Malubang. The only thing I don’t like is that a lot of rubbishes washed up to the shore there.

Supirak Legend

Supirak Island and its surrounding legendary rocks are the main attractions of Malubang (as well as Pitas district). Legend says Supirak Island was a ship turned into a rock due to a curse by mother to her ungrateful son.

Cruising around Marudu Bay

At Malubang, you can charter a small boat easily (for less than MYR80) to visit these island and rocks around the bay, as every villager owns a boat (life vest may not be provided).

Rocks and wells of Supirak legend

Besides Supirak Island, there are many other places of interest in Pitas, to name a few, traditional fishing platform named Bagang, long-nosed monkey in mangrove forest of Bengkoka River, and Esplanade Bengkoka. Due to limited tourism facilities and lack of promotion, Pitas isn’t a popular destination.

Accommodation

Malubang Homestay is the only accommodation in Malubang Village. At the edge of Malubang, the lodge is a longhouse style accommodation with 6 Rooms. The rate is MYR40 to MYR50 (about USD$10 to 12.50) per room per night. It could be fully booked during peak season such as school holiday.

Malubang Homestay is the blue building under the yellow pointer

Rooms of Malubang Homestay

Each room is big enough to fit a group of 3 to 4 people, and it comes with attached bathroom cum toilet, beds, and fan. You can cook in common kitchen area, but you need to bring your own cooking utensils.

What we ate in Malubang Homestay

Please note there is no restaurant in the village. You can request the lodge to prepare the meals for you (Fee per head: Breakfast MYR4.00, Lunch MYR10.00, High Tea MYR2.00 and Dinner MYR10.00).

Enjoy meals with sea view

Everything in this lodge is basic. Power supply is only available from 6pm to 6am (by power generator), which provide lighting and sufficient electricity to charge your phone and camera.

The view in front of Malubang Homestay

But hey, the nice sea view makes up for it, and beach is less than 20 Meters away. Some beach resorts want guests to pay thousands for such view. The little rocky island at the left is Bum-Bum with a half-completed jetty (lack of fund to finish).

Malubang Homestay and its beach

There was no mosquito net in the room. To prevent mosquitoes eating me, I had to position the standing fan to point to my bed to blow those buggers away.

Malubang Homestay in Pitas

For booking, you can contact Mr. Moktar at cellphone: +60 19-8212597 (Whatsapp available). Moktar is Orang Sungai married with 5 kids. He starts the lodge in 2008. The GPS location of Malubang Homestay is 6.956184, 117.060140 (see Location Map). Moktar also can arrange the tour and boat transfer to visit the attractions nearby.

Seafood feast, a treat by Moktar!

Most guests are families from Pitas and Kota Marudu. Moktar will be happy to receive some international tourists. He understands that his lodge could be better, so he plans to improve his accommodation.

Fat crab with juicy meat

When we were ready to check-out, Moktar was missing in action for nearly an hour. Then he suddenly showed up and brought a covered plate, with mysterious smile on his face. He cooked us a big plate of yummy and steaming fresh crabs. Thank you Moktar! You are such a nice guy.

Sunset

Malubang Homestay is facing west, so you can enjoy watching giant yolk sinks into sea every day. I need not to say more.

Beautiful sunset at Malubang

Magic hour of Pitas

After dusk, the brightest thing at night here is the city light of Kudat at the horizon. Power line hasn’t reached this village yet.

Fishing

You might think that this peaceful fishing village becomes even quieter after nightfall. Wrong. Many villagers, both young and old, are busy fishing at the jetties at night. FYI, Malubang Village is famous for fishing giant squid (Sotong Gergasi), which can weigh up to 6 Kilograms and abundant from Oct to Feb every year. Now I understand why every visitors brought a fishing rod.

Local anglers got busy after sunset

Malubang is so lucky to have 3 jetties that extend a few hundreds Meters to the sea, so the people can fish anytime, even during low tide. I didn’t bring a fishing rod, so I was just busybody and check out what they caught. There were mainly stingray and fishes, some are over 2 Kg, quite big.

Many locals come to Malubang for fishing holiday during weekends

FYI, my Maxis mobile phone got one bar of signal at the end of the jetty, enough for me to check Whatsapps and emails.

Milky Way

It’s quite windy in the evening. I felt so relax laying on the platform of jetty and enjoyed the sea breeze. The sky was full of stars and shooting stars appeared almost every few minutes, some are quite big and last 4 or 5 seconds.

Pitas is a good place for stargazing

That’s crazy that by 7:30pm I already could see Milky Way spanned across the sky like a silver belt. I didn’t know Pitas is an excellent place for stargazing.

Kampung Pansuran

I also walked around Kampung Pansuran (Pansuran Village), a smaller fishing village about a stone’s throw from Malubang Village. Most residents there are Bajau Sama people.

View from Kampung Pansuran Village

Visit the water village of Kampung Pansuran

The villagers there are also equally nice and friendly. They were busy with fish caught and dried some of them under the sun to make dried seafood.

A young fisherman in Kampung Pansuran Village

Dried fishes on boardwalk of Kampung Pansuran Village

They still use traditional fishing methods such as fishing net and fishing line. Pitas is famous for its dried seafood.

Dried stingrays and fishes

Talking about village life, you might visualize I become a shirtless muscle guy playing soccer and laugh with the local kids, a cliche scene common in many movies. No, I didn’t do that, LOL.

Mondou Hill (Bukit Mondou)

To make sure I didn’t miss out any attraction near Malubang Village, Moktar took me to Bukit Mondou, a small hill only a few minutes drive from the village.

Mondou Hill (Bukit Mondou) in Pitas

Though Bukit Mondou is the highest point in Malubang, it is less than 80 Meters high, and it took us less than 30 minutes to reach the top. The trail is mostly flat and not challenging at all.

Climbing Mondou Hill (Bukit Mondou) in Pitas

However, the trail is not tourist-friendly and covered by long grasses. Please don’t go there alone.

You can see Berungus from the top of Mondou Hill (Bukit Mondou)

The view on top of Bukit Mondou is nice, as you can see Supirak Island and have a panoramic view of Malubang and Marudu Bay.

How to get there

From Kota Kinabalu City (KK), you need to drive about 5 hours to reach Malubang Village. The first 3 hours drive from KK to Pitas town is on 140 KM of paved road in good condition. The last 60 KM further north from Pitas to Malubang Village will be a bumpy 2-hour ride on gravel road.

The distance from Pitas town to Malubang Village is about 60 KM

Therefore, you need 4-Wheel Drive to enter this remote place. Though small sedan such as Kancil also can make it, it’ll be a pain to move around the potholes, mud ponds and uneven surface. The GPS Coordinates of Kampung Malubang is 6.956184, 117.060140 (see Location Map).

Gravel road from Pitas town to Malubang Village

It’s advisable you stop by Pitas town to have lunch and fill up the gas tank. For first timer, avoid to drive there at night because there is no street light along the way. Please also note that Uber and GrabCar aren’t available in Pitas district. Internet and mobile phone coverage are limited in most part of the journey.

Moktar pointing at Kudat town

Shopping for dried seafood (e.g. dried shrimps, salty fishes) in Pitas

Btw, one the way home, you may buy some dried seafood from the roadside stalls around Pitas, for great bargain.

Photos taken in Pitas, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Island Sunset Cruise off Kota Kinabalu City

Leave a reply

Sunlight can’t enter a room full of furniture, similarly, we need more spaces sometimes to light up our hearts. That’s why I like the sense of freedom in sunset cruise. The feeling of watching sunset from the vast open sea is very different. On the land, sunset is only a nice background to mark the end of day. On the ocean, you are like an audience standing on the stage of sunset for its magic moment.


Pic: our cruise boat, Hydian Way

Kota Kinabalu City (KK) has nice sunset and our beautiful islands are just a few Kilometers away, so all we need is a boat for the trip. For the New Year Sunset Cruise Gathering, Sabah Wetlands Conservation Society chartered a cruise boat which could accommodate up to 50 people.


Hydian Way looks like a double-decker bus of the sea. It’s a 60-feet passengers cruise boat designed for short distance tour cruise. The lower and upper decks are flat surface with many chairs and tables, so passengers can carry out any activity and enjoy open view of the sea, exactly what we need for a leisure ride. Most area is sheltered from rain and hot sun, another plus.


Pic: lower and upper decks of Hydian Way. The toilet and bathroom are at the rear of lower deck.

We departed around 5pm from Jesselton Point Ferry Terminal and headed to the sea and islands of Tunku Abdul Rahman Park. Everyone was so excited onboard, we explored around as this was our first time experience on sunset cruise. The boat has an area of 1,500 square feet.


Most seemed to like upper deck better, where we could see the surrounding on higher vantage point and enjoyed the sea breeze. Lower deck is more stable and suitable for those who are prone to seasick. Anyway, the swaying motion wasn’t strong when the boat was moving.


I also walked around to find the best viewpoint. After a while, everyone was settling down and started their romantic or family time.


Pic: our boat leaving KK and head to the sun!


Pic: a cruise ship in Sabah Port. I wonder how it feels to see sunset from that huge ship.


It had been raining in past few days, we didn’t know if the sunset view would be nice. The sky was cloudy, so I didn’t expect a spectacular sunset. As long as it didn’t rain, I was happy.


Even if the sunset wasn’t nice, we still had nice food onboard. Yeah, check out that BBQ lamb, it’s the one of the highlight man.


Everyone’s spirit is high. For company annual dinner, you may consider organizing a sunset cruise party. Conventional dinner in hotel is just boring and everyone wants to leave after meal.


Pic: the sunset is about to start. When the sun moved closer to the horizon, the sea water turned into silvery blue, an interesting color that only can be seen from open sea.


Then the boat brought us behind Sapi Island, where we could snorkel (snorkelling gears provided onboard). It was a bit cool probably due to the recent rainy season, so only one person doing it. Just to let you know that you can have this activity, and the boat can take you to snorkelling spot far away from crowded tourist area. If it was a hot day, I would take a swim.


Our barbecue chicken wings and satay were ready, just in time for the sunset. With free flow of soft drink, it couldn’t be better.


Pic: satay for the sunset!


Pic: more BBQ food. Wish you were there.


We were so happy about the exceptional view of sunset. In fact, we thought of postponing the trip because of the possible bad weather, now we have no regret.


Alex, the owner of the boat, was happy too. We were the only group on the open sea that day, this sunset view was exclusively for us.


We were busy taking and posting sunset photos to our Facebook. Some even updated their profile photos with sunset as background. Bet these photos got many likes and made their friends envious.


Pic: the magic moment with the most intense colors, cloud and sea were painted with rosy colors but only lasted a few minutes.


After the sunset was over, our boat moved further and anchored in open sea for next activity, fishing. The crews had prepared fishing rods and bait for us.


We caught a few snapper and grouper. However, the fishes were too small, so we released them back into the sea after photo taking. If we were lucky, we would have BBQ fishes.


Though we have no BBQ fish, there’s something better waiting for us. Our BBQ lamb is ready. We started second round of feasting. The lamb was roasted slowly, so the meat was kept juicy inside, very yummy.


For buffet dinner, we also had fried noodles, curry chicken, butter prawns, mixed vegetables, salad and sweet & sour fish. The BBQ just now was more like high tea lol.


Our eyes and mouth were satisfied, next it’s the turn for our ears. Let’s have some music. The boat has karaoke set in lower deck, so you can show your talent. Your voice will be broadcast to upper deck too, so nobody could escape from your performance, unless they jump into the sea. Sing as loud as you can, because there no neighbour will complain you.


We had fun until 8:30pm, then we had to go home at last. Watching night view of KK city is the last part of our trip. The bustling KK looks like a sleepy city from a distance.


Instead of heading straight to the port, our boat cruised slowly along the shoreline of KK, to have closer look of KK city night.


To be honest, though lovely, the night view of KK is not as magnificent as big cities. Anyway, I don’t see this every day, so I still enjoy the moment.


Pic: Le Meridien Hotel and Sinsuran Night Market are the brightest section of the KK night view.


Pic: Sinsuran Night Market with busy hawkers and customers. Guess they didn’t know they were being watched.


Pic: KK Waterfront Esplanade won my award as the most colorful night view of KK, haha.

Overall, this is a delightful trip and a luxury to me, who spend most of my time living and working in a world as small as an office cubicle and bedroom. I bet you will enjoy such tour.


Pic: 40 passengers and 40 happy faces

Joining a Sunset Cruise

You can either join a tour or organize a party yourselves. The following are the packages and prices for tours by Hydian Way (as of Jan 2015). You can download their brochure for full details.

Type of Tour Activities Fee
Morning Cruise
(10am-2pm)		 Snorkeling, Fishing, Lunch with free flow of drinks RM249 per person (≈US$70)
Sunset Cruise
(5pm-7pm)		 Night Cityscape, Sunset Viewing, Refreshments RM199 per person (≈US$56)
Sunset Cruise with Fishing
(4pm-8pm)		 Fishing, Night Cityscape, Sunset Viewing, Refreshments RM249 per person (≈US$70)
Private Chartered Customized
Hydian Way can host up to 50 people (30 would be the most comfortable size)		 Rental Fee: RM2,500 to RM5,000 (≈US$700 to 1,400) for 4 hours

For booking and enquiry, please contact Huang Long Travel & Tour (皇龙旅行社) at:
E-mail: info.hydianway@gmail.com
Tel:: +60 16-557-0211 (Terita – Marketing Manager), +60 13-863-1982 (Melessa – Sales Manager)
Address: Ground Floor, Premier Golf Center, Jalan Istiadat, Kompleks Sukan Likas, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.

More Photos

The photos in this article are small. You may browse my photo album for bigger and better photos:

Related Posts

I had tried sunset cruise with different types of boats too. You may check them out and compare the experience:

Photos taken in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Sepanggar Island (Pulau Sepangar), the new island destination of Kota Kinabalu

3 Replies

To enjoy a weekend on island, people of Kota Kinabalu city (KK) always visit Sapi, Manukan or Mamutik Islands. Though Sepanggar Island (Pulau Sepangar) is only 12 minutes by boat ride from KK, it was like a “nobody island.”


Twice the size of Manukan Island, Sepanggar Island looks like a giant manta ray from the sky (see location map) and ten of thousands of motorists see it from the busy road along Tanjung Lipat every day, but most don’t even know the name of this big island.


Pic: beach of Sepanggar Island


Sepanggar Island has all the elements such as nice beach and swaying cocnut trees to be a tropical island destination. When the neighbouring islands get really crowded with tourists, Traverse Tours sees the potential, they develop Sepanggar Island into a new attraction and name it Mari Mari Sepanggar Island.


Now you have another choice of island, besides those in nearby Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park. Instead of promoting Sepanggar Island as a cheap and mass tourist destination, this island is meant for visitors who want to stay away from the noisy crowd and chillax at a tranquil seaside.


You can laze around its white sandy beach and do nothing, or you can try scuba diving, discovery scuba diving (no diver license required), snorkelling, kayaking, fishing and jungle trekking. Sepanggar Island is a protected forest reserve and covered by thick tropical rainforest. The highest point is 160 Meters, where you can have a panoramic view of Likas Bay, Sepanggar Bay and Kota Kinabalu city. I haven’t explored their jungle but I think its undisturbed forest has interesting fauna and flora waited to be seen.


Pic: you can see Kota Kinabalu city from Sepanggar Island. The night view should be nice.


Last month I was in a 1-hour fishing trip around Sepanggar Island in the morning. My travel agent prepared the fishing rod and bait for me.


Pic: the sea of Sepanggar Island is also a fishing spot for local fishermen. There are 8 dive sites near this island.


Our boat passed by Sepanggar Island Water Village. The water was so clear and we saw a juvenile turtle swimming among corals.


Pic: Sepanggar Island Water Village (Kampung Pulau Sepangar)


We caught a few fishes about the size of a palm. You would get big fish if you are lucky.


We enjoyed our lunch buffet after the fishing trip.

Then we just relaxed at the beach side and felt the gentle breeze.


Pic: from the beach, you can see Mt. Kinabalu at the left and Gaya Island at the right.


Pic: Dive Centre (left) and Activity Centre (right) of Mari-Mari Sepanggar Island. They also have proper toilet, changing room, lockers, activity hall and dining area for the guests.


Pic: Forestry Department doesn’t encourage them to cut the trees so the centre is inside lush wood. Surprisingly there was very few mosquitoes during my visit.


Pic: for student group who wants to overnight on the island, there is a wide sleeping area to accommodate them.

Island Accommodation (Chalets)

The island has 1 unit of Beach Chalet (Double bed) and 5 units of Hill Chalets (3 units with Double Bed, 2 units with Twin Bed). All rooms are equipped with attached bathroom & soap dispenser, stand fan and towel rack/bar. Beach Chalet is near the beach and has great sea view. If you love to be surrounded by trees, you may stay in Hill Chalets on the slope but you need to take a short walk to the beach.


Pic: Beach Chalet with nice sea and night view of KK city.


Pic: Beach Chalet

All chalets can accommodate up to 3 people but it is a tight fit, so they recommend just 2 Adults + 1 Child for the Hill Chalet while the Beach Chalet can accommodate 3 Adults.


Pic: Hill Chalet inside the forest

As all facilities depend on solar power, electricity usage is kept to a minimum and there are no charging options in the room. However, they have a charging station at the reception area where you can charge your electrical appliances safely.


Their Beach Chalets and Hill Chalets have opened and now available for booking. You may download the Pre-Summer Promotion package for details (valid from 11 May – 30 Jun 2015).

IMHO, Sepanggar Island is a suitable playground to organise small private beach party and group outing. You can enjoy BBQ and beer at the beach, watching sunset and KK city night view and then spend a night on the island.

How to get there

The tour to Sepanggar Island starts from RM180 (≈US$57). To visit the island, below is the contact of the agent:
Company: Traverse Tours
(The tour operator has a counter (No.12) in Jesselton Point Ferry Terminal, where their boat departs to Sepanggar Island)
E-mail: sales@mantananiisland.com, mantanani@traversetours.com
Tel: +60 13-883 4921 (Hotline), +60 88-260 511, +60 88-260 522
Website: www.mantananiisland.com
Facebook: Mantanani-Kechil-Island-Sabah-Borneo


However (I wish I don’t need to mention this), I need to tell you that you will see rubbish on the sea and other corners around Sepanggar Island. Most of these garbage are from the water villages of Gaya Island. I hope the government will relocate those villagers ASAP to inland, to solve the littering problem once and for all, because it is also affecting other nearby islands and island resorts. Other than that, the service and location of Mari-Mari Sepanggar Island is great, so it deserves to be the next popular destination.

More Photos

You may check out album of Sepanggar Island for more photos.

Photos taken in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Fishing at Mantanani Island

Leave a reply

Fishing is FUN! I don’t understand why women never like it. So, for man who wants to get rid of his “sticky” girlfriend, just say you go fishing then she won’t follow you like a Remora (suckerfish), wahaha!


Fishing can be an addictive hobby, and you won’t be short of male companion to join you. During our trip to Mantanani, the Mermaid Island, the guys thought it’s probably a good idea to fish for “mermaid”. Ta-da!!! An angler team (men only of course) was formed in minutes and we couldn’t wait to start.


Pic: preparing fish bait (shrimp and squid)

You can book a fishing trip with tour operator of Mantanani Island. The cost for a 3-hour fishing trip is RM150 (?USD50) per person. A fiberglass small boat will bring you to a few coral reef areas near Mantanani, where the reef fishes concentrated.


Pic: 101 crash course on fishing

The boat provided everything from fish bait to fishing rod. They even taught me how to fish. The weather was not good, the sea was rough and it rained. However, it didn’t put off the passion of enthusiastic anglers like us. Six of us released the fishing lines at both side of the boat and waited quietly.


It didn’t take a long time to hook our first caught.


Shortly, we got another fish. Half of our caught were scad fishes.


I also got a grouper. Everyone caught something and we had a great time. We changed fishing location around the island 4 or 5 times.


Pic: the caught of the day by Jul, it’s a grouper weight nearly 1 KG.


Our bucket was full of fishes!

Below is a 30-sec video of our fishing trip:


We headed back to our lodge, Sayang-Sayang, just in time for our dinner, so we barbecued the small fishes. For the bigger fishes, we steamed them.


The BBQ fishes are almost ready. Our mouth was watering.


Pic: the crispy BBQ fishes


Fresh fishes taste best if steamed. It felt great to eat the fishes we caught than those we bought from fish market.


Dip the fish meat into sauce made of small chili, lime juice and soy sauce, and you can taste the heaven, the Sabahan style.

Photos taken in Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Speargun Fishing

Leave a reply

It was a quiet morning in Semporna. I setup my camera and tripod, and waited for the magic moment of Semporna sunrise. Due to the cloudy sky, the sunrise was not particularly impressive. Then I saw a sea Bajau paddling a canoe and headed to my direction.

Being focus in the sunrise shots that I wanted to get, I just ignored this common scene in the sea of Semporna.


But what this fisherman did next stimulated my curiosity. He submerged his head into the water and maneuver the boat with one foot, as if he was looking for something.


Then I noticed he carried a speargun.


But no worry. He was hunting for fishes under the stilt houses of a sea resort.


As the sunrise was over, I just observed him from a distance. He had a fruitful day, he got a fish every few minutes, even better than fishing.


He seemed happy with his caught too. After getting 6 or 7 fishes. He gave me a friendly smile and left. The morning was back to silence again.

You may watch the 30-sec video below to see him fished:

My mom was an expert in speargun fishing too. She made her own speargun with umbrella metal stretcher, rubber tyre, wood, string and iron wires. Then she would catch a lot of fishes and prawns in river with her brothers. Every time she told me this same old childhood stories, her eyes sparkled, like she was recalling a happy past, though her family was so poor that time. Fish is a vital source of protein for poor men.

From that fisherman, I saw how my mother lived.

Photos taken in Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Crab Fishing

Leave a reply

As part of the training in Miki Survival Camp, Mike, our guide, introduces a fun way to fish crabs without hook and fishing line.


All you need is a bamboo stick with split end to hold a pieces of unwanted meat such as chicken skin or fat. Later we learn that earthworm works the best but you need to tie the worm to the string so it won’t break apart.


Then we go to a small stream nearby to fish for crabs. Though we don’t see any crab in the water, we know they are hiding under the rocks and in the holes.


What we need to do is to place the bait near the possible hidden spot of crabs. The crab will be attracted by the bait and come to pinch it. Once you feel the pulling force from the crab, just slowly withdraw the stick.


You will see crab being lured out of the hole, follows the bait and try to get a hold of the meat. Once you are sure that the crab pinches the meat firm enough, you can pull it out of the water.


See! Mike got a greedy and stupid crab! However, it’s not as easy as it looks. I try a few times but the crab escapes. If you fail to fish it in first time, the crab will become cautious and may not dare to hold onto the bait.


Mike and Jimmy got 4 or 5 crabs in less than half an hour. The crabs are in bright orange color, very beautiful but quite small.


All freshwater crabs in Sabah are edible. Mike cooked these crabs with oyster sauce. The smell is so nice. The meat tastes good too though it’s not much.


Gontong, our dog, also enjoys the crab shells left over by us, so funny.

You may watch the 90-sec video of crab fishing below:

Related posts:
Miki Survival Camp
Fishing for ??? (guess!) in Kuala Penyu beach

Photos taken in Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Deep Sea Fishing

Leave a reply

I like fishing since I was a little boy. I was used to fish with my friends and cousins at the rivers and streams. However, we mainly did it for fun. We either released the fishes later or we kept them as pet in our fish tanks, and we never ate them. FYI, Sabahans don’t really like freshwater fishes as seafood is so abundant.


Few months ago, I was invited to a half-day fishing trip. “The worst fishing day is still better than the best day in office”. Fishing is always fun, no matter I catch anything or not, so I joined.


We departed from a jetty of Tanjung Aru Water Village around 5am. We used a wooden boat (powered by engine) commonly used by local fishermen, not the fancy fiber-glass angler boat. Slowly our boat headed to the sea near the island. On the way, I saw the silver moonlight cast on the rippling sea. It is such a beautiful and peaceful view. Too bad my camera can’t capture it!


About 20 minutes, our boat is in the middle of the sea. We were fishing just outside the park boundary of Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park. Mr. Sushi prepared the fishing rod and bait for us in the dark.


To be honest, I don’t really know how to use a fishing rod properly. During my childhood, I only used bamboo pole as fishing rod. Even the fishing hook was made from sewing needles I stole from my grandmother. You guess it right, even the fishing line was the thread for weaving cloth, lol. After few short instructions on how to release and pull the fishing line, we start to fish.


The depth of water is about 20 to 60 feet (7 to 20 Meters). My friend told me that usually you get fishes about the size of palm, but in lucky occasion, you might get big fish such as barracuda. See the city light in photo above? It is Kota Kinabalu city. We were so far away from shore.


Soon the sunrise appears at the horizon, a calm moment. What I like about fishing is to empty my mind, free from bombardment of noisy city life and loud media/people. Probably that’s why most women don’t like fishing, as they love to keep their mind busy, hehe. Women love to interrupt men who try to “empty” their mind. They like to ask “what are you thinking?” If the man says “Nothing”, then she will think that he is hiding something.


It’s not long my mind is interrupted by a bite signal from fishing line (it must be a female fish, just kidding). I pulled the fishing line and catch a red fish!


The fish is so small that I use less than 1 Calorie of energy to pull it out of the water. Anyway, it’s our first catch so it generates some excitement (and hope) and attention among us.


However, no more fish for the next 15 minutes, so we relocate our boat. Without any sonic device to scan for density of fishes in the water, we just try our luck.


Now we can see the Mt. Kinabalu and Kota Kinabalu city from our boat clearly.



Though I got a few fish bite signals, the fishes escape with the bait.


Then the luck is on Rie side, she got a fish!


Forgot to tell you. I have sea-sick problem. As our fishing boat is small, it swings with the waves so I vomit, so embarrassed… I don’t feel better after vomit. Whatever, my stomach is empty, nothing to puke already.


The sea is not as quiet as it looks. We see many jelly-like creatures floating on the sea. Anyone knows what they are? Is it plankton?


The fishes like Rie. She got her second fish! This time it’s bigger. She is the winner for today.


Shortly Mr. O also got one fish. It’s the 4th fish for our group. As long as we got fish, we are happy, we don’t care if it is big.


The sun is getting hot at 9am, so we decide to go back. On the way, we stop by a fish farm in the sea.


There are many hungry fishes in the net cage.


Without getting any fish today, Mr. Y tries his luck by fishing in the fish farm!


Congratulations! He got his first fish. It is cheating though. At least none of us goes home empty-handed now, haha..


The day is bright so I can see the jetty and surrounding of Tanjung Aru clearly now.



We are in Tanjung Aru Water Village. The stilt houses on the beach is a common sight to Sabahans, but for tourists, these are something unique. We see some tourists tour around and take photographs in the village.


Running kids, friendly cats and dogs lazing around are also the features of our village.


Before going home, we have a short tea break in a local family. They are very friendly fishermen and keen to share their stories with you.


My catch is on proud display. I think the kids are very impressed, HAHAHA!

It’s possible to get big fishes here, but it was not my day. If you want to have a good time and get away from city and your nagging wife, please contact Mr. Sushi for a fishing trip (Mobile phone: 019-8109510, E-mail: sakaborneo@yahoo.co.jp). He is a Japanese but can speak good Malay.

More Photos

You may check out the photo album of Deep Sea Fishing for more nice pictures:

Related Post
Deep Sea Fishing at Usukan Cove

Photos taken in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo