{"id":4421,"date":"2014-08-10T23:21:52","date_gmt":"2014-08-10T15:21:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mysabah.com\/wordpress\/?p=4421"},"modified":"2021-01-15T21:02:48","modified_gmt":"2021-01-15T13:02:48","slug":"mengalum-island-and-the-mysterious-anchor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mysabah.com\/wordpress\/mengalum-island-and-the-mysterious-anchor\/","title":{"rendered":"Mengalum Island and the Mysterious Anchor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did you know that Sabah has 392 islands and we are the state having the largest number of islands in Malaysia<\/strong>? I wish I can explore them all, and there is a beautiful but least-known island just 56 KM north-west of Kota Kinabalu City (see Location Map<\/a>). If you take a flight flying north, you would see this island, Mengalum, which looks like a donut with irregular circle from the sky. This island is so remote and private that it’s ideal for nudists to go streaking on the beach there lol.<\/p>\n

\"Mengalum
\nThe surrounding sea of Mengalum Island (Pulau Mengalum) is a popular deep-sea fishing spot<\/strong>, so most anglers know Mengalum. This island is becoming well-known among tourists too after it opened to public in 2010. (It is officially called \u5b5f\u52a0\u4f26\u5c9b in Chinese, but tour agents prefer the more marketable name \u73af\u6ee9\u5c9b, which means an island surrounded by beach)<\/p>\n

\"sea
\nI went with WB Tours and Travel (\u987a\u987a\u65c5\u6e38)<\/a> for my first visit to Mengalum last month. I departed from Jesselton Point Ferry Terminal<\/a> with two catamaran fully loaded with 24 China tourists at 8:30am. The weather was perfect and our boats cruised smoothly on the calm sea.<\/p>\n

\"catamaran
\nAfter an hour, the color of seawater turned from navy blue to aqua blue of shallow water. We arrived Mengalum! Everyone got excited when they saw a sea turtle swam by our boat and the thriving corals in the sea.<\/p>\n

The Beach<\/h3>\n

I got off the boat and looked around. My first impression of Mengalum is – it’s a deserted island (actually there is a resort at another side) with long stretch of beach.<\/p>\n

\"beach<\/p>\n

\"grassland
\nThe island is flat (without high ground), with dense patches of trees fringing a few edges of the island. There are monkey living in the wood. I wonder how these monkey reached this island 56 KM away from mainland. The centre is a wide grassland dotted with seaside shrubs (e.g. Scaevola sp.<\/em>).<\/p>\n

\"grass
\nNearly 232 acres of this island is a protected bird sanctuary for migratory birds. Anyway, I spotted no bird and monkey in my trip.<\/p>\n

\"tourists
\nThe sand on Mengalum is the whitest and finest, it is as powdery as flour<\/strong>, unlike the coarse sand more commonly found on other islands. There was no other people around, so it was like our private beach with only our footprints.<\/p>\n

\"white
\nFor such a picture perfect scenery, every couple, family, group of friends became busy doing selfie and usselfie. You know I’m not lying when you see those happy faces in my photos.<\/p>\n

\"bikini<\/p>\n

\"happy<\/p>\n

\"photo
\nWhile we were admiring the sea view, our travel agent had setup the parasols and beach mat for us. Some of us went swimming in the blue sea and children frolicked on the beach and picked up a few starfishes.<\/p>\n

\"beautiful
\nMengalum Island is 4 Sq. KM in size (<1,000 acres) and you need about 1 hour to walk one round. In 2011, the owner wanted to sell his resort and 250 acres of land of this island for US$18,000,000 (RM 60 Millions), but it didn’t happen.<\/p>\n

\"relax
\nFYI, there are some sandflies in shaded area of the beach, but not to an unbearable amount. It’s a tiny blood-sucking insect with white wing and black body. Its bite is not painful but will turn itchy next day (don’t scratch or it’ll become worse). To avoid bite, just cover your exposed skin with towel or beachwear, or another better option is to wear full body swimming suit.<\/p>\n

\"coral<\/p>\n

Snorkeling<\/h3>\n

We started our first snorkeling session at 10:30am and our boat dropped us to a coral area (we saw two turtles again from the boat) a few hundreds Meters off the shore.<\/p>\n

\"crystal
\nWe put on our life vest, snorkel and mask (no fin provided), and entered the crystal clear water. During high tide, the water is about 2 to 5 Meters deep, and the visibility is superb.<\/p>\n

\"snorkeling
\nBy looking at the flourishing corals, the nursery and shelter of marine lives, I know why anglers say Mengalum is abundant in groupers, snappers, mackerels and other reef fishes.<\/p>\n

\"colorful
\nMost of the corals I saw were hard corals, for example, staghorn corals, lettuce coral, table corals. Many grow really big, intact and in good condition, with clownfishes, cleaner fishes and butterfly fishes swimming among them. I believe Mengalum is also an excellent scuba diving site.<\/p>\n

\"corals<\/p>\n

\"corals
\nThough the sea was calm, the current was quite strong. To stay together, the swimmers need to hold on a long rope tied to the boat. But I was so indulged in taking video of the underwater world that I was drifted very far away from the boat. Thanks god they sent the boat to fetch me because I couldn’t swim back. Here is the video I “risked” my life taking:<\/p>\n