{"id":5776,"date":"2015-07-20T22:53:29","date_gmt":"2015-07-20T14:53:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mysabah.com\/wordpress\/?p=5776"},"modified":"2023-01-03T22:56:18","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T14:56:18","slug":"bohey-dulang-island-of-tun-sakaran-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mysabah.com\/wordpress\/bohey-dulang-island-of-tun-sakaran-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Bohey Dulang of Semporna Islands Park"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My urge to visit Bohey Dulang Island started with a photo seven years ago. “Nice painting!” I praised a big drawing of islands hanging in the office of my friend. “Actually it’s a PHOTO taken in Sabah,” he replied. I was stunned. The islands look so surreal, such place doesn’t even seem exist. After some lookup in local bookstore, I found that it is the photo of Tun Sakaran Marine Park<\/strong> (or Semporna Islands Park<\/strong>) taken by Michael Patrick Wong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"photo
\nPic: aerial photo of Tun Sakaran Park by Michael Patrick Wong<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tun Sakaran Marine Park (TSMP) is located off Semporna at east coast of Sabah and comprises of eight islands – Bohey Dulang, Bodgaya, Tetagan, Sebangkat, Selakan, Maiga, Sibuan and Mantabuan, covering a total land and sea areas of 350 km?.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sleeping
\nPic: view of Tun Sakaran Marine Park from Semporna town. Locals call it Sleeping Old Man<\/strong> and I guess you can see why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TSMP is the largest marine park in Sabah (but will be superseded by 1-million-hectare Tun Mustapha Marine Park<\/a> soon). I was also told that you can get a fascinating view of TSMP (they call it one of the most beautiful views of Sabah) from the peak of Bohey Dulang Island<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below is the location map of TSMP. You also can see it in Google Map<\/a>:
\n\"location<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every now and then I contacted some travel agents for a trip to this park, but they all wanted me to charter the whole boat (for nearly a thousand bucks) if I traveled solo, so the plan was held indefinitely until last month Edward from Borneo Star Cruise<\/a> texted me, “bro, I’ll visit Bohey Dulang tomorrow. You want to join?” Of course I was more than happy to tag along!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Bohey Dulang Island<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Bohey Dulang (or Boheydulong, Bohaydulong) is the second largest island (size: 313 hectares) of TSMP and about 23 Km away from Semporna. Legend says there lives a beautiful princess named Salamia<\/strong> from Bum-Bum Island. Her family hid her on Bohey Dulang, to avoid a forced marriage by a notorious Sultan from the southern Philippines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"legend
\nPic: drama about Princess Salamia in Sabah Fest<\/a> 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, she vanished a few days later and believed to be hidden by the spirits of this island and turned into a fairy. Even nowadays, local people say they can hear Princess Salamia singing and her dog barking during the night of full moon. Occasionally, she is seen walking around the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tun<\/a>
\nPic: Bohey Dulang Island<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The name Bohey Dulang is derived from bohi<\/em> (bohey) meaning water and dulang<\/em> meaning pools or depressions in Bajau language. This may refer to series of oval rock pools, roughly 2-3 m across, along the small waterfalls and main freshwater stream on the eastern side of the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"east<\/a>
\nPic: East side of Bohey Dulang Island<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People say these pools are a source of drinking water for Princess Salamia. A document reports a large cave (40 M high and over 20 M long) is situated on the east side of this island too. Could it be the home of Princess Salamia? I wonder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day Trip to Bohey Dulang<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ok, back to my tour. Edward and I were taking a boat from Semporna town around 11am. The weather was good and we approached TSMP in 15 minutes. The Best Time to visit Bohey Dulang are from February to April (the dry months).<\/strong> If you visit during wetter months like July, August, December and January, your trip would have higher chance of being spoiled by heavy rainstorm of monsoon seasons, or not, depending on your luck. The park would close the climbing trail if the weather doesn’t seem good<\/strong> (even if it’s cloudy and no rain).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"boat
\nOur boatman showed us a “secret passage” where we could see dozen of sea turtles. We cruised slowly on the sea near TSMP. It was low tide and the water was crystal clear. We could see large area of corals and white sand under the ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"swimming
\nThen we did see over 10 sea turtles passed by our catamaran one by one. Gee… though turtles look heavy and clumsy, they swim as fast as a torpedo in the water. I totally fall in love with the beautiful nature and romantic legend of this island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Semporna<\/a>
\nYou may ask, “this magical destination should have become very famous for a long time. Why it only rises as a new attraction in recent years?” Good question. In 1963, Bohey Dulang was leased to Kaya Pearl Company to establish the first pearl cultivation center in Malaysia. The island was heavily guarded by armed personnel and stranger was strictly forbidden to enter the island. That’s why Bohey Dulang is nicknamed as the Pearl Island<\/em> or Treasure Island<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sabah<\/a>
\nThen the pearl farm was closed in 1993. In 2004, Bohey Dulang, with seven other islands, is gazetted as ?Tun Sakaran Marine Park? (TSMP) by the Sabah Government. As a national park and by word of mouth, it gains more exposure and now it receives hundred of tourists every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"jetty<\/a>
\nTSMP is managed by Sabah Parks<\/a> and they have an office and giant clam nursery on Bohey Dulang. Visitors are required to get a permit from them before entering the island. I hope they will make it a public park soon, so tourists only require to buy ticket to enter. Furthermore, Bohey Dulang needs more tourism amenities such as restaurant, watersport center and resort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"taking<\/a>
\nFrom the jetty, you can see the peak (at left in photo above) that is used as the view point for scenery of TSMP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a fast overview of Bohey Dulang, you may watch the short video below: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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