[/caption]One of the top things to do this year was to visit Sabah mainly because I've never been there before. Haha. Tickets all set and hotel booked, we flew to Kota Kinabalu, hopped on our little red ride with *M, pre checked-in the hotel, straight on drove to Jesselton Jetty, hurriedly rushed to the waiting boat and off we went on the coolest, bumpiest, beautiful boat ride towards Mamutik Island, Sabah. All that we managed to cover within the first 1 hour we stepped foot at Kota Kinabalu. Pretty amazing, huh! Lol!
Mamutik Island is so breathtakingly beautiful and I suppose so are the rest of the islands in Sabah. Mamutik Island is one the five islands located inside the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, Kota Kinabalu. Initially the plan was to snorkel at Gaya Island but we were told that the island was not clean enough for snorkeling on that day, so we went to Mamutik instead. I think it's the nearest island from Jesselton Jetty and it's boasted to be the best place for first time scuba divers and a good spot for snorkeling. Since FF, my partner in crime didn't know how to swim, we KIV our scuba PADI licensing for next time around. Hehe.
[caption id="attachment_693" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Sandy white beach at Mamutik Island"]
[/caption]Upon arriving, we wasted no time, quickly changed into our bathing suits, put on our life jackets and snorkeled on. The water was so clear, blue in color and you get to see the most colorful of all fishes in there. There were also corals and this weird looking black thorn plant sticking out at the bottom of the sea. Snorkeling was so much fun and I couldn't imagine how it will be like if I were to scuba dive. We spent hours in the water and it was noon and the sun were directly under our head but we didn't care. Haha. I got so caught up snorkeling and moving around with the school of fish that I could even touch them while they swim and I really felt like I was in a huge, beautiful aquarium. The best part was when I ended up following this super colorful fish and guess what, the fish pooped while swimming and I saw puffed of whitish coming out from its rear. How cool was that! =)
I also went for some diving (without the life jacket of course) to check out the fishes and corals closed up. It felt really good because I just love the sea and it's amazing how different is life down under.It's just so beautiful!
[caption id="attachment_694" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Fish at Mamutik Island"]
[/caption]We got tired of swimming after sometime and ended up chilling on the beach and enjoyed the afternoon sea breeze. Of course we had to do our essential cam-whoring sessions and man, the pictures looks good! Later that afternoon, we hopped on our boat back to the jetty and yes, the boat ride was incredibly fun as well. On the way back, we get to see some parts of Kota Kinabalu town and left the beautiful islands behind for more adventure in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
*M - M is our local guide for the whole trip and without him, we'll be so lost in Sabah. Thanks man!
** Boat price for snorkeling is around MYR40 ( I think so). The price is inclusive of life jacket, snorkeling googles and round trip to the island. You got to remember to bring your own food and water into the island because you'll be hanging out on the island for a couple of hours.There's also an information booth at the island and I think you can book for other activities like scuba, those parachute from the boat thingy and also banana boat from this information booth.
***Tickets for this trip can be purchased at the jetty counter and you get to choose other trips too like island hopping and others.
