From our hotel, it was only a few minutes drive to the port where the start of our island hopping tour is. We are not going to the usual Jesselton port. Our tour arranged our island hopping adventure via Sutera Harbor. If you plan to do the island hopping tour on your own, read this.
Weather was perfect but not for us. We don't want too much sun. That's why I decided not to go swimming/snorkeling. I know it's such a waste because we've traveled all the way to KK and do island hopping but not go swimming. We just planned to sit around and relax.
The port in Sutera Harbour is nice and had several luxury yachts parked. There was even one made out of stainless steel. It was just like our stainless jeepneys here in Manila only, this was a huge yacht. We embarked a speed boat towards our first island and the ride alone was incredible -- It was so fast and bouncy (not something older people would enjoy) that you can hear James Bond music at the back of your head!
We are only going into the 2 out of several islands under the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park which is Manukan island and Mamutik island. Other islands in the vicinity are: Gaya, Sapi and Sulug. All of which are reachable within 15 minutes via speedboat. According to them, cooler months around this area (Nov to Feb) tend to attract whale sharks. Park is open from 830am to 5pm.
Manukan Island
Our first stop was Manukan island. The island has a dock (as seen in the photo above) with a ticket collector at the entry point. Unlike our islands here in the Philippines where you can just stop anywhere and go down the boat by jumping into the water, here, you need to pay a conservation fee to gain access to the island. There are Pros and Cons to that and one of the Pros is a very well maintained island. The public restrooms were clean and well equipped (but a bit smelly), shower pressure was strong and the path ways are clean.
As we disembarked the speed boat, you can already see the crystal clear water and the abundant marine life in it. That made me change my mind in a snap. I finally decided to take a dip and maybe do some snorkeling.
Looking towards the beach, you'll notice that it is divided into several sections by the floating orange markers. Snorkeling, swimming and diving sections are separated.
Seadoo underwater scooter
My lil brother and sister went to the washroom to change attire to get ready for some snorkeling. On the way back, they found something cooler than just doing the usual snorkeling.. Scubadoo!!! They were explaining to me what this Scubadoo was. I didn't get it at first.. I thought it was like diving with one of those Seadoo underwater scooters.
After seeing what a Scubadoo was really like, I immediately said yes, even though it was a bit pricey. It costs around 250RM per person for 30 minutes. Conversion rate in that island was 100usd = 280 RM. (around 3,500+ pesos)
A scubadoo is like an underwater motorcycle. It's a mini submarine where you sit in a motorcycle like position and the controls are same as how you maneuver a motorcycle. Gassing up, you need to press a button near the handle (similar with how you gas up ATVs. Breathing on the other hand is just like how you breath when doing helmet diving.)
Here's a sample video on how Scubadoo works:
It was really great! Your helmet has windows all over but unlike helmet diving, you won't be conscious on what you are stepping on because you're sitting on that underwater contraption! I recommend that you guys try Scubadoo. It was an awesome experience!
After doing the scubadoo, we just waited until 12noon. Killed time by walking around the island and taking photos. I didn't want to snorkel nor swim because I was already satisfied with Scubadoo and I was afraid to get sunburned. If you're a fan of tourist-y souvenirs, there's a souvenir shop in this island and I suggest that you buy here because in Mamutik island (our next island destination), there was no souvenir shops.
Leaving Manukan Island
Mamutik island dock
For lunch, we transferred to Mamutik island. We had a buffet lunch by the beach. It was also nice that our tour guide had pre-arranged everything for us, including reserving a table in a nice spot-- near the food and entrance plus nice view of the sea.
In our itinerary, it was supposedly BBQ lunch. I was imagining a lunch where you do the BBQ by yourselves while eating, sitting in the sand. Well, turned out to be that everything was already prepared and there were tables and chairs. Food was served buffet style in chafing dishes. After a certain time, they won't refill the food anymore so better get what you want.
Lunch was so-so. It included a bottled water and a can of soft drinks. Ate by the beach in a foldable table with plastic table cloth.Had a nice lunch overall but it was too hot to do any activities because it was around 1pm and the sun was up and intense. We just decided to roam around the island again and take some photos.
Sign around the island - makes me want to substitute "walkers" for stingers (#thewalkingdead series).
Bye Mamutik island!
After getting bored, we requested to return to the city proper and we were back by around 230 in the afternoon. We went straight to the hotel to freshen up a bit and did another round of shopping at the center point mall before having dinner at the port view restaurant.
That night while walking along the waterfront, it suddenly rained. This is why we ended up eating in Port View Seafood Village restaurant. Seeing that the place was huge and there were lots of fresh seafood, we decided to try it out. We were also enticed by the cultural show performance. Very tourist-y, food was just average, it was pricey and the performance was just so-so. I don't recommend this restaurant.
We paid the travel agency RM 130.00 (Approx 1,800 pesos) per pax for this tour. Includes entrance to the 2 islands, buffet lunch, boat transfer and hotel-destination-hotel transfers.
1 comments:
How much was your island tour? It includes lunch on the island, right?
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