2019 Dec 16-20 : Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

In October 2019, Heather, Olivia and Abby obtained their SSI Open Water Diving License after a week's training in Singapore and Pulau Tioman, Malaysia. Both Hwee Ling and myself are already PADI Rescue and Master Divers respectively. It was time to plan for the first family diving trip. We thought of the usual dive sites in Thailand, Peninsula Malaysia and the islands nearby Indonesia as well. We have not tried East Malaysia, and thought we wanted to do some diving , some water activities, shopping, and a place where most of them would be a first time visit. Hence, Kota Kinabalu fit in as everything was close by and the hotel stay was good. It was my 5th visit to Kota Kinabalu.

Hence on 16-Dec 2019, we took a 2-hour Scoot flight to KK. The flight time indicated below in the Google map was not accurate.

From KK airport, we took a Grab MPV to drove us to the hotel. The journey was about 40 mins after getting through some traffic jams in KK city centre.

Kota Kinabalu is the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia. The city is located on the northwest coast of Borneo facing the South China Sea. The Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park lies to its west and Mount Kinabalu, which gave the city its name, is located to its east. Kota Kinabalu has a population of 452,058 according to the 2010 census; when the adjacent Penampang and Putatan districts are included, the metro area has a combined population of 628,725.

In the 15th century, the area of Kota Kinabalu was under the influence of Bruneian Empire. In the 19th century, the British North Borneo Company (BNBC) first set up a settlement near the Gaya Island. However, it was destroyed by fire in 1897 by a local leader named Mat Salleh. In July 1899, the place located opposite to the Gaya Island was identified as a suitable place for settlements. Development in the area was started soon after that; and the place was named "Api-api" before it was renamed after the vice-chairman of BNBC as "Jesselton". Jesselton became a major trading port in the area, and was connected to the North Borneo Railway. Jesselton was largely destroyed during World War II. The Japanese occupation of Jesselton provoked several local uprisings notably the Jesselton Revolt but they were eventually defeated by the Japanese. After the war, BNBC was unable to finance the high cost of reconstructions and the place was ceded to the British Crown Colony. The British Crown declared Jesselton as the new capital of North Borneo in 1946 and started to rebuild the town. After the formation of Malaysia, North Borneo was renamed as Sabah. In 1967, Jesselton was renamed as Kota Kinabalu, Kota being the Malay word for Fort and Kinabalu after the nearby Mount Kinabalu. Kota Kinabalu was granted city status in 2000.

Kota Kinabalu is often known as KK both in Malaysia and internationally. It is a major tourist destination and a gateway for travellers visiting Sabah and Borneo. Kinabalu Park is located about 90 kilometres from the city and there are many other tourist attractions in and around the city. Kota Kinabalu is also one of the major industrial and commercial centres of East Malaysia. These two factors combine to make Kota Kinabalu one of the fastest growing cities in Malaysia.

We stayed at Le Meridien Hotel. Plenty of food choices and night markets within the vicinity. There were also bigger and modern shopping malls not too far away, it was easy to hail Grab private hire vehicles.

Here's a hotel room view of the South China Sea, Gaya Island, and the night markets.

Panning to the left side of the view, you can see Sutera Habour, Pulau Manukan, Pulau Manutik and Sulug Island.

Here's a sunset view seen from the hotel room.

We went to a nearby local coffeeshop and tried some good local Chinese food. Then we walked around. We also had a good drinks and snacks at the top lounge of the hotel. We needed at least 12 hours of good relaxing rest before the dive on the next day.

17 December - Day 1 of diving (2 dives)

Rise and shine! We had some light breakfast at the hotel lobby and had to fight for seats and food as majority of the tables were jam-packed with holiday makers from China.

Next, we took a Grab MPV to Jesselton Port and arrived after 15 mins.

We met up with the dive trainer and divemaster from Borneo Dream Travel who got us to complete all the required paperwork and verification. Then we set off in the dive boat. First stop to pick up another Singaporean leisure diver from a seaside resort on Gaya Island, then we suited and geared up for our first dive.

Buddy safety checks! Belts! Weights! Releases! Air! Good to go!

All divers followed the trainer.

Good thing I rented a compact underwater Nikon camera from the dive shop.

Decent underwater shots. Visibility was quite good at this time of the year.

The trainer and divemaster would point us to interesting objects, fish or objects.

After diving for 45mins, we had to do a required safety stop.

We surfaced.

We proceeded with lunch at a nearby island and after some rest, we went for a second dive before ending the diving the trip for the day. Visibility was good all day at about 8-12 meters. We went back to the hotel and enjoyed our dinner at the hotel lounge again.

18 December Sungei Padas White Water Rafting

We signed up to go for white water rafting and I specially selected Sungei Padas. In terms of difficulty challenge it was categorised as Level 3 to 4 which was for the slightly more advanced or adventurous people.

We had to wake up very early and the minivan came to pick us up at the hotel lobby at 5.30am. The journey will take 2 hours to the train station at the town of Beaufort.

We arrived at Beaufort at about 7.30am and we proceeded to take breakfast at a nearby coffeeshop.

At 8am, we boarded a train which would take us another 40mins towards Rayoh Station.

Here we had to deposit our personal belongings at the locker, get changed as we had to catch the same train which would take us upstream to Pangi for another 20 mins ride.

Here's what Level 3 to 4 white water rafting was about. Everyone needed to get into the icy cold fast flowing water where your feet could not even feel the bottom.

It was very fun. We ended the rafting at Rayoh, and after we showered and had lunch there, we had to make our way back to the hotel. Another train ride and minivan journey back to KK city centre.

This photo was taken at the Riverbug Adventure organiser. This was where we had to keep our personal belongings, get changed and had lunch at the end of the white water rafting trip.

19 December Day 2 Diving (3 dives)

We did 3 dives today. Visibility was not as good as the previous day of dives. It was about 4-6 meters of visibility. There were also quite a fair amount of baby jelly fish in the sea as this was the jelly fish spawning season at this region. This time we went with another couple from the Central America.