Today was a water day. I was going boating off the coast of Kota Kinabalu to some surrounding islands to do a little snorkeling and to laiz around the beach. My driver picked me up just before 8:00 and we set off to the marina where I would be joining a few others for the day. Now what I did not know is that the five Chinese who were joining me were going to be diving and there was only going to be two others, a guy from Chicago and our guide, who were going to snorkel. (Turns out snorkeling was a far better decision, but more about that later.)
Anyway, we set off on the boat at just about 8:30 and headed towards Manukan Island reaching the island in about 20 minutes. The divers suited up and were soon in the water. Once we offloaded the divers the boat headed closer to the island where we were going to snorkel. Now shame on me. I went and left my Go Pro at home so there will be zero pictures of all the lovely fishies we saw, but I can tell you that they were colourful and plentiful.
We were in the water for almost an hour near a number of coral reefs in what was pretty clear waters making it really easy to spot the fish. There were lots of clown fish, rainbow coloured parrot fish, black and white striped fish, tiny, tiny blue oblong fish and I even spotted not one, but two clarinet fish (long skinny white fish with a really long tail).
Near the end of our time in the water off Manukan Island, the boat left to pick up the divers and then returned and picked us up. And while we snorkelers had lots of stories of the fish we saw, the poor divers not so much. Apparently, the area they were diving in was quite murky and they really saw next to nothing. I felt really bad for one of the divers who was clearly disappointed.
Anyway, we moved away from Manukan Island and headed towards Sulug Island. We again dropped the divers off first and then headed closer to the island near the reefs. And while the sea was a little murkier here, we again hit the jackpot. Almost immediately, we spotted a green sea turtle, followed by a HUGE school of chevron barracuda. In fact, we spotted this enormous school of barrcuda a number of times, which was followed around by a huge school of yellow snapper. Now I also spotted a giant barracuda (that’s its name) which was a lot bigger both in length and width to the chevron barracuda. It also had a black tipped fin, which initially made me think black tipped shark, but after getting back on board the boat and seeing a picture of the giant barracuda, it was confirmed that I spotted a giant barracuda.
About half way through our second hour of snorkeling, the divers came over to our area as they were having no luck and after having the divers swimming below us, I could understand why. The divers really kick up a lot of sand and disturb the marine life so the fish tend to swim away. I ended up moving a little closer to shore away from the divers as they were making it really difficult to see the fish.
And while the water was not as clear as the first stop, we still saw a lot of similar fish, including the funny little clown fish and lots of gorgeous deep blue star fish. I also spotted a weird looking white fish that had a face kind of like a chipmunk with huge puffy cheeks. Not the most attractive fish and no idea what it was.
Just after 11:30 we headed to Gaya Island where we would have lunch and hang out on the beach. I ended up having a chicken and noodle dish along with some iced jasmine tea and then found a shady area just up from the shore and parked myself there for about an hour and half.
I half napped and half simply watched the scenery as dive boats came and went and cicadas chirped in the trees. The views were magnificent, and the chirping was somehow quiet noise making me very sleepy.
By 2:00 we were back on the beach and headed towards shore. Now there is still a bit of a smokey haze in the area, but it seems to get better as the day wears on so the views going back to Kota Kinabalu were much better than when we headed out in the morning. We passed by the large fishing village just off the coast and I was able to zoom in and get a pretty good shot of the homes lining the shore.
By 2:30 I was climbing out of the boat and heading back to my hotel. Today is the first day of Ramadan so I was looking forward to sunset when all the Iftar (breaking the fast) markets open and it will be food heaven.
I ended up going to the rooftop bar at my hotel and watching the sunset over a fabulous coconut-lychee fruit drink. It was rather windy on the rooftop and sadly clouds moved in to block the sunset (not nearly as nice as the night before).
After the sun set, I walked across the street to the Central Market where they have a night food market that springs up and man was it packed with the faithful breaking fast. I wandered around and found a nice little family run barbeque stand and order one chicken skewer and two grilled chicken wings. Then I wandered through the fruit market and found the tiny little bananas I had in Vietnam that are the sweetest bananas you will ever find.
I immediately bought a bunch (for the equivalent of $.50) and coupled with the chicken, my dinner cost about $2.00. Good grief. And it was spectacular.
So tomorrow I am up early and off for a tour in the countryside including Tamparuli Town, Nabalu Handicraft Market, Kinabalu National Park (including another canopy walk and botanical gardens nature trail) and poring hot springs. Really looking forward to it!
