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【Top-rated tourist attractions in Sabah】
What is Customized Tour?
A custom tour is an independent travel plan designed and arranged just for you.
This type of travel includes private airport/hotel transfers, hotels, trains, cruises, performances, events, activities and privately guided tours. This tour can be any dates, any place and in any style that you want to travel.
Custom tours meet your wants and your needs.
📍Floating Mosque (Masjid Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu)
👩🏼🌾 Region: Kota Kinabalu City Tour
✔️ Availability:
Monday – Thursday : 8.00am to 12.00noon; 2.00pm to 3.30pm; 4.00pm to 5.30pm
Saturday – Sunday: 8.00am to 12.00noon; 2.00pm to 3.30pm; 4.00pm to 5.30pm
🕛 Duration: 1.5 hours
👤 Minimum: 1 pax
Situated near the sea, this majestic white mosque boasts similar features to the Nabawi Mosque in Medina. This floating mosque has a prayer hall which houses three madrasahs and accommodates from 9,000 to 12,000 people at a time.
By far the largest mosque in Kota Kinabalu, the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque is even possibly the most beautiful one in Malaysia – the man-made lagoon which surrounds it gives a serenely gorgeous and dramatic look to the mosque on a full moon night.
The Kota Kinabalu City Mosque is open for the public to visit, however all visitors are required to register with the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque Tourism Management.
When visiting the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque, visitors are required to follow the following rules:
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Dress appropriately. Whether you are visiting outside or entering the mosque, all visitors are required to cover up and dress modestly. Before entering, visitors are required to wear coverall provided by the City Mosque. Cover up clothing can be rented for RM 5.00 – RM10.00
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All visitors are required to show respect to the place and act politely.
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All visitors must abide by the rules set by the City Mosque including observing the off-limit areas.
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No food and drinks allowed in the City Mosque area.
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When taking photos or videos, all visitors must always be mindful to not pose or act in an inappropriate manner.
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No imitating other religions act of prayer.
Source: Malaysia Tourism Board, Photos: Internet
📍University Malaysia Sabah
👩🏼🌾 Region: Kota Kinabalu City Tour
✔️ Availability: Every day
🕛 Duration: 3 hours
👤 Minimum: 1 pax
The university is located on a 999-acre site at Sepanggar Bay in Kota Kinabalu in the Malaysian state of Sabah. With Mount Kinabalu and the South China Sea as its background, UMS is often considered as among the most beautiful campuses in Southeast Asia.
Source: Malaysia Tourism Board, Photos: MMD
📍Roof top sunset
👩🏼🌾 Region: Kota Kinabalu City Tour
✔️ Availability: Every day
🕛 Duration: Sunset - Night time
👤 Minimum: 1 pax
Serving not only the freshest of bounty from the sea, Horizons Restaurant is also famous for its beautiful 360° panoramic view of the city, and the unobstructed vista of the majestic Mount Kinabalu.
Source and photos: Sutera Horizons Restaurant
📍Mari Mari Culture Village
👩🏼🌾 Region: Inanam
✔️ Availability: 10am / 2pm (Every day)
🕛 Duration: 2-3 hours
👤 Minimum: 1 pax
Mari Mari Cultural Village tour is located deep in the countryside away from the modern and developing Kota Kinabalu city. The village operates as a museum that preserves Borneo ethnic culture. It aims to share the knowledge, history, culture, and tradition of Borneo with you so that it is not forgotten.
The tour offers you the opportunity to see and experience the culture and lifestyle of how the indigenous ethnic groups of Borneo used to live in the olden days when electricity had not yet been introduced in their land.
The village features 5 different ethnic tribes in one village. They are the rice farmer Kadazan-Dusun, the longhouse resident Rungus, the hunters and fisherman Lundayeh, the cowboy and sea gypsey Bajau, and the famously feared headhunting tribe Murut.
Source and photos: Mari Mari Culture Village
📍Nostalgic train experience & White Water Rafting Kiulu River (Grade I - II)
👩🏼🌾 Region: Tamparuli
✔️ Availability: Every day
🕛 Duration: 6 hours
👤 Minimum: 1 pax
Kiulu River is a great river for beginners, both elderly and kids may join this trip thus makes it suitable for a family trip. Trip begins with a safety briefing session conducted by our professional raft guide that will demonstrates rafting techniques and proper handling of rafting equipment before rafting commences. Excursion covers up to 15km, making it the longest white water rafting trip in Borneo, It may covers 7km on medium water level. The journey will take about 1 ½ - 2 hours of rafting before reaching the ending point where delicious barbecue lunch prepared just by the riverbank.
Source: Malaysia Tourism Board, Photos: Internet
📍Mantanani Island
👩🏼🌾 Region: Kota Belud
✔️ Availability: Every day (depends on room availability)
🕛 Duration: 2-4 days
👤 Minimum: 1 pax
Travel Box Dive Centre - DiverCity@Travel Box is located at this stunning island. The Mantanani Islands form a small group of three islands off the north-west coast of the state of Sabah, Malaysia, opposite the town of Kota Belud, in the northern Borneo.
The largest island is Mantanani Besar; the other 2 are Mantanani Kecil and Lingisan.
These islands are popular sites for recreational diving – there are 3 nearby dive wrecks dating from Second World War. 90-minute drive from Kota Kinabalu City to Rampayan Jetty, Kota Belud (80KM) and 30-minute boat ride to Mantanani (Besar) Island.
• Number of dive sites: 19
• Skill level: beginner to advanced
• Main diving attraction: Dugongs (manatees) if you are really lucky, blacktip sharks, juvenile turtles abound, and macro diving (seahorses, imperial shrimps, blue-ringed octopus, nudibranches). And not to mention, its clear visibility and beautiful coral reefs
• Average water temperature: 27°C to 30°C
• Seasonality: all year round
Source: Internet, Photos: Travel Box
📍Kundasang
👩🏼🌾 Region: Ranau
✔️ Availability: Every day
🕛 Duration: 2 days 1 night
👤 Minimum: 1 pax
Kundasang is in Sabah in Malaysian Borneo 6 km from Mount Kinabalu Park. Kundasang has grown into a popular leisure destination with many resorts in the vicinity. It is popular for its fresh vegetables, and plantations and farms suitable for temperate climate.
Things to do: Mount Kinabalu, Kundasang Market, Desa Daily Farm, Arnab Village, Kinabalu park, Poring Hot Spring, Treetop Canopy Walk.
Source: Malaysia Tourism Board, Photos: Internet
📍Honey Bee Farm
👩🏼🌾 Region: Kudat
✔️ Availability: Every day
🕛 Duration: Day tour
👤 Minimum: 1 pax
Honey Bee Farm is located in Matunggong, a sub-district 43 kilometers south of Kudat town, where one of the economical activities for the village community is honey bee farming. There are over a hundred bee cages in the bee farm.Here, visitors will be able to observe how a bee farm is managed. They will often get a taste of raw honey straight from the honeycomb.
Other than that, there are also rubber trees planted at the bee farm. Therefore, visitors can also witness the traditional method of rubber tapping and rubber rolling.
Source: Malaysia Tourism Board, Photos: Internet
📍Gong Village & Rungus Longhouse
👩🏼🌾 Region: Kudat
✔️ Availability: Every day
🕛 Duration: Day tour with lunch
👤 Minimum: 1 pax
The gong is the most important Rungus musical instrument which is played during festivities and grand occasions such as weddings. The gongs sold in Kampung Sumangkap vary in sizes—visitors can expect to find tiny souvenirs ones with different shapes and unique designs as well as large ones that can reach up to 2 meters wide in diameter. Apart from gongs, you can also find Rungus beads and other unique trinkets to bring home.
For large groups of visitors, the villagers of Kampung Sumangkap will often hold cultural performances in the Kampung Sumangkap Community Hall where the kulintangan (a set of different sized gongs producing different sounds) is to be played. Here, visitors will also have the opportunity to witness the method of gong making by the professional gong makers in the village.
Source: Malaysia Tourism Board, Photos: Internet
📍Tips of Borneo
👩🏼🌾 Region: Kudat
✔️ Availability: Every day
🕛 Duration: Day tour
👤 Minimum: 1 pax
Simpang Mengayau means ‘lingering junction’ as it is here that the South China Sea lingers and meets the Sulu Seas flowing from the east. The sunsets and full moons are just beautiful. The Pulau Kalampunian lighthouse is a reminder of treacherous coastline and past shipwrecks. On the left is the beautiful beach of Pantai Kalampunian with white long sandy beach and mesmerizing azure blue water .It’s a lovely easy stroll to the flagpole, the Globe and the rocky outcrop that forms the “Tip of Borneo”.
There are a cafe, souvenir shop and washrooms. For those who are interested to enjoy overnight stay along this beautiful beach, there are few selections of rooms and chalets available for rent.
Source: Malaysia Tourism Board, Photos: Internet
📍Lankayan Island
👩🏼🌾 Region: Sandakan
✔️ Availability: Every day (Depends on room availability)
🕛 Duration: Minimum 3 days 2 nights
👤 Minimum: 1 pax
Lankayan, a tiny jewel-shaped island located on the northeastern coast of Sabah, is part of the Sugud Islands Marine Conservation Area (SIMCA) and is surrounded by blue-green waters and coral reefs. It is also one of Sabah’s top diving spots.
The availability of jungle interior and interesting diving attracts both divers and non-divers alike to Lankayan Island. 14 dive sites including the Lankayan Wreck, all only minutes away from the island, offer magnificent displays of marine life ranging from giant groupers to tiny ribbon eels. Enormous whale sharks are regularly sighted between March and May, and the island is also a nesting site for green and hawksbill turtles. You can watch as the baby turtles are released back into the sea.
The Lankayan Island Dive Resort is approximately 1.5 hrs boat ride from Sandakan jetty and has sixteen attractive wooden chalets with beach fronts and the common dining area extends to a sundeck jutting out to the beach. Visitors will enjoy the relaxing island atmosphere with a stunning sea view.
Source: Malaysia Tourism Board, Photos: Internet
📍Sepilok Orang Utan & Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
👩🏼🌾 Region: Sandakan
✔️ Availability: Every day (9.00am to 3.30pm)
🕛 Duration: Day tour
👤 Minimum: 1 pax
The biggest attraction one could do while visiting the Sepilok lowland tropical forest would be watching the orangutans. Watching only the orangutans, that is: because this formidable stretch of wilderness-wisely preserved and just a few miles away from the modern hustle and bustle of Sandakan offers an unequal opportunity to observe the utterly complex mechanisms of nature at work in the tropics and in comfort. It is then – and only then – that one will be able to hear the hypnotic, cicada-like song of the tree frogs, the booming, cackling call of the great hornbill, the soft rustling of the dead leaves on the forest floor at the passing of a bronze skink. Only then the metallic shine of spider eyes will be apparent, only then the dead brown little branch will start walking with the hesitant steps of the stick insect, and it is only then that the bright green leaf buds on a low shrub will suddenly take the coiled shape of the pit viper waiting in ambush.
After having admired for as long as needed the delicate grace of the big red-haired apes with their extraordinary prowess in tree-climbing and upside-down vine-dangling, and after having been dutifully moved to the depth of their heart by their soulful gaze (no other primate looks at you like an orangutan does), the visitors should stay a little longer in the forest and take a leisurely stroll along the well marked trail in the company of a biologist and guide from the Rehabilitation Center.
Visit the world’s smallest Sun Bear at the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center at Sepilok, adjacent to Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre. The centre opened in 2014 and aims to provide care and rehabilitation to the rescued sun bears while increasing public awareness about this species. To date, there are about 43 rescued ex-captive sun bears residing at the centre with continuous efforts to set them back in the wild when they are ready. The centre is equipped with key facilities including an observation platform, boardwalk and a visitor centre. There is also the educational bear talk for visitors to join along.
Source: Malaysia Tourism Board, Photos: Internet
📍Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary
👩🏼🌾 Region: Sandakan
✔️ Availability: Every day (8.30am to 5.30pm)
🕛 Duration: Day tour
👤 Minimum: 1 pax
In the centre of the mangrove forests of Semawang is the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary, where you can see Borneo’s indigenous proboscis monkeys. This privately-owned sanctuary located within an oil palm estate gives you the chance to observe these animals up close and personal.
The remarkable males sport big dangling noses, reddish flat-top hairstyles, white tails and markings, and pot bellies. The females on the other hand, are much smaller and have up-turned noses.
Take a night tour for a chance to see wild boars, flying squirrels, fireflies and crocodiles. The sanctuary also has a lodge with air conditioned twin or double rooms, family chalet and dormitories for those who wish to stay overnight.The sanctuary also provides transfers and day trips with pick up from your location in Sandakan city. You can also book through a local tour operator, hire a taxi or self-drive to this sanctuary.
Source: Malaysia Tourism Board, Photos: Internet
📍Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary
👩🏼🌾 Region: Sandakan
✔️ Availability: Every day
🕛 Duration: Day tour
👤 Minimum: 1 pax
A river cruise along the river at dawn or dusk is the best opportunity to see the wildlife. You might even sight the Bornean pygmy elephant feeding along the river banks, witness stunts of the Proboscis jumping from tree to tree or even catching sight of a wild orangutan. Crocodiles? Yes the saltwater crocs frequently make themselves visible as they linger by the riverbanks… or even more thrilling, is to spot their eyes slightly protruded from the water (well stay away…).
Fun Fact! All the eight species of Hornbills found in Borneo, make this area their home. The most commonly spotted hornbills would be the Rhinoceros Hornbill and the Oriental Pied Hornbill. The diverse species of birds seen here has listed the Lower-Kinabatangan as an Important Bird Area (IBA). Bird enthusiasts from near and far often booked a carefully designed birding tour with travel agents specializing in this niche interest.
The Kinabatangan is a great wildlife and education escapism for all types of travelers and is family friendly too.
Source: Malaysia Tourism Board, Photos: Internet
📍Semporna
👩🏼🌾 Region: Semporna
✔️ Availability: Every day
🕛 Duration: Day tour
👤 Minimum: 1 pax
Tucked into the far southeast of Sabah, the district of Tawau is a symphony of green and blue. The green face of Tawau includes some astonishing forests, rich cocoa and oil palm plantations and one of the finest golf courses in Sabah. This is also the getaway to Sabah's famous islands and world's class dive sites in Semporna Region.
Things to do at Semporna Region: Island hoping, Mabul Island, Kapalai Island Bohey Dulang, Pom Pom Island, Hiking etc. There are various beautiful resorts on different islands.
Source: Malaysia Tourism Board, Photos: Internet
📍Sipadan Island
👩🏼🌾 Region: Semporna
✔️ Availability: Every day (Depends on room availability)
🕛 Duration: 5-6 days
👤 Minimum: 1 pax
Sipadan has appealed as one of the top dive sites in the world. It has been highly sought after by divers for its array of possible sightings. The mushroom like island (from a far off eye level view) offers 12 different dive points.
Some say that Barracuda Point is the best especially for the opportunity to be amidst a swirling vortex of barracuda. Other say, the Drop Off is even better in terms of experience which only requires a 9.14 metre walk on the beach before dropping off into the water, and to then go around the island wall which is 600m from the ocean floor.
Sipadan is well known for its unusually large numbers of green and hawksbill turtles which gather there to mate and nest and it is not unusual for a diver to see more than 20 turtles on each dive. More than 3000 species of fish and hundreds of coral species have been classified in this richest of ecosystems and thus made Sipadan an important marine habitat in this region.
Did you know that Sipadan’s popularity started off being a Bird Sanctuary? Migratory birds such as wood sandpiper can be sighted apart from the common sea eagles, kingfishers, sunbirds, starlings as well as megapodes.
Divers require a permit to dive in Sipadan and the quota is capped to 176 permits per day (156 dive permits, 20 snorkelling special permits); 3 dives per diver. Each permit is valid for 1 day only. Permits are to be attained from dive resorts. Kindly enquire directly with them if you wish to dive Sipadan.Sipadan does not host any accommodation anymore. Divers will opt to stay at one of the nearby islands or at the Semporna mainland.From December 2020 onwards, the Sipadan island will be closed to visitors every December to give a month-long recuperation period for the coral and marine life.• Average water temperature: 27°C to 30°C • Seasonality: all year round
