Kota Kinabalu, the under-rated macro diving haven of Sabah

Kota Kinabalu is the capital of Sabah, formerly known as the British North Borneo before it gained its independence in August 1963. Today, Sabah is part of the states that makes up Malaysia; a small but thriving country in South East Asia.

Many scuba divers all around the world may not have even heard about Kota Kinabalu as a choice destination for a scuba diving holiday. Its popularity has been dwarfed by the fame of the world famous Sipadan Island to the east of Borneo.

For those diving enthusiast who don’t really have much spare time to spend on extended diving holiday might want to consider diving around Kota Kinabalu waters. The Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park is only about 10 – 20 minutes boat ride from the city and it consists of 5 islands with a handful of Scuba Diving operators to cater your needs. The city itself has a wide range of accommodation to choose from; whether you like to be in the comfort of a 5-Star International hotel chain, to a cheap and easy backpacker’s hostel mostly within walking distance to the main pier going to the islands.

Although the TAR Marine Park is in lack of the big stuff most scuba divers would love to see, however it is not shy of the wonderful small critters that may interest a lot of muck divers. From the usual nudibranches and small porcelain crabs to some of the rarest find like the most sought-after Harlequin Shrimps, Blue-ringed Octopus, and various kinds of Frogfishes. Sulug Island for instance is a good, almost-guaranteed place where you could get a chance to see the elusive Orang-Utan Crabs.

Apart from the rich macro marine life, TAR Park is also a very good place to do diving courses especially for beginners. Sapi Island for example, is considered the best site for dive training for its waist-deep sandy plateau and gently sloping beach. Merely few yards from this plateau is a small coral reef, just enough to get new divers excited about their upcoming adventure. Beyond this small reef it features a sandy bottom with a few man-made reef-balls that made up its artificial coral garden with some very interesting luminescence colored small fishes. The way the training site has been both naturally and artificially sculptured made it an almost perfect site to make new divers to get comfortably acquainted with the underwater environment.

To be continued...

(writer is a Scuba Diving instructor working in Kota Kinabalu)