Dive In Ke Pulau Mantanani
MyCrib dive in to Pulau Mantanani during a visit to Kota Belud, Sabah on the 17th of May last week. To reach Pulau Mantanani, we have to take a boat cruise by Kawa-Kawa River Cruise from Kota Belud jetty located at Tamau, Kota Belud. It's situated along Sungai Wariu near the sea and only takes 25 minutes from Kota Belud's town to reach there. We started our trip there early in the morning and reach there at 9am. The boat departs at 9.30am. If you're wondering, the time it takes to reach Pulau Mantanani is an hour. You might get wet during the boat journey, so it is advisable to pack your belonging in a waterproof bag and you might want to bring along an umbrella or wear a hat.
What's interesting is, along the journey to Pulau Mantanani, you can view fishing activities by the local fisherman which they live near the river. Besides that, you can view the breathtaking scenery of Gunung Kinabalu once the boat past the fisherman's village along the river. Once the boat journey on the sea, the view of neverending sea is peaceful and calm.
We arrive on Pulau Mantanani at 10.30 pm. Upon arrival on the beach, we are amazed by the soft sand in which we walk on. The view of the island is beautiful and the weather is sunny and windy. We then rest by on a hammock beneath the trees before we pick up our snorkeling gear and listen for the tour guide for the instruction. The tour guide instruct all the tourist to wear their life jacket and snorkeling gear properly and not to open them during the snorkeling session for safety. The tour guide went on about instruction for about 5 minutes and then we're off again to ride the boat to the sea. The snorkeling area is only 5 minutes from the beach.
We're struck by the beauty of the sea where the water is crystal clear and is inhibited by marine life such as coral, fishes and many more. If you're lucky, you can see a small shark species said a taxi boat. In addition to snorkeling, you can also dine on the island. Do not worry if you want to buy equipment
Then we were taken out to sea, about 1km from the beach for snorkeling. You must have seemed struck by the beauty of the sea where the water is crystal clear and has marine life like coral, fish of many colors and many more. If you're on a lucky day, the tour guide says that you can see a small shark species or dugong on their hibernation trip. We snorkeling around for at least 30 minutes before we move to another snorkeling area which house different species of fish such as clown fish and puffer fish.
After spending about an hour snorkeling, we go back to the beach to eat lunch at 12pm in the noon. The menu available is fried rice, vegetables, chicken and prawn which is barbequed while the drinks available is hot coffee and hot tea. After lunch, the tourist guide says that we have free leisure time to clean ourselves and explore the island. We depart back to jetty around 3pm. We arrive at Kota Belud jetty at 4pm, upon arrival at jetty, we were served with homemade cakes along with coffee and tea.
Long story, short, you don't have to go abroad to experience the beauty of beautiful island and soft sandy beaches with crystal clear sea water because in Malaysia, we already have it!