7 Awesome Things to do in Sabah

We were really excited when we decided to explore our neighbouring country, so near to home and yet rarely the go to destination for fellow Singaporeans like us! Most people usually head to JB in Malaysia for cheap and good food, grocery shopping. But what we experienced in Sabah really changed our mind about this country! So here are 6 awesome things to do in Sabah!

1. Climb MT Trusmadi

If you think climbing Mt Kinabalu was challenging, wait till you’ve tried Mt Trusmadi! The trail was really challenging especially when the bulk of it was done in the night! But it was still a really fun and rewarding experience for us. The view was awesome, you can even see Mt Kinabalu when you’re at the summit of Trusmadi! Just be prepared to get really dirty and muddy though, but well, that’s the fun part right? 😉

Tip: Leave your leech socks at home. No leeches here, so don’t worry! 😀

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At the summit of Mt Trusmadi. Can you spot Mt Kinabalu amidst the clouds?

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TrusMUDDY! My face tells it all! haha

Tip: To reward yourself after the climb, enjoy some delicious Boreno Fried Chicken located right next to the Amazing Borneo office! It really does taste better and healthier than KFC, no joke! Felt so good indulging in this sinful but yet worth it meal, heh 🙂 

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Super delicious and crispy Boreno’s Fried Chicken! A must try!

2. Trek Maliau Basin, the lost world of Sabah

4 days of trek in the wilderness, far away from civilisation. Just us and nature, it was pure bliss. The highlight was to trek to the spectacular 7 tiered Maliau Falls which was really stunning. The photo below was taken during the dry season. Can you imagine how majestic it would be during the wetter months?

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Beautiful 7 tiered Maliau Falls in the Maliau Basin!

3. Pamper your aching feet and body with a spa

We had one of the most relaxing and luxurious spa at Kama’A Rejuvenation and Wellbeing spa which was located conveniently in the city centre of Kota Kinabalu.  ever after our tiring Trusmadi and Maliau Basin trek! The hot stone massage was amazing, really felt our muscles fully relax. Unfortunately we only managed to take photos before our massage begun. Our masseurs were not bad, but Daniel’s masseur was better though. But overall we had a great 3 hour spa and massage session! For those on a budget, their 1 hour foot massage cost only 75RM! Super worth it!

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At Kama’A Rejuvenation and Well being Spa

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4. Explore Pulau Tiga, the Survivor Island

Remember the very first season of the popular variety show, Survivor? Guess what, it was held right held at Pulau Tiga in Sabah! There were so many things to do on this beautiful pristine island. We snorkelled, dive, relaxed on a hammock while enjoying the sea breeze and even enjoyed a spa! Yes, a spa! A natural volcanic mud spa that has been around for donkey years!

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Hmmm, will we survive the night at Survivor Island?

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Natural volcanic mud spa! Anybody wanna try?

5. Enjoy the glorious sunset at Manukan Island

This place was heavenly! Think white soft sand, clear blue waters, beautiful blue skies with white fluffy clouds, it was almost like the Asian version of Maldives! We stayed at the Manukan Hill Side Villa and it so amazing! We could enjoy the sea view right from our room! Also, the villa had their own private beach with your own deck chairs, umbrellas, beach towels, etc!

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Walking right straight into paradise!

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gorgeous sea view right from our villa’s room balcony!

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Enjoying the beautiful sunset from the viewing point of Manukan Island

6. Spot Proboscis Monkeys during our Wildlife river cruise

We had so much fun trying to squint our eyes at the trees trying to spot any movement that might be the endangered Proboscis Monkey! Sadly there are only less than 6,000 of them left and they can only be found in the Borneo forest.

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Any idea what all of them are looking at?!

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Tadah! Here it is, a female Proboscis Monkey!

7. Light your night up with beautiful glittering fireflies

We did see fireflies before, but we’ve never seen thaaatttt many fireflies before! It was crazy! It really did feel like a Christmas Light Up when we were there. And one very interesting and strange phenomenon was that somehow, these fireflies are able to send some signal to each other and synchronise their light up time together! It was mind blowing. Once moment everything was darkness, and then suddenly, they all light up at the same time and it was sublime!

Fun fact: Fireflies might seem so cute and pretty, but do you know, they’re actually cannibalistic creatures?! They feed on their own kind to survive! 

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The best that we can capture. You have to be there to experience it for yourself!

Overall we had an amazing time in Sabah and if you’re looking for a quick and nearby getaway from Singapore, do consider Sabah! Lots of adventure, nature, wild life, beaches for you to explore and enjoy 🙂

Essential Information

How to book the above tours:
We booked all the above tours with Amazing Borneo. They have a wide range of activities for you to choose from in Sabah. We had a very fuss free experience with them and we highly recommend to anybody who’s keen on exploring Sabah. This was also our second time booking with them, our first was for the Mt Kinabalu climb.

Ps. All of the above photos were taken with the Samsung Galaxy A8 except for Trusmadi and the river cruises which were taken with the Samsung NX1.

Check out our take on the Samsung Galaxy A8 as a travel phone . We were really impressed with the phone camera of the A8. Especially the 16mp rear camera which is currently one of the best in the market right now.

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Oh and this phone is really good for those who love taking selfie pictures! The front camera is not bad either with a 5mp resolution. To activate the front camera, all you need to do is to pose with your palm facing the camera and once it detects your palm, it’ll count down for 2 seconds before taking the picture.

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Taking a wide selfie using our Samsung Galaxy A8 at Manukan Island in Sabah

Another key feature of the A8 is its super AMOLED screen display which makes viewing of our photos really pleasurable! The screen is also large enough to leave our tablets at home and to use our phones instead! Especially when we meet fellow travellers, it’s always so much more convenient to simply swipe through photos in our phone as compared to showing them via our DSLR camera.

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Big thanks to Amazing Borneo for the awesome adventure in Sabah! Also thank you Samsung for letting us try out your Galaxy A8! 

Hope you’ve enjoyed our post about things to do in Sabah! Do share with us your experiences of Sabah if you’ve been there before too!