Another place that I had always wanted to go to was the island of Mantanani. Located in the east coast of Sabah, it had only started to really get the attention probably in the last 10 years or so, long after people had started flooding into the islands near Kota Kinabalu or probably those in Sandakan and Semporna.
For one going there is not quiet much of a hassle especially when the whole trip is pre-arranged through a tour company like the one that I took. I went there as part of a tour package by Sutera Sanctuary, so everything was pre-arranged. Leaving from Sutera Harbour in a tour bus at about noon, we were mobilized to a jetty located at a swampy area in Kota Belud from where we were transferred on a boat and reached the island of Mantanani in about an hour.
My first impression of Mantanani or at least the resort area that we would be staying in for the next 3 days was not really a good one. I mean, I had been to quiet a number of islands and I didn’t see anything special to the island but of course I was eager to give it a chance to prove that first impressions are not always right. It didn’t really take long though, as I was instantly impressed by the cabin room that I was placed in.
The cabin room was mostly made of woods, which reminds me of Alphine vacation cabin resorts in Alaska that I had seen featured in movies about alpine hunting and all.
Taking a little tour around later, I had come to find out that there wasn’t much to see and do on the island, or at least within the resort area. There was the beach, which was OK but nothing so wow about. Most of it was heavily littered with dead woods and tree stumps, probably washed ashored from the mainland or other islands or even other parts of the island. It didn’t help much that the weather was quite rough most of the time, so sea activities were limited, leaving us with nothing much to do but staying indoor and doing nothing, literally.
Perhaps the only highlight that I can think of now was the morning sea view when I could see the ever-majestic Mount Kinabalu towering high over the blue sea horizon, making it look like floating or something. Apart from that, nothing much really.
Mantanani wasn’t really the best island that I’ve ever been to, but it wasn’t the worst either. By the end of the stay there, I did not feel like staying around any longer than I already did, even if I were given the choice. To be fair though, I probably did not explore enough to find out everything that this island had to offer.
But at least I returned to the city with something ticked off the list.