30 years ago, Sapi Island and Manukan Island, were top 10 most beautiful islands of Sabah, Malaysia.Due to increasing pollution and garbage from the shore ,especially Gaya Island, contributed to the dwindling of corals and fish species in Tunku Abdul Rahman Park. Sabahans, local divers and nature lovers also expresses their concern about it.Tourists would think that all islands of Sabah are dirty, polluted and lack of corals.But most of them still flow to these islands.

Here, i introduce you The Hidden Treasure Of Borneo, MANTANANI ISLAND. 

The island are reminder of an earlier and simpler place and time

About an hour's drive from the state capital city of Kota Kinabalu to the jetty of Kampung Kuala Abai in Kota Belud, then a speedboat ride takes 40 to 50 minutes to Mantanani depending on the sea condition and unavoidable factor such like a bad weather , for safety measure and safety concern , they might postpone or cancel the trip. Mantanani consists of 3 isolated islands northwest of Kota Belud, namely, Mantanani Besar (the biggest) Island, Mantanani Kecil (Kechil) Island and Lingisan Island (smallest). Above is the map to Mantanani. In fact, these islands are so tiny that they are not appear in most Sabah map. I draw the map myself just for you to get an idea, the shape and scale are not accurate, so don’t use it in textbook okey.

To get to Mantanani, you have to arrange the tour with the island operator prior to the visit.Book  with the sole operator such of Mantanani Besar island , Mantanani Resort (of Traverse Tours) and Mari Mari Resort ( sole operator of Mantanani Kecil island) . Kuala Abai Village view, the (Kg Kuala Abai ) fishing willage. (above)

During the 45 minutes ride to the jetty of Mantanani island, we would see a dolphin that usually following behind the fishing boat if we were lucky, but this is no guarantee.Upon arriving at the jetty such Mari Mari Dive Lodge (MMDL) jetty that is built 400 Meters from the shore of the MMDL that  is a structure of 3 stilt houses joined together, i.e., a 4-room twin-bed accommodation, a dive lodge and a dining area.During high tide, we can snorkel to the island or the request boatman send you there, because during low tide it is too shallow for the boat to enter, we can walk from MMDL to the island but have to watch out for the venomous stonefishes and stingrays that hide really well in the sand.

The presence of an endangered sea cow or in local language called ''dugong/duyung",sighting is rare and the most recent sighting was reported last month , which occasionally found grazing on the sea grass around the island made Manatanani known as "Mermaid Island" crystal clear sea, so clean that as if it is drinkable with the visibility of the water can reach 20 meters, the blue sky and white sandy beach setup for beautiful and great shoot of  Mantanani photos

The Island above is very small , you will be curious what inside its cave, nobody lives on it and a frigate birds birds fly around there in the evening named to the island as Lingisan Island. Mantanani Besar was the island behind it.

In case you misunderstanding about the dark patches under the sea, they are something dirty,? FYI, that was rocks and  corals. Tourist from HongKong, China , Japan, Korea and europe had discovered this pristine island by viral. But still very few Sabahans know about Mantanani.

We could see a turtles, bumphead parrot fish,big stingray,giant clam,moray and eagle eel,nudibranch, finger coral and much more marines life.More adventurous divers can try out muck diving or wreck diving from 15 dive sites in Mantanani.

Some fishing boat love to come here to fish.Fish bombing greatly reduced since the setup of Police Base on Mantanani.The underwater current is quite strong under the sea. Instead of fighting it, divers can use the current as an “escalator”, go with the flow to “glide” above the corals

Only a few MMDL workers live on Mantanani Kecil as they are looking after the power generator and the water supply on the this island. Look at the picture beside, it was Mantani Kecil nice view behind. We can walk on to a small cliff behind the island and enjoy a bird view of it rocky shore and the sea under the cliff was looks deep and rough, so , meaning that only for wacthing and Kayaking is allowed if the sea is calm and good weather.

Toured around the islands and checked out the other side of Mantanani Besar. It is a rocky shore with interesting mushroom rock formation, probably the collaborative work of wind and water over years. I climbed onto the rock and walked around. The surface was slippery, rough and sharp, so I moved carefully with naked feet. Do visit this when you come to Mantanani.

This Lingisan Island is the one  most eager to check out because of its big cave. A closer look reveals that it is not a deep cave and its bottom only submerges a few feet under the water during high tide. The staff told us that only swiftlets and bats live inside, and the owner comes to collect edible bird nest from the cave sometimes. It is a small but very unique island.

Sunset was approaching and returned to MMDL. Everything was painted with gold color. Jesus light came out at north, later I had to call it a day. Most tourists only opt for day trip so most of them had left around 3:30pm. Unlike honeymoon couple who can make baby at night, I got nothing to do. But hey, this is a holiday, so I shouldn’t do anything right? Living in city for too long, I was not used to leaving our brain stops thinking for a moment.

Whole day of water sports already made me so tired. Surprisingly, Mantanani is supplied with 24-hour of pleasing sea breeze, so I don’t feel warm even in hot afternoon. I even slept a while on the veranda, just to enjoy the gentle wind, sound of ocean and freedom. The next morning I waked up very early to take sunrise photos and was rewarded by magnificent view of Mt. Kinabalu.

Hopefully government will gazette Mantanani as a National Park, so we could preserve its beauty and marine ecology for future generations to enjoy. There aren’t many pristine islands left in Sabah west coast.

However, with weak enforcement of Sabah government, who recently denied the presence of illegal coral mining that destroyed tons of coral reef in Tawau and release of effluents into Segaliud River by oil palm mills nearby, I am not so optimistic about our conservation.

Photos taken off Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo