Tunku Abdul Rahman Park - Manukan Island Trip via Private Jetty from Shangri-La Tanjung Aru

The conventional way of getting into Tunku Abdul Rahman Park and do island hopping is via Jesselton Ferry Terminal but we learnt that Shangri-La Tanjung Aru has a private jetty - STAR Marina that exclusively provide water sport service and island transfer to the resort's guests. Such a convenient!

The resort has arranged an early trip for us to travel to Pulau Manukan via STAR Marina. Though this was our girl first boat trip, she braced herself and remained relatively calm throughout the speed boat journey (suddenly feel proud as parents). The boat trip was short, probably about 15 minutes and we did not feel any boat sickness as the journey was smooth.

Despite the country was transiting into endemic, Manukan Island was full of local people. Many people came here for snorkeling as Manukan Island have designated places cordoned by buoys for snorkeling, though the best snorkeling spot may at the eastern coast of Sabah. Our girl was still too young for snorkeling (minimum age is 4 years old to fit the equipments) but she did enjoy the water time, splashing water while we took turn for snorkeling. Great thing about STAR Marina is that they provide rental or snorkeling equipments too.

Lunch was provided and delivered by the resort to Manukan Island. What an impeccable service the resort is providing! You may arrange with the resort for the food too if you are coming via their private jetty. 

Basically, snorkeling is the main activity in Pulau Manukan. The water ain't that clean as we expected though, but is still clear enough to provide good visual of some fishes in groups and sea urchins. Therefore please be wary and not to step on those sea urchins concealed between the rocks. Do not expect presence of corals. 

The island operator has set up two different boundaries marked by 2 distinctive colour buoys as snorkeling area. Feel free to roam around within these boundaries as it is safe for snorkeling, where area beyond these boundaries are meant for ship movements.

If you prefer a less crowded area, go to your left side of the island upon disembark from the jetty. The right side is highly populated with crowd while the crowd on the left side was seemingly lesser during our visit. Perhaps a lack of chairs and tables contributed to this differences. The left side of the island also provide better angles for photo opportunity too.

There are toilet and restaurants in the island to cater for your basic needs too. 

Personally, I felt the island was overwhelemd with tourists at its peak period. Obviously there were tourist littering around and we can see the garbage bins were overflowing, then plastic containers were everywhere in the sand. If the visitors in the island could be more civilized perhaps it could have preserve the island better.