神山 - OK if you do not climb the mountain with your kid.
吊橋 - Is it going to the "Hot Spring"? If your son is not that naughty and is willing to hold tight the rope and your hand, he can still give it a try, or else ask your husband to carry him over.
I am back from KK la! I had a very enjoyable & great vacation there. As E.Y. has already breifed you a lot about the logistics, I am not going to repeat it again. But I'd like to share my great experience in Gayana Island. It is a very beautiful, natural & peaceful place. The view of my cottage is fantastic. My itin was as follows:
Day1 - Magellen Sutera (Harbour Wing)
9:00 flight to KK (an hour delayed) so that arrived there around 1pm.
- lunch in hotel
- swimming in the pools of hotel
- seafood dinner at Garden Seafood
Day 2 - Magellen Sutera (Harbour Wing)
- rafting (08:45 - 15:30, incl buffet lunch there)
- swimming in the pools of hotel
- Tanjung Aru food market for dinner
Day 3 - Magellen Sutera (Harbour Wing)
- Manukan Island (thunderstorm that day, not a lot activities could do)
- seafood dinner at Garden Seafood again, coz too yummy
Day 4 - Gayana Island Resort
- took taxi to KK ferry terminal
- around 30mins to the Island
- swimming in the natural pool & in the sea
- seafood dinner in the Island
Day 5 - Gayana Island Resort
- swimming again after Bf
- took some more photos coz the place is too beautiful
- packed our belongings & back to Magellen Sutera
- check in Magellen Sutera (Marina Wing)
- dinner in hotel
Day 6 - Magellen Sutera (Marina Wing)
- 3 hours swimming (from 10am to 1pm)
- tea buffert at the restaurant in Pacific Sutera
- went to Filipino Market
- packed our belongings & back to HK
CHECK POINTS:
1. Deluxe Garden Room is good enough. Last year I stayed in Seaview Room, but I didin't have time to enjoyed the seaview. Actually, size of room, decration, etc are the same. However, you have to request the room in Marine Wing which is very close to the swimming pools. Of course, high level floor would be the best. I stayed at the 4th floor & have garden & pool view.
2. Garden Seafood I believe is the same seafood restaurant recommended by EY. The seafood there is very fresh & the taste very good. I ordered 4 dishes of seafood & 1 dish with meat & 1 dish with vegetable very meal (coz my son doesn't take seafood), incl beer, drinks........only HKD420 (龍蝦, "大lai liu蝦", 長鼻螺, spicy大花crad同東風螺都好正!)
Just ask the hotel to book a taxi for you to there, RMB10, within 10mins ride.
3. Must go rafting. My son is 8 years old, not dangerous. It is flat river for beginner & family. My son enjoyed & had great fun! No need to go 紅榭林, quite boring.
4. Gayana Island Resort is really really nice & highly recommend to you. Only RMB255 per night incl room charge, extra matress for my son, roundtrip ferry transfer & breakfast. Realy value for money & worth to go.
- the Natural pool is built in the sea but circled by a hugh net & a lot of different kind of fishes are inside the pool. I got some fish bites too.
- the beach, not really long beach. But ther are a lot of shells, starfish, seacucumbers & different kind of fishes can easy to find. That's what you couldn't find it in Sipai or Manukan Island. I picked 4 starfish & 1 seacucumbers finally. I could pick more if I try hard. My son was very exciting.
5. Tanjung Aru Food Market
- 10mins ride from Magellen
- very cheap food there (most are satay, chicken wings, fried noodle, etc local food) must try the chicken wings (RMB1 for each). My son ate 6 chicken wings coz too yummy
- can buy some snack food & drinks there, very cheap
6. Filipino Market
- it brought me a lot of surprise
- not ony hardmade wooden crafts. A lot of fine ethnic accessories could be find there. Have to bargan the price even to half price & ask for some gifts (I brought a lot of accessories which you can find in some shops & stalls in HK, but very very cheap)
- also 10 mins ride from hotel
7. No need to go Centre Point: a very small local shopping centre, nothing to buy & the food is not good.
8. Exchange your money after immigration. There ar 3 bank out of the airport. Turn right & keep walking you may see 2 banks. Compare the rate & pick the best one (the rate is not the same, no passport required)
9. Return money after journey. Have to exchange the money to the same place (go down stair). You can[t exchange the money once entering the airport
10. Last, the only bad experience was that the hotel clean up our room very late at the 2nd day (after rafting still nobody made up our room) Have to complaine again & again & push them to do.
Also, the day I returned from Gayana, I checked in again around 3:30pm. The receptionist told me the rooms are still cleaning up, had to wait for 15mins. We had some drinks & returned to reception agiain 30mins later. Still no room. My husband was very angry & pop into the reception & asked to talk to the Manager coz we saw a Western people could get a room immediately how come we have to wait for long time. Eventually, the Manager got us the room immediately & proactively asked about our return flight. I told her at 7:55pm, then she offered me to keep the room up to 6pm at my last day with Free of charge. Also, a fruit plate & apologise letter were received. As such, if you find something uncomfortable, have to complaine & get a fair deal.
One more supplementary point:
The tea buffet in Pacific Sutera is provided on Sat & Sun only, from 12pm to 4pm. Better book a table a night before, always full. It is a very value for money buffet with wide variety of food.
Also, if you buy package, no need to incl bf for your kid. Nobody will care on this. My son enjoyed his free of charge bf buffet every day.
Thanks a lot for the detailed sharing. Very helpful and timely as I'm going on next Tuesday. You're very lucky to have a free late check-out at 6 pm. My flight schedule is same as yours (although I only go 5D4N). Hope I'm able to bargain like you did.
Meanwhile where is the rafting place? Is it far awary from the hotel? My son is 7, he knows how to swim but not very good however I don't know swimming, only my husband did. Do you think it's safe for us?
Also we learned from the news yesterday that because of the forest fire in Indonesia, the haze condition in some parts of Malaysia, e.g. Kuala Lumpur is extremely bad. Do you know whether KK has been affected?
You just book the rafting tour at the hotel counter. It takes 1.5hrs ride to the start point. Remember wear swim suit & bring clothes to change. My husband, son & I only wear swim suit coz you will get all wet provided you'd want to have great fun. After you arrive the start point, you will get your clothes change & put all your belongings into a black plastic bag & locked. You'll be provided with helmet & lifejacket. There will be a short briefing (10mins) before starting your journey. Luckily, we can have our only boat, ie 3 of us + 2 assisants (they are very nice & fun). As the river is for beginner & family, even a 2-yrs child can manage. I even played body rafting in the mid of the journey, it is optional. For most of the sessions, the water only up to your waist. Relax, enjoy & splash water to other boats. They will take 4 photos for you during the journey. The photos not bad, cost RMB40 for 1 set. Therefore, when you see the photographer, keep smiling & yelling!!
The weather is very nice there, except an after with sudden thunderstorm. Remember to bring a jacket for your son, may be also yourself. You will feel the hot from sunshine in the morning & after but not stuffy & really hot. You will feel a bit cool at night & in the morning. I didn't realize the air affected there.
Don't always go out, spend some time in the hotel & enjoy.
Not sure if you've booked the hotel transfer. If not, after change the money, go straight the same way of the banks, there is a counter for taxi. Tell the officer where you are going & pay there & get a receipt (RMB13.6). I visited KK 2 times & found that all the taxi drivers there are very honest & helpful.
Hope you have a wonderful journey!
Remember to share your happy memories with us when you come back!
I'm also planning to go to Sabeh in early Sept. I think I will buy the package fm wincastle, are they reliable enough? Which hotel will have fewer HK people? Is Shangri-La Tanjung Aru OK? Sorry for so many question. Can any one give my any advise?
I'll recommend Magellen Sutera coz the rooms of Shanghai Tanjung Aru are old. Also, most of the tours stay there. Of course, you may easy to find HK people in Magellen Sutera but not crowded. Most of the travellers there are Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese & from western.
If you really want to go somewhere with fewer even w/o HK people, try my recommendation island - Gayana Island Resort (http://www.pinganchorage.com.my/malaysia_hotel/kotakinabalu_gayana_island_resort.htm)
Sutera Harbour Resort & Shangrila Tanjung Aru Resort (STAR) is near the town centre (10 min time shuttle bus) only.
For Magellan Sutera Hotel, pls make sure to quote Magellan Sutera when make booking, otherwise, they may book the Pacific Sutera which is a business hotel, but both hotel share the same club house facilities.
Sutera Harbour Resort is much more suitable for family as they have club house facilities for different ages.
STAR is too old with less facilities, quite a lot of local people there.
For Nexus & Shangrila Rasa Ria, as KK is just a very small place, travel time to the town is around 45 min time by hotel shuttle bus which seems too far away and not that convenient, no shopping mall / supermarket / foodcourt nearby.
But if you don't mind staying at the hotel for food and to enjoy their facilities, they are good because KK downtown is old and not much attractive than KL.
One more thing is Nexus is the newest hotel among these 4 at KK.
I just came back from a 5D4N Sabah trip. It was very very enjoyable. My specials thanks to E.Y. and 大眼仔mama. My trip won’t be so successful without their sharing. Below is my itinerary which is very similar to大眼仔mama’s.
Day 1
- 8 am flight to KK (we stuck on the flight for an hour because of thunderstorm in HK, the airport runway was closed).
- Arrived KK at 12 noon, picked up by Wincastle local agent and we were taken to a short tour in KK town. The tour guide also took us to a supermarket so that we can buy some necessities like distilled water and bread for feeding the fish in next day’s island hopping tour per the guide’s advice.
- Check in the Magellan Sutera Hotel at 2 pm. I’ve requested the Marine Wing room but it was not available when we check in so we had lunch in coffee shop first.
- Went to our room in Marine Wing but it was still under cleaning. We were a little angry and decided to swim first.
- Went back to our room after swimming, the cleaning lady has gone but we found the room still dirty. We complained to the front desk and requested for a late check out on the last day at 5 pm and succeeded (大眼仔mama - I read your experience and got a good deal myself, thank you).
- Dinner at hotel.
Day 2
- Sapi island hopping tour. Island is small but very convenient. My son was very very excited as can feed the fish very close to the shore. We did swimming, snorkeling, diving etc. My son and I played parasailing (RM80 per person for 10 minutes), not dangerous, very relaxing. My husband and son played flyfish (RM60 per person for 10 minutes), very excited and not very suitable for young child. My son was quite scared but he’s still OK. BBQ lunch on island. Fish feeding again in the afternoon and returned to hotel at 3 pm.
- Swimming in the Marina Club swimming pool as there are 2 water slides that my son is crazy about it.
- Dinner at 味雅 Wiya Chicken Rice Restaurant. Cheap and tasty. RM 24.60 for 3 dishes of hoi nam chicken rice, a wonton soup, 2 dishes of vegetables, 2 drinks. Not difficult to find but sometimes easy to miss. It’s on the left hand side along the road that the hotel shuttle goes. In between 2nd and 3rd shuttle stop.
- After dinner, we bought some local food as souvenirs on the street hawker store behind the Chicken Rice Restaurant. Very cheap.
Day 3
- White water rafting at Kiulu River (Grade 2). As 大眼仔mama said, it’s a flat river suitable for family, not dangerous at all. We even jumped into the water. Quite an experience. Lunch included as well.
- Returned to hotel at around 3 pm. Swimming in Marina Club pool again.
- Dinner at Ocean Seafood (Hoi Wong Shing). This is the one E.Y. tried, different to Garden Seafood (Hoi Lung Shing) which 大眼仔mama tried. We ate fresh fish, tiger prawn, fired rice, vegetables, bean curb and coconut at RM174. Quite delicious.
Day 4
- Island hopping tour again to Sapi and Manukan. Again BBQ lunch included.
- Finished slightly earlier at 3 pm as the weather turned bad and we returned to hotel.
- Again, swimming in Marina Club pool.
- Dinner at Wiya Chicken Rice Restaurant. My son liked it.
Day 5
- Swimming in Marina Club pool after breakfast
- Parasailing for the kids again. We booked it at the tour operator near the jetty which is within walking distance to the hotel.
- Bowling at Marina Club.
- Swimming in Marina Club pool afterwards.
- Went back to the room at 3:30 pm, had sandwiches lunch in room and packed up.
- Checked out at 5 pm.
- Bus left for hotel at 5:35 pm. Arrived and checked in early at airport but flight delayed again. Eventually our flight took off at 8:55 pm (an hour delayed) and we arrived HK close to midnight.
I, my son and husband enjoyed this trip very much. The weather in KK was nice (except some rains in the afternoon so always bring with you a small umbrella). KK people are very nice; many of them speak Cantonese and English. No language problem and they are very helpful. We decided that we’ll visit KK again next year or so as we haven’t gone to 睇螢火蟲/長鼻猴/鱷鱼仔 and 神山. Next time we’ll do these and the island hopping tour again.
To me, KK is very suitable for family vacation. If your child is aged between 5 to 12 years old. They'll love it as they can play water sports, do the white water rafting, enjoy the hotel swimming pools etc. Luckily I discover this place on top of Phuket (where I like it a lot but I think I won't go in a short while).
It's my pleasure. It is great to hear you have wonderful Sabah trip. My family loved our K.K. trip as well.
We'll try to make another visit to K.K. again next time and we believe we will take the white water rafting & parasailing with my children next visit (they grow up much more by then).
Welcome back & glad to know that you had an enjoyable holiday.
I've visited KK 2 times & stayed at the same hotel (last summer & this summer). Therefore, I will miss this nice place at least 1-2 years -- will try other places next trip. But, for sure, I will visit KK again coz the people are nice and honest there that make me feel very comfortable. Of course, will spend 1-2 days in Gayana Island Resort during my next visit.
I will go to KK in early Sept. After reading yr experience, I got a lot of useful info. Thanks a lot. One more question, how much for the "water rafting at Kiulu River " , what time usually it will start(is it pick u up fr the hotel).
For Grade 2 white water rafting (suitable for family), it's RM160 for adult and RM120 for child. We stayed at Magellan Sutera so pick up time from hotel is 8:45 am. We arrived the starting point at around 10:15 am. After a short safety briefing and waiting for the others to come, we began to play at around 10:45 am. Rafting took 1.5 hours so we finished at 12:15 pm.
Are you staying at the Magellan? If so, try to request room in Marina Wing as it is closer to the swimming pools and the views are better.
I booked the package fm Wincastle. Every things is OK. The citytour is just getting you around the city after pack up fm the airport. The guide will tell u where to eat (chicken rice, seafood & Ribs tea), and where to go for shopping. Sapi island is fun for my kids although was raining on that day, but boring for me. We also joined a rafting tour, again very excited for my kids, but so so for me. But KK is a nice and peaceful place for family holiday.
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