Kota Kinabalu
The capital of Sabah on the South China Sea, five islands of a marine park ten minutes offshore, and Mount Kinabalu, at 4,095 metres, rising behind the town.
- Arrival
- Kota Kinabalu International · BKI
- To the city
- About 6 km to the city centre
- Private jets
- Terminal 2 apron for VIP and private flights
- Best time
- February to March
The city
Islands in front, the mountain behind.
Until 1967 the town was Jesselton, named after a vice-chairman of the North Borneo Chartered Company; by the end of the war in 1945 only three buildings were left standing, the Atkinson Clock Tower among them. What rose afterwards is a low port city on the bay, with a market on Gaya Street every Sunday and Signal Hill looking over the roofs to the islands.
Gaya, Sapi, Manukan, Sulug and Mamutik make up the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, a short crossing from the ferry terminal. Inland, Kinabalu Park, a UNESCO site, lies about two hours by road. Heat is steady at 29 to 31 °C all year; rain is lightest in February and March and heaviest from May to November.
Arriving
One long runway on the bay.
Kota Kinabalu International sits on the shore some six kilometres south-west of the centre. Its runway, 3,780 metres long with instrument landing systems at both ends, takes any business jet.
- Manila 1 h 45
- Singapore 2 h 10
- Bali 2 h 30
- Tokyo 5 h 35
- Amsterdam 14 h 20 long-range jet
When to go
February to March.
Equatorial: afternoons at 29 to 31 °C and a sea of 27 to 30 °C in every month. Rain falls all year, but February and March are clearly the driest, at about 100 mm each. From May to December monthly totals pass 240 mm, peaking in October.
- 29° J 170 28°
- 30° F 97 27°
- 31° M 103 28°
- 31° A 146 29°
- 31° M 264 30°
- 31° J 277 30°
- 31° J 249 30°
- 31° A 246 30°
- 31° S 290 29°
- 30° O 316 29°
- 30° N 287 29°
- 30° D 240 29°
What to see and do
Days in and around Kota Kinabalu.
-
Landmark
Tunku Abdul Rahman Park
Five islands and their reefs, ten to fifteen minutes from the city by boat.
-
Landmark
Kinabalu Park
Some 5,000 to 6,000 plant species and a thousand orchids on the slopes of Borneo's great mountain.
-
Landmark
Tanjung Aru
A three-kilometre beach south of the centre, where the town goes to watch the sun set over the islands.
-
Culture
Sabah Museum
Built in the form of a Rungus longhouse, the main hall covers ethnography, ceramics and archaeology, with a Heritage Village of traditional houses in its garden.
Official site -
Wildlife
Lok Kawi Wildlife Park
Opened in 2007 on 280 acres south of the city, it keeps orangutans, Borneo pygmy elephants and proboscis monkeys, with a 1.4 km botanical trail.
-
Culture
Mari Mari Cultural Village
Houses of five peoples, among them the Rungus, Bajau and Murut, stand in forest at Kionsom, where guides show blowpipe making and bamboo cooking.
-
Golf
Dalit Bay Golf & Country Club
Ted Parslow laid out this 18 hole, par 72 course on the coast at Tuaran, about 40 minutes north of the city by car.
Where to stay
On the shore of the bay.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- Shangri-La Tanjung Aru A resort with its own marina on the Tanjung Aru shore, about ten minutes by road from the airport.
- The Magellan Sutera Resort A lobby built in the manner of a Rungus longhouse, and a 27-hole course by Graham Marsh on the same estate.
- The Pacific Sutera Hotel Five hundred rooms beside the Sutera Harbour marina, about ten minutes from the airport.
- Hyatt Regency Kinabalu Two hundred and eighty-eight rooms in the town centre, looking over the water or the city.
Where to dine
Where to book by the water.
No MICHELIN Guide covers Sabah. OITOM is featured in the Malaysia Tatler Dining Guide; the other two are the signature restaurants of five-star hotels on the shore.
- OITOM Tatler Dining Guide Sabahan tasting menus Sutera Avenue, off Jalan Coastal
- Ferdinand’s Signature restaurant, The Magellan Sutera Resort European The Magellan Sutera Resort, Sutera Harbour
- Shang Palace Signature restaurant, Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Chinese Shangri-La Tanjung Aru, Tanjung Aru
Elsewhere in Malaysia
More reasons to come.
Flying to Kota Kinabalu?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.