Dive Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, Kota Kinabalu

If you’re looking to get a mix of both diving and city holiday head over to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.

Where the city overlooks the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park just 15 minutes boat ride from the city’s pier.

Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park or TARP is popular to the locals as it is to the travellers favoured because of the location and fantastic leisure diving options.

With over 20 dive sites within and nearby the park, TARP is perfect for those wanting to learn to dive and those looking to log some easy diving while on holiday. Scuba diving within the TARP involves pretty coral reefs and plenty of marine life. Whale sharks, schools of dolphins are known to have made their appearances from time to time. The occasional sightings of Black Tip sharks and turtles are also common within the waters.

Photo by Seb Ruiz

TARP is made up of 5 islands namely Gaya, Manukan, Mamutik, Sapi and Suluq.

Most of the dive operators will choose their dive sites on the day itself based on best weather condition for diving. One of the best site for TARP leisure diving would be Clement’s Reef, which is just next to Sapi Island. Nice picturesque sloping reefs with rich marine life.

A personal favourite would be Suluq island. The only inhabited island within the Marine Park. On most days, the dive sites nearby is quiet so you are most likely to be only ones in the water. Seasoned local divers and local guides know this is also the site if you wish to see interesting marine life such as the Anglers fish or Frog fish. Spotted Stingrays are abundant and you would be amazed at the number of Nudibranches you will see here.

On a good day, visibility can be a good 30m and is normally with little or no current at all. This is favourable for those looking for an easy dive whilst on holiday. Another fantastic dive site nearby TARP would be the Edgell Patches. The dive slopes down to 35m with plenty of critters and marine life.

A usual leisure diving daytrip within TARP would be one dive in the morning followed by lunch and another dive after lunch. Local stalls and restaurants serving Asian cuisines are a good place to chill out on your surfact intervals. Visitors to the island would also see Monitors lizards and long tail macaques roaming about in some of the islands. As the islands are under the Sabah Park, a conservation fee and diving permit will need to be purchased from the Park’s counter. The Park’s counter can be found on all four islands except for Suluq.

Upon returning from diving, hang around a little longer at the pier. Walk towards the end of the pier and watch as the sun sets and the city lights up in the evening. Ending a perfect daytrip diving with a beautiful Kota Kinabalu sunset.

Borneo Dream runs leisure diving trips to the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park and visit two to three different dive sites a day.