Tanjung (Beach) Aru is the long, flat beach between the Kota Kinabalu International airport and the Sutera Harbour. It looks out on to the four islands off the coast (Manukan, Sapi, Mamutik and Gaya island).
We spent one morning here just sunbathing, reading and swimming; and then left after lunch. It was a lovely, quiet place, although the sand looked a little dirty (oily) in some patches. The water was surprisingly clear and from the amount of people swimming, didn’t seem to pose any health threats.
There is also a small park with benches and places to picnic. The one or two restaurants on the beachfront seemed reasonably priced and good enough for a lunch on the run.
Getting here:
Take (big) Bus Number 16 from Wawasan Bus Terminal.
MYR 1.50 each, ask for Tanjung Aru beach.
Note: There is a small bus (minibus) 16 that also goes to this area, but it drops you at Tanjung Aru town, not at the beach. So it is about a twenty-five minute walk to the beach from the town bus stop.
Huddled together off the coast of Kota Kinabalu, the group of five islands, which makes up the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, serves as a popular tourist zone for those visiting Sabah’s capital city. There are hundreds of boat operators to choose from that offer standard or special tours, as well as diving or snorkelling. It is a wonderful place to go if you need a day at the beach where the only thing to do is enjoy the scenery and breathe in the fresh sea air (once you’ve dodged the busy tourist gatherings).
The five islands – Gaya Island (big), Sulug Island (Sulu people), Manukan Island (fish), Mamutik Island (shell collection) and Sapi Island (mowing buffalo), lie about three kilometers off shore. The Park was founded in 1974 as a national reserve to protect the marine life in the area.
After reading reviews on TripAdvisor, we decided to visit Manukan and Mamutik on one day trip, with snorkelling. The islands were pretty much the same in terms of natural scenery except that Mamutik had amazing shells (as it name suggests) and was a lot quieter without the groups of Chinese tourists that thronged the open spaces on Manukan’s beaches and park areas.
Manukan
Manukan Island was our afternoon destination and we spent a lot of time eating lunch in the shade of the trees, sun-tanning and resting. We saw a lot of monitor lizards here but were feeling too lazy to do the jungle walks where you can explore the rest of the island. There are a few places to eat here but not enough to keep prices competitive. We also saw a couple of people camping here (tents) and barbecuing, which looked like it might be a fun thing to do; especially since most of the tourists go home after 4 pm. This leaves you ample time to enjoy the sunset and then the sunrise too, without the hoards of foreigners blocking the view.
Mamutik
Mamutik Island was our first stop and we spent the morning here snorkelling, sun-tanning, reading and admiring the birdlife around the island. It was a lot of quieter than Manukan and had good snorkelling around the far end of the beach (furthest from where the pier is) which was less damaged and had a quiet part of the beach to enjoy. There are also lockers available for a day at the Borneo Divers offices (on the far side of the beach) if you need to lock up your things, for a small fee.
Getting here:
We found a boatman somewhere along the way to the Jessleton Point (just after the market, but before the main piers) who hustled us into buying a trip from him for MYR 100 (for two people, snorkelling equipment, boat trip return). We then also had to pay a further MYR 10 for a conservation fee when we arrived at the island. Based on some of the other tour packages we’d looked at this didn’t seem like a bad deal.
A few days afterwards, we did see a flyer somewhere for a package deal, including the above, plus KFC lunch and INCLUDING conservation fee, for only MYR 50 per person. So I guess we could have saved about MYR 20 plus lunch costs had we found a deal like this earlier. But it was not too much difference considering our busy schedule.
*Some information was taken from Sabah Parks website.*
Port Elizabeth is the fifth largest city in South Africa and is situated on the east coast. A main city in the Eastern Cape Province, it has a large harbour, beautiful beaches, a developed infrastructure and a good local university.
Tourist must-sees:
This area is a great draw-card for tourists with everything from white sandy beaches to a mixed bag of friendly locals, to the sprawling National Addo Elephant Park only 40 minutes out of the city.
Some top recommendations from me include:
King’s beach and the Boardwalk shopping complex
Schoenmakerskop – village and seaside experience
Bluewater Bay area – beach days, picnic and children’s activities
Sunday’s River – ferry, estuary and holiday resorts.
National Addo Elephant Reserve – with “Big 5” and easy driving. It includes whale and dolphin sightings on the coastal reserve side.
Van Staden’s Wild Flower reserve – hiking, picnicking, bird-watching
My favourite place:
This is, by far, Sardinia Bay – a magnificent white beach with impressive sand dunes, rough coastline and endless rock pools to explore further down the beach. Great for any time of the day, early morning runs, picnics, beach days or romantic evening strolls.
Day Trips:
From Port Elizabeth, a day trip to the following destinations is a breeze: Port Alfred, Addo Elephant Park, St Francis Bay, Bathurst, Grahamstown, Kenton-on-Sea and Plettenberg Bay.
Don’t forget to do the absolutely beautiful drive along the coastline to the north of East London. Grab a picnic lunch and beach gear and explore the coastline to find the hidden treasures of Glen Gariff, Haga-Haga and Morgan’s Bay too!
Fun facts:
Nicknames: The Friendly City, The Windy City, Algoa Bay, P.E., The Bay,
Title: Port Elizabeth was not named after Queen Elizabeth as often assumed, but after the late wife of its founder, Sir Richard Donkin.
There was a welcome break for one week over New Year’s, so we jetted off to Cebu for the week on a $200 return flight (Air Asia X) direct from Incheon International Airport to Mactan International Airport.
A three hour air-conditioned taxi ride later (at 2000 pesos, shared between four tourists we managed to round up) we arrived at Panagsama, Moalboal. On the way back we took the local bus back to the Cebu City South Bus Terminal (open windows, less than 200 pesos, 4 hours) and enjoyed it much more than the crazy taxi driving. And then took a taxi from the bus terminal to the airport (220 pesos).
Sumisid lodge was everything we had hoped for and was well worth the trip. With clean rooms and cosy facilities, it is a lovely little place with its own strip of beach sand and snorkelling spots right off the shore. There are tables, chairs, sofas and beach loungers available and the adjacent dive center offers alternative activites, as well as motorbike hire options. The breakfast options at Sumisid Lodge were great and the american breakfast (with REAL, crispy bacon) was our main preference for the week.
As this was a week between the end of semester and English Winter Camps, we literally did nothing for the entire six days. Two novels, a nice tan, plenty of delicious food and a lot of sleep left us feeling completely refreshed and ready to head back to work the next week.
We did take a walk along the coastline from Panagsama towards White Beach, but could only get as far as the Kasai Resort (read more here). We didn’t do the trip to the nearby waterfall, or snorkel, or do any other ‘day trips’ that can be done to other parts of Cebu. We did take a short motorbike trip one morning to see White Beach, but after seeing our accomodation options (New Year’s week is quite full so not much was available), we quickly retreated back to Panagsama to lounge around at Sumisid lodge. Next time!
Panagsama strip is a great place for restaurant choice too and top three were:
1. Czech In (European cooking, fine-dining, high price) – try “fish of the day” and the tuna steak. The desserts were really delicious too!
3. Chilli Bar (Mixed cuisine, reasonably priced) – don’t miss out on sunset drinks and dinner to look over the bay at the turtles popping up all around.
Panagsama really impressed us with its chilled out vibe, friendly locals,reasonably priced restaurants and lodges and the many options to either relax or do a range of different activities. We definitely hope to be back there soon!
Part of our snorkel tour included a couple of hours at Balicasag Island (off the coast of Bohol). We started out with snorkelling and then headed on to the deserted stretch of beach in front of the island lodge to wile away a few hours of sunshine.
Balicasag Island has a tiny local population most of whom thrive off the tourism to the island by selling trinkets and running the small local food stalls where tourists can grab a bite to eat. There is also a lodge on the island which looked quite peaceful. It is a very small island and you could walk around it in under an hour. There are shallow reefs right off the beach which means you have to take a boat out to the drop-off to be able to snorkel.
This is, of course, another money grabbing scheme (not only to ‘protect the reefs’) because you need to pay a local boy to take you out to the spot on his tiny boat. He supervises you and then returns you to the shore where you can go back to your original speedboat. We had to pay the boatman to take us out to turtle point (he rows) in this TINY two man boat (three of us) against a very strong current. Interesting, and fun. And we were happy to be supporting his monumental efforts at transporting at least 160kgs of us to the Turtle Point. It didn’t look that far, but it took a long time to row out there.
The snorkelling choices here were one of three places (we could do more than one if we paid an additional fee per snorkel spot). We chose to go to “Turtle Point” as it seemed the least likely spot to be filled with boatloads of tourists. As we had hoped, we were the only ones snorkelling there, probably due to the very strong currents that abound off that particular point. H held on to the boat for a while to try and stay in one place longer to admire the underwater beauty and R managed to read the currents a little better.
The main thing is that we actually swam with turtles, H for the first time, and we saw at least 15 turtles altogether. It was super exciting! Turtles are really the most graceful creatures and despite looking like slow-pokes, it was impossible to keep up with them. It was an amazing experience!
Virgin Island
The next stop on the island hopping tour was Virgin Island (it’s nickname only) and this was truly one of the most beautiful islands I have ever seen. White sand and the bluest water colour of any bay I’ve seen around the world – it is so difficult to describe that clear-sparkling-blue-cobalt-turquoise-perfection!
The island has no shade whatsoever, so take suncream, hats and sarongs to cover yourself. You can walk across a shallow sandbank to a mini island with a few mangrove trees. Be careful, the sun is hot and the walk is way longer than it looks! Dodge the sea urchins and marvel at the beautiful pansy shells and starfish that lie strewn across this stretch of sand.
It was the perfect place to end the day with an afternoon snack of bananas and bread rolls our well-deserved reward for reaching the other side of the sandbank. Stunning!
Today was the “First Snow” or, 첫눈 in South Korea. Pronounced similar to “choh noon” this magically captivating event is viewed with awe and admiration by the Korean people. It is even believed by some of a more superstitious nature, that if you make a wish during the first snow, it will most certainly come true.
Although today’s snowfall was fleeting and the snowflakes only lasted a few moments on the ground before disappearing, it was a wonderful feeling to watch the snow falling slowly through the air and hearing the absolute delight in the voices of excited school children all around us.
I’m sure we won’t have to wait too long now until the real snow starts to transform the Korean landscape.
After reading Travelfish’s blog post called Koh Phi Phi Beach Getaways, we decided to try and find this “Secret Beach” while we were on Koh Phi Phi Don. It sounded simple enough to follow the instructions — walk here, turn there etc. However, in the end, we were glad to have taken along some lunch, water and gear on this “short hike.”
Coastline road after Sunflower Bar
Find Phi Phi’s Secret Beach
We began the journey by leaving from Phi Phi beach. This was from Loh Dalam Bay, the one on the opposite side to the main port of Tonsai Bay. We headed towards Sunflower Bar as directed.
The tide was at its highest, so there was not much beach visible at all in the direction we thought we were going in. The instructions said to walk past Sunflower Bar on the back road. So, we headed over the bridge and kept along the coastline road up quite a steep hill.
The instructions then said to find a small path beyond the thatch buildings, but this seemed somewhat impossible with all the new construction happening. Someone was building a whole new resort here. It’s understandable, as the traveller had written the blog two years before.
Navigating these buildings with care, we reached the top of the hill and found ourselves in the middle of a new resort. We had to turn around. It was only when we got about half way back down the hill that we found our route to the Secret Beach — maybe.
Secret Beach Hunt: Updated Instructions (and Some Tips)
As at August 2013, here’s how we got to Secret Beach on Phi Phi Don in Thailand:
Head up the steep hill after Sunflower Bar. Be sure to look for a left turn about midway up the hill. For us, this left turn was sign-posted by a small “Phi Phi Sea Sky” sign, nailed to a tree.
Head through a well-hidden pathway on the left. At the time, this path went between two building constructions towards the beach. Let it take you parallel to the beach.
Look for signs to Sunset Bay and Sunwaree Resort. Somewhere along this path to Secret Beach was where Travelfish mentioned that “a road appears out of nowhere.” It did,quite literally.
Note: We never did come across the 10 foot high rocky ridge that Travelfish mentioned. Maybe we missed something.
The rugged coastline at high tide.
Once you’ve located this path, keep to it. You’ll be walking alongside the ocean until you reach Sunset Resort. Here, we headed down towards the beach and turned right to keep going along the coastline.
At this point, we started walking on the rocks and sand. At low tide, it might have been possible to walk the whole way to Secret Beach over rocks. However, at high tide, we had to go back up onto another steep pathway into the grass.
Keep Going: Secret Beach in Sight
Up the hill, we passed a sign that said, “Tonsai bay 20 minutes Phi Phi Outrigger.” When we reached a small Thai shack at the top of the hill, there was a meditating monk. We tried not to disturb him and carried on down another small path to the beach. There was a swing in a tree here!
Swing in the tree before the coral-covered beach
We clambered over some rocks at the bottom to get onto a coral-covered beach. We had been walking for about two hours, mostly on the cliffs and pathways.
Just after the coral-covered beach, we breathed a sigh of relief. At last, we found Secret Beach. Of course, it only really opened up once the tide subsided. Then, it was absolutely beautiful! As described by our informative Travelfish guide, this discovery was so worth the tedious hike!
Finally! Time To Cool Down On our Secret Beach and Enjoy Phi Phi Don
We were the only people around and enjoy ourselves snorkelling, picnicking and relaxing in the shade provided by the only small tree on the beach. With so many cowries and other interesting shells to be found, time flew by. Reluctantly, we headed back to the main beach later that afternoon.
On the way back to Loh Dalam Bay, the trip was about a million times easier. We knew our way, so it was much quicker. Plus, it was low tide, so we could walk most of the way on the sand and rocks rather than going on and off of steep pathways or through the bush.
Do you only have a few days in Phi Phi? Make this a day trip for some great photo opportunities and some exercise.
On 6 June 2013, South Korea celebrated Memorial Day. The celebration remembers all those who died in military service. To enjoy the break from school, as well as take advantage of the start to a beautiful summer, Travelinds headed to Hagampo beach in Taean-gun, Chungcheongnam-do.
A Beach Worth Seeing on the West Coast of South Korea
From our house, it is a drive of about 1 hour 30 minutes, and we we were not disappointed. This West coast beach is beautiful! When we arrived, the beach itself was almost deserted, despite it being a public holiday. It welcomed us with clean sand, blue water and an island to explore at low tide on the one side. On the other side, there were some rocks to clamber over. What a gem it is hidden in this Taean National Park site!
Finding a shady spot on the far side of the beach, we settled in for the day like good South Africans do. Why not? There was perfect weather (about 26 degrees Celsius), a slight breeze to keep us cool, sunshine, peace and quiet and even a few South African snacks left to keep us fed (acquired on my recent trip back home!). All in all, it was an absolutely perfect beach day not too far from our tiny apartment!
Lunch Around the Corner from Hagampo Beach
After a nice, quiet time to relax on the beach, we needed to find some lunch at about 3pm. We ventured into the small village made up of mostly small restaurants, tiny shops, a camping area and guesthouses (called pensions). Eventually, without really reading anything right because it’s all in Korean, we settled on some mool naeng myeon (물냉면). This is a summer-only noodle soup containing kimchi, radish and fresh veg — with big pieces of ice in the soup. So refreshing after a hot, sweaty beach day!
We even watched the day end with a beautiful sunset over Hagampo at 19.50pm. Then, we headed home.
Memory Maker on Hagampo Beach, Taean
We can’t leave it at that without mentioning the highlight of the day! On this particular trip, it was seeing a group of seals — yes, real and wild ones — swimming up and down in the bay! You read that right, living and sea-wild seals right there in the Yellow Sea of Korea.
We love animals of all kinds, so we went over to another family on the beach and asked them if they had seen the seals. We also wanted to check that we had the right name for them: mool-gae. Mool (물) means water and gae (게) means dog. The direct translation is “water dog,” which makes sense I guess.
The other family looked at us as if we were absolutely crazy. They said, “No! No animals. No animals. Barrier.” They had pointed to the “net barrier” that was about five metres off the shore. Is that supposed to be a shark net of sorts? We laughed heartily, and promptly drew their attention to the actual seals playing about 25 meters offshore.
It was great to see the amazement and disbelief on their faces. They slowly realised that these Westerners were not, in fact, crazy. They, too, really saw the seals swimming in the bay. The lady looked so shocked and said, “My first time to see this! Thank you!”
Wow! Nature-loving South Africans educating Koreans about their local sea-life? It was a proud and happy moment.
Travelinds recommends visiting Hagampo for all who love the beach, nature, forest walks and camping. It’s a perfect spot, and there are quite a few other beaches along this same coastline. If you have a car and want to explore, the Taean coastline has over 30 beaches, including Mallipo beach, which is over 3km long. This one is still on our must-see list!
Travelinds took a short trip out to Amisan or Ami Mountain (아미산) on a crisp spring morning to see what all the fuss was about with the Dangjin locals. At 349m above sea level, it’s not exactly a long hike, but it’s steep and seems to have endless steps to the lookout point on top.
The national Korean pastime definitely seems to be hiking, in full name-branded gear of course. They head to the mountains in droves on weekends, in tour buses and hiking clubs, with serious hiking equipment, including hiking tracksuits, walking sticks, fancy hiking boots, head gear, iPods, sun protection, bandannas and day packs.
We felt a little conspicuous in our plain old pants, caps and tracksuit tops. Barely a three-kilometre walk, it wasn’t at all our typical hike in the vast South African Drakensberg mountains. But lovely, nonetheless.
Winding our way through the pine trees, admiring the emerging bird life and new buds, we had a wonderful morning connecting with nature and getting a little bit of exercise, too. We’re hoping to return soon for another morning hike.
Secret Beach Hunt: Updated Instructions (and Some Tips)
