Skip to main content

5 Ways to Move around Kota Kinabalu

As I walked into my car, sat down calmly, and switched the aircond on, I saw a young Western couple, ploughing their bags into the back of the boots. AH! They drove I thought to myself. I figured, as someone who are from Kota Kinabalu and LIVING in Kota Kinabalu, maybe I should share some insights on how one can move around Kota Kinabalu.

1) By Motorcycle / Bike
My best suggestion to explore the bite-sized Kota Kinabalu is by bike! It's easy on the legs and it's also a breeze to explore with. It's always jammed in Kota Kinabalu, so swerving through with the bikes might just be a good answer. BUT remember, that also means you'd have to be extra careful or vigilant with the big lorries and other daunting vehicles. Most areas around Kota Kinabalu are within 10 - 30 minutes, so really, a bike is the best way!

2) By Bicycle
Although no "proper bicycle" lane, moving around by bike is becoming the favourable choice. It's the healthier one too, and it's convenient because it's always easy to avoid the jam in such a small town like Kota Kinabalu. Like the motorcycle, swerving through corners of busy streets can be great!

3) By Foot 
Yes, Kota Kinabalu is actually very small. And when I mean Kota Kinabalu, I mean the heart of the city, central business district Kota Kinabalu, from Imago Mall to the Jesselton Port. You can actually walk from one end to the other. This whole stretch might take you an hour or less, as it's only 3KM or less. Enjoy the coastal walk, and the coastal is deemed to have one of the best sunset in the world!

4) By Bus 
For whatever reason, taking the bus in Kota Kinabalu isn't so popular. OKAY - maybe it's not as punctual (do we even have timetables?!) as the ones in places like Australia, Singapore and maybe even in KL - BUT the buses do cover local areas including the main city (use City Bus, green in colour), central business district and even local areas like Penampang. Really - buses are the BEST way to penetrate through the local streets.

5) And last but not least, DRIVE!
This should be your last option, unless you don't mind to spend, because driving or renting a car is the most expensive option between all 5. Not the most impractical, because it is quite practical (until you get stucked in a jam), but because there are areas that you require you to drive! Like, most tourists who arrive Kota Kinabalu thinks Kundasang is a stone throw away, but actually it's not. So in any case that you decide to drive further, to other more interesting place, driving might just be the best.


Hope this helps and let me know if you've got questions!

Love,
Jacqueline Rowena @ Jacqkie.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pulau Sapi @ Tunku Abdul Rahman Parks

Before I proceed to my write up on Pulau Sapi, let me do the duty to carefully explain to you why there are so many people talking about so many islands at the mention of the word, Sabah. Reason why I'm doing so is because whenever people visit KK City, they have very limited time in exploring most of the natural gorgeous attractions, and sometimes ended up just moving around KK City. And when one does that, people would usually end up asking, why are there so many mentions of islands when we get to experience none?  As you can see from the previous Matthew Paul map below; Sabah is situated close to top north of the Borneo Island. That said, it's a privilege to say that tons of islands are under the local towns and cities surrounding the shores of this particular part of Borneo island. From Sipitang (look out from South left), imagine yourself  "walking" from the Sipitang's shore / beach walk up slowly to Menumbuk, Kuala Penyu, Pulau Tiga, Kota Kinabalu, Tun

Pulau Mantanani // Mantanani Island

I started off my 10 day break with a day trip to Mantanani. I wanted to visit Mantanani for THE LONGEST TIME, but couldn’t get around doing so all these while, either I haven’t saved up enough or basically, just haven’t got the weekends to spare it with.   Some folks call it the mermaid island because of the dugong sightings underwater – which is seriously magical. Some folks even say you could catch a glimpse of dolphins. They’ve had photos with it, but I personally have never seen them before.  Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to share with you why this trip was important.    If you see the map above, I’ve yellow squared Mantanani Island in comparison to the journey from Kota Kinabalu. If you’re not a map kind of person, that is --- quite far. Not Sipadan (Tawau, Sandakan, Lahad Datu kind of far) but far enough to be a put off to some locals at times. Previously, you’d have to drive up north for approximately 1.5 hours, or take a bus to Kota Belud, to

Poem I wrote myself for my birthday

Love,  Jacqueline Rowena @ Jacqkie.