Mamutik: Tunku Abdul Rahman Park

The afternoon of our first full day in Kota Kinabalu was spent at Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, comprised of five islands not more than a 30-minute boat ride from Borneo.  We selected the island of "Mamutik" after reading that it is one of the least visited of the five islands and that the snorkeling was better.  Our hotel hostess arranged the ferry with a bit of a discount, and we arrived at Mamutik after stopping at two other islands.  There were more people than we anticipated, but we ended up finding a quiet spot at the tip of the island all to ourselves:

We swam a bit offshore and found some coral once we got away from the shore.  Much to our dismay, much of the island was "roped off" approximately 100-ft from shore.  Usually this doesn't deter the most adventurous of us, but Ryan didn't want to risk swimming beyond the rope due to the heavy boat traffic.  Indeed, most of our day was accompanied with a chorus of motorboat engines.  We still managed to look in every nook and cranny for the big fish.

We still saw some wonderful things.  We saw our first stingray since moving to Okinawa:

Not sure if these are horizontal fan corals or what, but there is nothing like these near Okinawa. You could see damage from careless snorkelers who tried to stand on the "fans," and there was a strange "fog" at the upper 12-18-inches of the water, right near the surface.  This was a bit annoying, because you couldn't see anything with much clarify.  Once you swam down a bit, the corals were amazing.

I found it difficult to spend much quality time underwater because I didn't have my weight belt with me, darn airline baggage restrictions.  I didn't think it would be a bit deal, except for the fact that there was nothing to grab onto other than live corals.  I didn't want to be one of those disrespectful tourists, but it probably would have made for better pictures.  

Despite the struggle, there were tons of fish everywhere and I managed to get a few snaps:

Best underwater prize for the two of us was seeing a REAL giant clam.  We have freshwater clams embedded in the coral rocks all along Okinawa, complete with pretty colors, patterns, and sizes up to ~8-inches across.  Nothing prepared us for these beauties, which are the size of a basketball and are just plopped out in the middle of these reefs:

I was starting to feel a bit cold and tired, much to Ryan's disappointment, I'm sure. We made our way back to our changing room on the island and pondered what else we might do before catching the boat back to Kota Kinabalu.

I'd seen signs for a walking trail, and Ryan said he was game for a bit more exploration.  Mamutik is not a large island, but it ascends quickly from most points other than the main beach area.  We found the trail and thought we might get a better vista.  No vista, but we did find an impressive banyan:

The trail came to a dead-end more or less at a high elevation on the island.  We had the place to ourselves, and enjoyed the feeling of being part of "real" expedition to a place not seen by many, clearly marked trail notwithstanding.  The trail was an out-and-back, so neither of us were really paying attention when we rounded the last bend before hitting the the final descent back to the beach.  Ryan was ahead of me when I saw a HUGE water monitor:

This image is deceiving, because this thing was big.  It stayed perfectly still with me within 2 meters of it, babbling like an idiot.  All I could get out was, "Ryan. Ryan. Ryan. Ryan. Ryan...." He was more annoyed than enlightened, not knowing what was going on until he turned around and saw me frozen and pointing and something off the trail.  Once he saw it, we marveled at how we'd missed it on the way up.  Here's a bit of perspective for you: Ryan is on the left on the trail, and the monitor is in the bottom right of the frame:

Silly camera would not allow for a good photo, so this is the best we could get.  We would see many more water monitors during our stay in Borneo, but this one was the largest.  If you are walking through the forests of Borneo, especially along the coast, a sudden splash of something very heavy is probably a water monitor.  This guy stayed put while we stared, pointed, and attempted pictures, but we did not get very close, figuring that it would not be the preferred start to our vacation.

All considered, I'd say we had fun at Mamutik, despite the fact it was not quite the free-ranging snorkel we'd hoped for.  As storm clouds rolled in, we headed back to the pier to catch what would be the bumpiest boat ride of my life back to KK.