Kota Kinabalu

A week of islands, the Mount Kinabalu climb and the Klias wetlands

Plan about a week for Kota Kinabalu: one day for the city and the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park islands, two or three for the two-day Mount Kinabalu climb and recovery, and an evening for the Klias wetlands. The compact centre, with Gaya Street and the waterfront markets, fits into a single afternoon.

Most of what it has to show fits into a single afternoon: Gaya Street, the waterfront markets and the Atkinson Clock Tower of 1902, one of only two structures to survive the wartime destruction of Jesselton.

• Islands: the five islands of Tunku Abdul Rahman Park are 15 to 25 minutes by boat from Jesselton Point. Gaya is the largest, at 15 km². Sapi, Manukan and Mamutik are small enough to combine, and a zipline links Gaya with Sapi. Three of the islands have lodges or camping for an overnight stay.
• Mount Kinabalu: Low's Peak stands at 4,095.2 m. Since the 2015 earthquake the climb takes two days with a mandatory guide, sleeping at Laban Rata (3,272.7 m) and leaving around 02:30 to reach the summit for sunrise. Settle the mountain booking first and build the rest of the trip around the date you get. Add a night in Kundasang, 6 km from the park, or at Poring hot springs.
• Wetlands: Klias, two to two and a half hours by road, is the closest place for dusk river trips to look for proboscis monkeys.
• Further east: Sandakan is five to six hours away by express bus.

Keep an evening for the wetlands and a spare day for weather.

Buses from Inanam continue to Semporna for the islands.

Kota Kinabalu monsoons, climbing season and Kaamatan

Kota Kinabalu has no fully dry season. April usually brings the best climbing weather on Mount Kinabalu, and the Kaamatan harvest festival on 30 and 31 May is a public holiday in Sabah.

Neither season is properly dry. February and March are the driest months (about 78 and 93 mm), while October is the wettest with around 387 mm, as inter-monsoon storms peak. Temperatures hardly shift: the daily average sits between 26 and 28°C. April and May are the hottest months and January the coolest.

Northeast monsoon winds run at 5.5 to 7.9 m/s, against 0.3 to 3.3 m/s in the southwest monsoon, so the sea is generally choppier from late in the year until March. Underwater visibility in the marine park is murky at the best of times and can fall below 3 m.

For Mount Kinabalu, April usually brings the best climbing weather, while November and December are wet on the mountain. Kundasang and the park headquarters are noticeably cooler than the coast, so pack a warm layer whatever the month.

The big local festival is Kaamatan, the Kadazan-Dusun harvest celebration, on 30 and 31 May, both public holidays in Sabah. The state-level event at the Hongkod Koisaan hall in Penampang features sumazau dancing and ends with the crowning of the Unduk Ngadau.

Hinava, Tuaran mee and kopitiam breakfasts in Kota Kinabalu

Kota Kinabalu's food mixes Kadazan-Dusun, Chinese and Malay cooking. Try hinava, raw fish cured in lime juice, and Tuaran mee, then eat dim sum and roti kahwin at a kopitiam such as Fook Yuen. In the evening, the seafront night market grills fish to order. Drink Tenom coffee or lihing rice wine.

Hinava is the Kadazan-Dusun signature: raw fish cured in lime juice with shallots, chilli and ginger. Tuaran mee is a speciality of Tuaran town: hand-made noodles that are toasted and blanched before being fried dry with egg.

About half the city is Chinese (mostly Hakka-speaking), and Chinese coffee shops run the breakfast trade. Fook Yuen serves dim sum, nasi lemak and roti kahwin (bread with butter and kaya). Its branches are halal except the original one in Damai.

The promenade restaurants between the Filipino Market and the fish market are poor value; SEDCO Square is a better bet. Drink Tenom coffee, roasted in drums over firewood, or Sabah Tea. Lihing, the glutinous rice wine of the Kadazan community in Penampang, is the local drink to try.

Bargaining is expected at the Filipino Market, though much of its stock is imported, not made in Sabah. The Gaya Street Sunday market runs from early morning to about lunchtime and is the place for ground coffee and snacks.