Do It Yourself trip – Nyebrang ke PULAU SAPI Kota Kinabalu

Cerita hari ini tentang gue dan suami yang lagi ada di Kota Kinabalu. Sementara turis lain mau nya jalan-jalan ke sekitaran Gunung Kinabalu, kita berdua sibuk cari tau tentang gimana caranya bisa nyebrang ke pulau kecil berpasir putih yang kata orang jaraknya cuma selemparan batu doang dari tengah kotanya Kota Kinabalu. Ada 4 pulau di sekitar kota ini dan turis bisa hopping island di 4 pulau itu. Kita mutusin untuk pergi ke satu pulau aja dengan nama pulau yang paling kocak, yaitu Pulau Sapi. Yuk, nyebrang ke Pulau Sapi Kota Kinabalu.

We were in Kota Kinabalu and we planned to make a short getaway to an island nearby. Most of the islands are only 15 minutes away by boat from the city. It’s crazy near. Our hotel offered a RM 100 /person tour to one of the islands at Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park (4 islands to choose) or a RM 150 / person tour to 2 islands of our choice. So, after giving a lot of thought, we decided to NOT take the tour, and just arrange a DIY trip to Sapi Island (Sapi means cows – in Indonesian Language), one of the islands, the one with the most interesting name, according to us. Mooo. 😀

Di hotel, kita ditawarin untuk ikut tur nyebrang ke Pulau Sapi Kota Kinabalu, sekitar Rp.350 ribu per orang untuk ke si Pulau Sapi ini, udah termasuk anter jemput hotel, transport PP kesana dan makan siang. Tapi kok hati nggak sreg ya.. berasa nggak pas aja. Akhirnya kita mutusin untuk pergi sendiri aja kesana, tanpa tur alias ‘do it yourself’ – DIY.

Kita nyetir (karena hari itu pas lagi sewa mobil) ke tengah kota dari hotel yang hanya berjarak 10 menit, dan mencari letak Jesselton Wharf  (nama dermaga penyebrangan-nya), parkir, dan masuk kedalam. Hey, gampang banget ternyata. Ginian mah nggak usah pake tur segala. Didalam kita tinggal pilih mau ke loket mana karena sama aja semua harganya, dan langsung booking perjalanan PP ke Pulau Sapi. Bayar, dan selesai! And guess what, total semua harga cuma Rp.110 ribu/orang. Srius! Berarti tur ambil untungnya sadis juga ya.

We drove to Jesselton Wharf which was very easy to find because it’s located at the city center. We parked the car and walked into the Ferry Terminal building, and randomly chose one of the counters to purchase the boat tickets to Sapi Island. At our surprise, the tickets were cheap, only RM 23 /person /island and RM 10 extra for each additional island. There was another RM 7 terminal fee and that’s it, we’re good to go. Wow, it’s actually way cheaper compare to the tour.

 

 

 

Karena masih pagi, kita nunggu sekitar setengah jam sampe orang-orang terkumpul dan nyebranglah kita ke Pulau Sapi, yang beneran deket banget, sekitar 15 menit naik kapal. Dari jauh udah keliatan tuh, pasir putih…. air bening…pulau hijau… ahh, langsung ngantuk seketika. Kepengenan gue untuk main air langsung berubah jadi pengen tiduran aja dibawah pohon adem sambil dengerin bunyi ombak. Biarin aja deh suami yang basah-basahan, snorkeling dan berenang, gue nyantai aja di pinggir pantai. Ini suasana pulau-nya mirip banget sama Pulau Payar, salah satu pulau di Malaysia juga yang pernah gue datengin. Dermaganya, jenis ikan yang berenang (yang udah keliatan dari dermaga), warna airnya, pasirnya, semuanya mirip.

Kita berdua nyari spot di pojokan pulau, dan zzzzzz.

We waited for around 30 minutes before our boat departed, so I took some time to have an extra nap. Come on, it’s 8 a.m. Half of my body was still on bed.

We arrived at Sapi Island, and I immediately remembered Payar Island, an island also in Malaysia I visited several years ago. The color of the water, the fish kinds, the pier, the vibe, the sand, the trees, the surroundings, were all similar. We chose a spot to be lazy right around the corner, and while hubby swam around, I continued my nap. This time under a tree, on a bench, while listening to the sound of the wave. Ah. Me likey. Zzzz.

 

Makin siang, kayaknya makin banyak orang yang nyebrang ke Pulau Sapi dan hadir ke sini. Kapal-kapal berdatangan dan mulai bising ama turis. Bahkan bagian depan kursi males gue tiba-tiba dihuni satu keluarga, bapak ibu dan 2 anaknya, yang ganti baju didepan muka gue. Hmf. Waktunya bangun dan keliling pulau aja kali ya. Di Pulau Sapi ini ada banyak banget kegiatan air yang ditawarin sebenernya, dari flying fox sampai jalan dibawah air yang pake helm, semua ada. Tapi masalahnya mereka ngasih harga mahal banget per kegiatan. Dibanding Bali contohnya, harga disini berasa lagi di palak. Jadi gue pikir, no thank you, kita nikmatin alamnya aja deh.

I opened my eyes after a while and the island was getting more cramped. More and more people were coming. I lost my appetite to snorkel or to swim, let my hubby did all that, and I took a stroll around the island. Sapi Island offered many sport activities such as flying fox, para-sailing, sea walking, jet skiing, paddle boarding, etc, but they’re all soooo overpriced. I mean compare to Bali, for example, here I found them so very expensive. So we passed. I was just happy enough by being at the beach, sitting on the white sand, staring at the green trees behind me, gazing at Kota Kinabalu skyline from afar, being with my husband, and enjoying this several hours getaway to this island.

 

Bagian belakang pulau ini masih berupa hutan yang cukup lebat, bahkan bukitnya bisa didaki gitu, walau nggak terlalu tinggi. Terus dimana-mana banyak banget biawak berukuran raksasa yang melintang gitu aja di sekitaran pantai, sampe nyaris keinjek berkali-kali sama turis, termasuk gue. Asli kaget banget ngeliat biawak besar yang bentuknya mirip balok kayu. Satu hal yang justru nggak gue temuin disini, yaitu Sapi. Padahal lucu juga ya kalo di Pulau Sapi ada beberapa ekor sapi buat gimmick. Hehehe.

By the way, do not be surprised if you meet dozens of huge monitor lizards roam freely at the forest edge of the island. They are not aggressive and they most likely will ignore you. They only bite when you leave them no choice. They were everywhere I almost stepped on one of them. Not funny if it actually happened.

 

Anyway, walau sampai pas dijemput kapal untuk balik lagi ke kota gue akhirnya nggak nyentuh air sama sekali, gue menikmati waktu bareng suami disini. Ngeliatin dia berenang sambil ngambil-ngambil video bawah air pas lagi snorkel, nikmatin bekal yang kita bawa, quality time ngobrol sambil tidur-tiduran, dan ngegosipin turis lain yang lewat-lewat. HA!

Seneng juga today bisa nyebrang ke Pulau Sapi Kota Kinabalu. Me likey. See u soon Pulau Sapi!

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you know what they say, let the waves hit your feet and let the sand be your seat

– olivelatuputty.com – @shiningliv