Pulau Tiga (Survivor Island) - Part II, Kota Kinabalu

- May 03, 2015

Continue from the Part 1 about Pulau Tiga (Survivor Island). Pulau Tiga is one of a group of small uninhabited islands in Kimanis Bay off the western coast of Sabah, Malaysia. The islands were formed on 21 September 1897, when an earthquake on Mindanao caused a volcanic eruption near Borneo. The island is 607 hectares in size and has a couple of active mud volcanos at the highest part of the island. Pulau Tiga is one of the three islands that make up Pulau Tiga National Park. The Park Headquarters are on the island, comprising an office complex, and accommodation for the park staff and visiting scientists.

As I have mentioned earlier, 118 years ago, there is a volcano eruption which has left a volcano mud in this island. Pulau Tiga is the only island in the whole Malaysia that owns a natural volcano mud for more than a century. The real highlight in this island is their volcano mud. That is the reason why their day trip will be slightly more expensive compare with other island tour packages in Kota Kinabalu.

The entrance to the volcano mud is started from here. Same goes to other trails on this island which are Larai-larai, Pagong-pagong beach and Rocky beach. Seems like there are plenty of land activities here apart of water activities.

It is going to take 20 minutes to reach the volcano mud. 1.2km distance may sound very far and can be very short when you enjoy the greenery.

Please take note that to go to volcano mud, do not carry any other valuable items or camera if you are going to enjoy the volcano mud. Just wear light and wear strapped sandal. Strictly wear strapped sandal. The reason I stressed it again because once you are soaked inside the volcano mud, you will have a hard time of wearing a slipper to walk. If you wear a shoes, you will have a hard time of washing it off. So the best is the strapped sandals. Do not try to bare foot walking through this trail, the branches on the ground have torn on them. You definitely do not want to cut your foot.

Finally arrived at the Mud Volcano. Before you reach here, you can see signs of mud all over the ground which means you are getting closer. When you finally reached here, you basically can see the mud is everywhere.

The mud volcano area is not big as you thought it would be. It is just consists of a thick mud pool, a watery mud pool and a hut.

This is a thick mud where you basically get the experience of a quicksand. Kind of scary because you need a lot of strength to pull out your legs. The mud pool is not very deep, do not worry. It is about 1 meter deep if you are in standing position.

This is the hut which looks like just drown into a volcano eruption a while ago.

In the watery mud pool will be slightly watery and easy to move around. Anyone wish to have a spa here? This is the best place to get a free natural volcano mud spa as long as you want. Please take note that do not jump in the watery mud pool because your eyes is going to hurt so bad when the mud splash into your eyes. There are no water source around to wash your eyes. The more you try to clean your eyes the more worse it becomes. So do not jump into the mud.

Scary enough? Not many able to accept this kind of natural stuffs in the middle of the woods. In additional to that, there is a weird smell in this mud but when you get used to it, you will able to accept the smell.

Coming out from the watery mud is easier than the thick mud but be careful with your pants and bikini because the mud is heavy and might pull down your pants or bikini. You definitely do not want to get embarrassed in front of the public.

It is fun to apply mud on each other. The cold mud is sticking on to your skin and dried up like a clay.

Enough having fun and we are getting hungry. It is time to walk back to the beach for a great BBQ lunch.

You are not allowed to wash the mud in the toilet because the mud will stuck their toilet. You are only allowed to wash with the sea water before you take a bath in their toilet. I really like the mud volcano experience so much which is only available in Pulau Tiga. It is worthwhile to visit.

Apart of the snorkeling and mud volcano activities, we get to do a quick island hopping in two islands before we depart back to Kota Kinabalu. This is one of the island which is known as White Sand Beach Island.

This island is not very big and not much trees here too. The trees seems like being burned down by someone who is trying to camp here. Pretty adventurous attempt.

This island is so tiny as if it is like sand bank in Maldives. The best part is the sea water around this island is so beautiful and so clear. I just love this island even though we just hanging around there for 10 minutes.

From this island, you get to see another island which we are going to hop next which is the Snake Island.

The Snake Island has a special jetty built with it unlike the White Sand Beach Island. This island is slightly bigger but it is easy to go around the island in 15 minutes.

When it is called Snake Island, there should be a reason for it. Of course, this island is swarm with snakes all over the island. Do not try to attempt to wandering around alone. Stay in a group and do not touch branches which it might be snakes hanging around the trees.

When there are snakes, there are eagles too. This is called the ecosystem.

The trail around this island is basically walking on these rocks. It is good that the rock is not covered with green moss which is making the rock slippery but the rock is not stable so have to be extra careful with the steps too.

No snakes to be seen on that day. Seems like not that a lot of snakes like it is expected. Maybe they have all become the meal for the eagles.

Overall, the experience on this trip was fantastic. A fulfilling day trip which you got to enjoy from sea to the land and from the land back to the sea. This awesome experience will definitely embedded in our memory for quite something. I would like to highly recommend this trip to everyone especially the locals because this is the gem in Malaysia and why would like to soak in the volcano mud in other countries but not ours? Doesn't make any sense right?

Total Damage: RM250/pax
Ambiance: 5/5
Service: 3/5
Recommended?: Yes

Things to bring:
1) Strapped Sandal
2) Towel
3) A set of new clothes (optional)
4) Underwater camera if you would like to soak in the volcano mud and taking photos at the same time.
5) Sunscreen