Kota Kinabalu

Sabah's capital on the South China Sea, about 2 h 45 by air from Kuala Lumpur: the five islands of Tunku Abdul Rahman Park a 15-minute boat ride away, the waterfront night market and seafood, the Sunday Gaya Street market, the City Mosque on its lagoon, and sunset at Tanjung Aru. The base for Mount Kinabalu (2 h by road) and the arrival airport for most of Sabah. Flying in from the Peninsula you pass Sabah's own immigration check.

Highlights

• Island-hopping in Tunku Abdul Rahman Park
• Sunset at Tanjung Aru
• Waterfront night seafood market
• Gaya Street Sunday market
• KK City Mosque on its lagoon
• Klias river: proboscis monkeys and fireflies
• Mari Mari Cultural Village

Things to do

• Island-hopping & snorkelling: Manukan, Sapi, MamutikMorning · 5h
• Klias river cruise: proboscis monkeys & firefliesAfternoon · 6h
• Tanjung Aru sunsetEvening · 1h 30m
• Waterfront night market seafood dinnerEvening · 2h
• Mari Mari Cultural VillageMorning · 4h

Tours & tickets

When to go

Best time: March – September

• Chinese New Year — Two public holidays and a week of lion dances, lanterns and open houses, finest in Penang (Kek Lok Si lit up) and Melaka's Jonker Street. Many Chinese-run shops, hawker stalls and kopitiams close for 3-5 days, and buses and flights out of KL sell out the weekend before as people go home.
• Ramadan and Hari Raya Aidilfitri — During Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk: Malay restaurants are quiet by day and the evening Ramadan bazaars, with food stalls at every mosque and market, are the best street food of the year. Don't eat or drink in the street in Kelantan and Terengganu. At its end, Hari Raya Aidilfitri brings the "balik kampung" exodus: buses, trains and flights sell out weeks ahead and KL empties for a week. Dates move about 11 days earlier each year; they are set by the new moon.
• Kaamatan (Sabah harvest festival) — Sabah's Kadazan-Dusun harvest festival runs through May and peaks on 30-31 May at the KDCA cultural centre at Penampang near Kota Kinabalu: rice wine, dances in traditional dress and the Unduk Ngadau pageant. KK hotels fill that week.
• Year-end school holidays — Malaysian and Singaporean families travel in December: Cameron Highlands' road jams at weekends, Langkawi and Penang resorts are at their dearest round Christmas and New Year, and Melaka is packed with Singaporean weekenders. Book rooms and buses early.

Part of a longer route

Kota Kinabalu is a stop on a curated circuit through Malaysia.