The Tip of Borneo.... Kudat, Malaysia

Research had suggested that the Tip of Borneo was rather untouched and had lots of secluded beaches to explore, only 2-3 hours from KK. Off the tip were a few large islands, only one of which was visited by tourists. It was worthy of exploring.

I discovered a small place, Tampat do Aman, 38km out of Kudat and 2km from the tip along a very rough road. It is run by an Englishman whom married a local villager. His concept was great, execution only 7/10. Traditional eco-friendly bamboo longhouse style dormitory in the jungle with a restaurant/bar area located a mile away on the beach. Only problem was the howling wind ripping up dangerous chop making the beach too unsafe for swimming and the thousands of plastic bottles that rimmed many of the desolate and otherwise beautiful beaches. The main beach where the restaurant and other bungalows are located is quite clean. We didn’t see a single person on any of them. Some would be quite spectacular in calmer weather.

And for the “Tip”, yes it is a tip as rightly described. Windy and violent seas punish it. One person thought it a good idea to celebrate to occasion a few years back with a frolic in the water. It was their last swim. He drowned. Idiot. Dead idiot. There is a cool monument to indicate where you are in case you have amnesia. Sunset here would be quite nice.

There are a few things to do here but unfortunately Howard either made it far too expensive to do (an oversight on his part I feel) or bad weather prevented us. To hire a bike, motorbike or his bomb of a spare car was just too pricey to warrant it, so nobody did. The young Irish lads tried renting the bikes bless them, but the fourth bike kept on breaking down so they gave up.

You can hike into the forest and jungle along trails going over the ridge or alternatively take a mountain bike on a 5-6 hour circuit around the forest passing through villages and secluded beaches. Another thing that Howard offers which we signed up for (bad weather cancelled this in the end) was a night in the jungle. Howard walks 2-3 hours in with you to a camping spot, shows you some ‘survival’ skills and leaves you to face the elements overnight. I have no idea how extreme this is, I suspect not very…. no more than having to cook your own dinner, swat a few mozzies and work out what to do after sunset.

The islands off the tip are promoted in varying ways. I had read that there was good diving (apparently there isn’t even any dive operators and one of the islands is teeming with crocs….sharks I can deal with, crocs no) and adequate accommodation (very mixed reviews). And if you manage to get there by boat there is no guarantee you will be able to return on your desired day if they weather turns. Too hard basket for me.

Our ride back from the beach on the back of a palm oil truck.

The accom

The tip of Borneo

Julia querying our whereabouts

An ear candling....I later performed this service for free on Julia after watching how it was done.

A little on the stinky side

Kudat missile programme???