Pulau Sapi (Sapi Island)

Tourist warnings for the jellyfish - "Watch out for Humans!"

Our primary activity for 15 January, 2015 was a very enjoyable visit to Sapi Island.  Only a very brief boatride away, our research let us know that it should be good for snorkelling, swimming, camping, monitor lizards, sunbaking, a brief walk, ziplining from the neighbouring Pulau Gaya, and of course, watching tourists in their native habitat. 



Kat enjoys the secluded back-beach

We found this very helpful and insightful blog, a mere 2 years old, telling us of the wonders of being alone on Pulau Sapi, after 4pm, when the day tourists board their boats and return to their air conditioned hotel rooms on the “mainland”.  They told wonders of an island teeming with beauty, of monitor lizards, crawling through camp and a beachside camping spot to die for.  The tourist websites, posters and tour agencies also told tales of a magical glistening island of marvels you have never seen.

With our adventurous hearts excited at the prospect we did some background work on whether or not we would need our own tent.  Spending a night alone on a tropical island has some appeal, after all! A few false leads and we worked out that it was actually possible to borrow one on arrival.  We verified this through multiple independent sources (the crew from The Newsroom would have been pleased).

 

We’d talked with hostel guests, with our hostel hosts, with taxi drivers, with the guy that sold us the tickets, with the boat driver, with the park ranger (who did charge us the RM5 camping fee) and no one ever batted an eye at the mention of camping overnight on Sapi.  Some said “oo very beautiful”.    We made it to the counter (“just up there, straight then left”) where you hire such oddities as snorkels, fins, umbrellas, life jackets (for swimming in) and, as sure as I am writing this, tents, it was even there on his sign.

That was the point where we least expected to be disappointed.

Guy at counter: No tent.

Rob: No tent…huh… No tent because it is not available? No tent because it is broken? No tent because you just don’t have one?

GAC: Huh? No tent.

Protect your lunch!

Further pressing on the issue led nowhere, so I eventually returned to the park ranger who offered to refund the camping fee if nothing else could be arranged.  A very confusing conversation then took place where at least 4 different people started calling other people on their mobile phones, shouting at one another in Bahasa and I’m pretty sure that at one point I interjected with an “ahem, yes, that’s right…camping”.
 
Eventually the smiley bloke who could only be described as the leader of this collective group of helpful foreign language-telephone-everyone-they-know-type people summarised their enquiries: “sorry, today is not your day, my friend”.  And that, as they say, was that.   

The snorkelling was nothing to complain about, but I would not rave about it either.  It was a perfectly enjoyable way to spend the afternoon and certainly helped to take the heat out of the day.

 

Do the walk (if nothing else)

Far more impressive than the snorkelling was the walk around the island - I’ve read it suggested that you could do this in 45 minutes.  Perhaps this is true, if you ran marathons daily, did not own a camera and cared little for the scenery; for those following in our footsteps, or choosing to make your own, I’d suggest allowing 90 minutes to really take it in – and go clockwise. For you will discover clifftop views of the South China Sea along with a secluded and non-tourist infested beachfront.  It was amazing, I actually wish we had gone around a second time.

On completion of the beautiful walk, we joined many of the others (their numbers depleted after lunch); soaking in the sun, flopping about in the water (inhaling some through a snorkel) and taking selfies. We were certainly impressed by our first contact with the any wildlife in Malaysia – spotting three terrifyingly big monitor lizards, a pig, and a rather angry grey fish that pecks at your feet if you stay still too long.

 

For those planning their own adventure, my tips your own successful Sapi visit:

• Bring your own tent (to be sure) if that’s your thing.
• Don’t try to over plan this thing, the boats leave both Jesselton Ferry terminal in KK and Sapi frequently.  Don’t stress, you’re on holiday.
• Do the walk.
• Give yourself enough time (some people island hop – Sapi deserves more than 45 minutes).
• Stay after 1pm when the lunch tourists leave.
• Tickets are cheap and the island is easy - do it without a tour company.
• There’s both package meals (for tour bookings) and a café (with reasonable prices) on the island.

Costs (for the things worth talking about) - per person:

• Snorkel/Fin hire - RM15
• Boat Fare (return) - RM23
• Conservation fee - RM10
• Camping fee - RM5
• Jesselton terminal fee - RM2-3
• Gaya zipline - RM60 (we didn't try it but it looked like fun)

Palau Sapi map