You don’t need to climb a mountain or disappear into the jungle for three days to find a little breathing room. Sometimes, Sabah’s version of an escape is much closer than you think.
There are days when Kota Kinabalu feels particularly loud.
The traffic seems louder. The coffee shop is full. Your phone won’t stop buzzing. Even deciding where to have lunch feels like one decision too many.
On days like these, the temptation is to say: I need a holiday.
But perhaps you don’t.
One of the nicest things about living in — or visiting — Kota Kinabalu is how quickly the city begins to loosen its grip once you start moving towards its edges.
Drive for half an hour and buildings begin giving way to kampung roads. Go a little further and there are rivers, waterfalls and hills. Or don’t drive very far at all. There are still pockets of green and stretches of sea where you can sit for an hour and do absolutely nothing productive.
Here are a few escapes for when you need Sabah to slow things down for you.
1. Kionsom: When What You Really Need Is Cold Water
Time you need: Half a day
There is something wonderfully uncomplicated about going to a waterfall.
No itinerary. No sightseeing checklist. No need to dress nicely.
Just bring clothes you don’t mind getting wet, something to eat, a towel and perhaps a book you won’t end up reading.
Ulu Kionsom Waterfall sits in Inanam, close enough to KK that going there doesn’t need to become a major expedition. Tourism Malaysia lists Kionsom among the attractions around Inanam, but its real appeal is precisely that it doesn’t feel like something that needs to be “done”.
Come in the morning, while the day still feels young. Find your spot. Listen to the water. Put your feet in.
If you’re brave, get all the way in. The water will probably settle whatever argument you were having with the week.
You don’t need to stay until evening. Two or three slow hours can be enough before heading back towards town for lunch.
BAH! says: Don’t rush here just to photograph the waterfall and leave. The whole point is to stay awhile.
2. Kokol: Go Up Until KK Looks Small Again
Time you need: 4–6 hours
Sometimes perspective is quite literal.
Drive uphill towards Kokol and watch the city gradually shrink behind you.
The road climbs through increasingly green surroundings, the air changes and, depending on where you stop, KK eventually becomes something you look at rather than something you’re stuck inside.
There are several places around Kokol where you can make an afternoon of it. Kokol Eco Escape, for example, describes its surroundings as rainforest with access to waterfalls, a river and forest trails.
But you don’t necessarily need to fill the day with activities.
That’s not why we’re sending you here.
Go up after lunch. Take the winding road slowly. Stop when something catches your attention. Have a drink somewhere with a view. Walk a little. Stay long enough to watch the light change.
If the weather cooperates, find somewhere facing west and wait.
KK looks different from up here.
So might whatever was bothering you.
BAH! says: Kokol is best when you don’t over-plan it. Give yourself an afternoon rather than an itinerary.
3. Kopungit Hill: When You Only Have Two Hours
Time you need: 1½–2½ hours
Not every escape requires leaving Kota Kinabalu.
Sometimes you just need to get above it.
Kopungit Hill — also known as Nulu Kuminaus — is only about 5km from town. Sabah Tourism describes the route as roughly a 2km hike from the starting point to the top, with views over the airport and Kepayan.
This isn’t Mount Kinabalu and that is precisely the point.
You can finish work, change your shoes and go.
From higher ground, you see a different KK: planes approaching the runway, neighbourhoods spreading below you, roads threading their way through the city.
Stay for a while instead of immediately turning around.
There is something strangely therapeutic about watching planes take off when you aren’t the one who has to be on them.
BAH! says: Go early or later in the day rather than under the full afternoon sun. Bring water and proper footwear, and check local trail and weather conditions before setting off.
4. Kota Kinabalu Wetlands: Find the Quiet Hiding Inside the City
Time you need: 1–2 hours
This one almost feels like cheating.
Kota Kinabalu Wetland Ramsar Site is in the city itself, yet once you’re walking among the mangroves, KK starts feeling further away than it actually is.
This isn’t the place to come expecting dramatic scenery.
The pleasure here is smaller.
Mudskippers. Birds. Mangrove roots. The occasional rustle that makes you stop walking and look.
Most of all, space.
Sabah Tourism includes the wetlands among KK’s nature attractions, making it one of the easiest ways to insert a little nature into an otherwise urban day.
Come early. Walk slowly. Don’t put headphones on.
You came here to hear something other than the city.
BAH! says: Bring binoculars if you have them. If you don’t, bring patience. Nature becomes considerably more interesting once you stop expecting it to perform for you.
5. Tanjung Aru: Yes, You Know It. Go Anyway.
Time you need: 1–3 hours
We know.
Tanjung Aru Beach isn’t hidden. Everyone knows Tanjung Aru.
That’s exactly why locals sometimes forget that one of KK’s easiest escapes has been sitting there all along.
But try going without making sunset the objective.
Go in the morning.
Walk beneath the aru trees. Find breakfast afterwards. Or arrive late in the afternoon with nothing more ambitious planned than sitting somewhere and watching the South China Sea.
The beach is only around six kilometres south of central KK, according to Tourism Malaysia, while Sabah Tourism highlights picnics, kite flying and simply watching the evening sky among the things people come here to do.
Yes, sunset can get busy.
But perhaps that is part of Tanjung Aru too.
Children running around. Families spreading food out. Someone flying a kite badly. People standing around with their phones pointed towards exactly the same patch of sky.
And then, occasionally, Sabah delivers one of those sunsets that makes everybody stop talking for a minute.
Popular doesn’t always mean overrated.
Sometimes popular simply means we collectively figured out that this is a good place to be.
BAH! says: If crowds are precisely what you’re escaping, don’t come at peak sunset hour. Try an early morning walk instead.
If You Have a Whole Day: Leave the Mainland
Time you need: Most of the day
And then there are those weeks when two hours aren’t going to cut it.
Get on a boat.
The islands of Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park sit just offshore from Kota Kinabalu. The marine park comprises five islands surrounded by coral reefs and is close enough to the city to make an island day possible without turning it into an elaborate Sabah holiday.
You can swim, snorkel or simply find some sand and stop checking what time it is.
There is something psychologically useful about putting a stretch of sea between yourself and your inbox.
Even if the inbox is technically still only a boat ride away.
You Probably Don’t Need to Go Very Far
We tend to think escaping means travelling somewhere impressive.
Kundasang. Kudat. An island resort.
A long weekend somewhere that requires three bags, fourteen WhatsApp messages and somebody asking, “Who is driving?”
But there is another kind of travel worth making room for.
The two-hour escape.
The Sunday morning drive.
The waterfall after a difficult week.
The hill you climb simply because you’ve spent too many days looking at walls.
The beach where nothing particularly remarkable happens.
Sabah gives us enormous landscapes, but perhaps we don’t always need enormous adventures.
Sometimes the city gets too loud.
Go somewhere you can hear the water again.
BAH! QUICK PICK
I’ve only got an hour or two: Kota Kinabalu Wetlands or Tanjung Aru
I want to move: Kopungit Hill
I want water: Kionsom
I need cooler air and a drive: Kokol
I need the whole day gone: Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park
Travel times, access, trail conditions and opening arrangements can change. Check locally before heading out, particularly after heavy rain.
BAH! Discover — Your Local Plug in Sabah.
