Top 20 fun things to enjoy in Kota Kinabalu! (No. 13 – Enjoy the sunset at Tanjung Aru)
Top 20 fun things to enjoy in Kota Kinabalu! (No. 13 – Enjoy the sunset at Tanjung Aru)
Kota Kinabau is one of ‘Eight Great Places in the World to Watch the Sunset’
One of the great joys of Kota Kinabalu are the fabulous sunsets that are enjoyed by locals and visitors alike.
No need just to take my word as in 2014 Huffington Post included Kota Kinabalu as one of the eight locations in their article ‘Eight Great Places in the World to Watch the Sunset’.
So where in Kota kinabalu is the best place to view the sunset?
Well, basically anywhere but particularly good are Signal Hill (refer separate blog) and the seafront is another great location where you can enjoy the sun setting over the South China Sea. But, the place in Kota Kinabalu to view the sunset is around 3km south of the city centre at Tanjung Aru (Cape Aru). Here a spit of land protrudes into the South China Sea and accordingly it’s the furthest point west in the Kota Kinabalu area.
OK, so where at Tanjung Aru?
Two places:
‘Sunset Bar’ at Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort & Spa
What a wonderful place to relax on a lounger, sip something cool and watch the sun gently set. Thoroughly recommended.
View from the ‘Sunset Bar’ at Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort & Spa
Tanjung Aru Beach
Second, and the main focus of today’s blog is Tanjung Aru Beach. We visited on a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon arriving just after 5 p.m. Wow, it was busy but not unpleasantly so. Difficult to estimate numbers of people but there were probably around 1000 people in the vicinity of this public beach with a roughly 70/30 locals/visitors split.
Adjacent to Tanjung Aru beach.
First thing to note is as this is Sabah you’ll never go hungry! An array of ‘pop-up’ food stalls had ‘popped-up’ in the car park adjacent to the beach with the Korean Street Food stall the busiest. All the local favourites were on sale including satay chicken and after you’ve enjoyed some food, our recommendation for a cooling drink is La Aboy Juicy Café selling exotic freshly-pressed fruit juices.
‘Bubble-Sticks’
The beach itself is around 300 metres long and 50 metres wide with a gentle slope down to the waters edge. There was a real feel-good atmosphere here with locals and visitors alike enjoying a beautiful sunset and of course in this digital age many portraits and ‘selfies’ were taken…and, as a reminder of a simpler existence prior to the digital age, ‘Bubble Sticks’ (see photo below for a demonstration) did a roaring trade and were greatly enjoyed by young and old alike.
What great fun it is playing ‘Bubble-Sticks!’
By 6:15 p.m. it was sadly all over for another day…but there’s always tomorrow to look forward to and remember with sunsets, ‘every day is different’.
Top Tip for Visitors:
If it’s a Sunday / Public Holiday and a nice day allow plenty of time to get to Tanjung Aru Beach - there’s only one road in / out.
Take a camera, chill and enjoy!
About Martin
Martin is a British expat living in Kota Kinabalu who arranges tailored tours within Sabah primarily for British and Western tourists on behalf of Blue Kinabalu Travel Agency. Please help spread the word about beautiful Sabah and share this post using the social share buttons below.
