Surf's up in Borneo

The song “ surfing USA” keeps playing in my head and visions of lean muscled tanned bodies with hair, bleached blond by the Sun and sea, runs around in my mind.

When one thinks of surfing, we always think of the beaches of Hawaii , Australia and Bali  and we would never associate Sabah with this sport. 

However there is an ardent group of local and international surfers who are slowly but surely putting some of Sabah’s beaches on the surfers map.

The surf beaches in Sabah are found on the west coast, from Tanjung Aru beach in Kota Kinabalu to Tuaran and northwards to Kudat. 

These beaches face the South China Sea and are dependent on the monsoon to produce suitable waves.

The surf in Sabah will never be as great as the surf in Bali or other well know surfing beaches as the South China Sea is not as large as the Indian or Pacific oceans which produce very large waves, however it is still pretty good and perfect if you want to learn the sport.

The southwest monsoon blows from late May till September and brings with it waves between 1 to 5 ft (Looking from the back of the wave).

Tanjung Aru, which is the closest to the city, is also the best place to learn surfing as the waves are usually between 1 – 3ft, with the occasional 5 footer. 

However if you’re an experienced surfer, forget Tanjung Aru and head out North to the beaches of Karambunai and Kudat.

The waves get bigger as you travel north and the best time for this is during the Northwest monsoon which is from November to March. 

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Water theme park and region's largest duty free shop planned at Karambunai

Kota Kinabalu: A water theme park with a floating stage for orchestral performances in the middle, the largest duty-free shop in South East Asia and an adventure park are among future projects to be developed at the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP).

They would be built in the vicinity of the Karambunai resort area where there are lots of sea sports activities.

KKIP Land and Business Development Senior Manager Lawrence Kimkuan said the industrial zones within KKIP have all been fully developed and are ready to be taken up by investors.

So far, KKIP has managed to develop all of its 800 acres allocated for industrial purposes. It has also successfully developed other zones of the park into commercial and residential areas.

"Now, we are going to move into leisure and tourism aspect of the park.

Unfortunately, the State Government has yet to approve our application to develop this zone. But it is coming," said Kimkuan.

The zone in question has actually been gazetted for tourism.

However, KKIP still needs to gain approval from the State Government.

"We assure business owners that we are not going to compete with the existing businesses there with these future projects," said Kimkuan.

Meanwhile, KKIP Deputy Chief Executive Officer Melvin Disimond said KKIP is identifying niche industries that can be further developed.

"For example, from studies conducted recently, Sabah's food industry is the fastest growing in the State. The largest dairy farm in the country is in Sabah.

"Our niche may be in snack food. For instance, there is this snack food called Hari Hari which had already penetrated the market in West Malaysia," said Disimond.

The company that produced the snack recently bought a lot within KKIP since its factory in Kolombong could no longer cater to the space and production demands. "I found that Sabahan entrepreneurs like to be jack-of-all-trades. They want to do everything: agricultural, import-export, trading, contracting.

Continue reading at: Water theme park and region's largest duty free shop planned at Karambunai

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Tourism village plan in Karambunai

KOTA KINABALU: The traditional village of Kampung Ratau Karambunai is poised to make a name in the state’s tourism industry as a destination for holiday makers who seek a quiet retreat.

Located in the valley of Bukit Sepanggar, some 30 minutes’ drive from the state capital, Kampung Ratau has been identified as having immense potential to be developed into a tourism village.

And efforts are already being initiated to develop this potential and transform it into actual product that will benefit the local populace as well as the tourism sector.

Karambunai assemblywoman Datuk Jainab Ahmad, who announced the plan yesterday, said Kampung Ratau has been included as part of an integrated economic development for Karambunai constituency.

“The aim is to make it a tourism village by 2013. So, we will develop the village as a tourism product in manner that the villagers would be able to capitalize on their existing way of life to earn additional income,” he said.

Jainab said the villagers in Kampung Ratau are mostly Dusun, Kadazan and Bajau who still practise traditional agriculture they inherited from their ancestors.

Besides the daily life of the community, she said the hilly terrain and location of village next to the sea offer a scenic and tranquil experience that outsiders would not mind paying to explore.

“The plan would involve developing only the existing resources in the village, such upgrading the facilities of the homestay programme participants and developing agriculture land, apart from providing the infrastructure for suitable additional activities like jungle tracking, arts and local culture.

“It will be focused on upgrading and packaging the resources owned by the villagers that are readily available in the area and not a new development project by government or private company,” she said, adding that the main objective of the whole thing is to generate economic opportunities through tourism activities that will directly benefit the locals.

Continue reading at: Tourism village plan in Karambunai

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