Semporna + Tawau Itinerary: Island Hopping in Sabah's Borneo East Coast Islands

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Sabah’s East Coast Islands starting with Semporna for the longest time was a haven for tourists from China and Korea. Then, the pandemic hit and all of the income was lost for a long time in Sabah’s East Coast Islands.

In April, during Ramadan I decided to go for a long island hopping trip in Sabah’s East Coast Islands. I heard quite a bit about the Bajau Laut people with tons of documentaries about them being the nomads of the sea.

They lived for more than 1,000 years on small houseboats off the coast near the Phillipines and Malaysian islands and could dive as deep as 230 feet.

A lot has been said about them and how it was possible to meet their communities away from the touristy stretch in islands such as Omadal and Tallabanos — but word has it that since 2018, they’re off limits and require heavy permits from “Jabatan Laut” and a separate rental boat to visit them.

Negotiating was a bit tricky and since I was on a trip with my mom, it proved difficult to sort of find extra time to go to these islands. Instead we did the 3 days island hopping and explored these islands in Sabah’s East Coast states.

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How To Get To Semporna from Tawau

The stunning mataking island

We were flying from Kuala Lumpur through AirAsia flight which took 3 hours. The easiest way was to fly to Tawau and get onto a cab that takes you straight to Semporna.

We wanted to explore Tawau and decided to explore this place on our way back.

The distance from Tawau to Semporna is 106.7km and takes 1 hour and 46 minutes. We booked a taxi at the airport directly when we arrived and it costs around RM150 to take us straight to our hotel in Semporna, Grace Hotel.

3-4 Days Island Hopping in Semporna

I would recommend checking out this tour that’s significantly cheaper and takes you to Timba-Timba, Mataking and Pom Pom Island. Another great option is this island hopping tour that takes you specifically on a snorkelling trip which includes Bohey Dulang, Mantabuan and Sibuan islands as well as Mataking, Timba Timba and Pom Pom island.

If you want to try your hands in scuba diving and you’re a non-diver, I would recommend going for a tour with this company.


Where To Stay + Things To Do + Places To Eat in Semporna

The drive from the airport we were met with large estates of palm oil trees making me wonder where’s the scenic countryside.

You’ll see a Visit Malaysia signboard tagged Sabah as a place with eco-tourism activities and yet there are rows and rows of crop production dedicated to oil palm trees.

The roads were in pretty good condition though not the same can be said for elsewhere in Sabah.

We drove straight to Semporna and was shocked to see the terrible garbage situation in Semporna with plastic wrappers flowing everywhere. There’s no shortage of NGOs in Semporna who have tried to clean up its mess but for some reason, Semporna remains dirty.

I didn’t feel too safe hanging out at night but unless you’re in a group here are some great places to explore in Semporna and eat as well.

Where To Stay In Semporna

Where To Eat In Semporna

Eating at one of the seafood restaurants in semporna

Places to Explore in Semporna

How to travel around Semporna

  • Download the “Maxim” e-hailing app. This is the app that most Sabahans used in Semporna.

  • To go to some of these places, it is better to pre-arrange your transport. I did that with a recommended driver who took me to these places at an affordable rate. His name is Latif: +6011 - 6417 0212. He took me back to Tawau as well.

Day 1: Bohey Dulang - Mantabuan - Sibuan

Few sea gypsies settlements in sibuan island

The first day of the island is a trek up to Bohey Dulang island offering fantastic views of the 353m peak. The islands are part of an extinct volcanic crater what are now forming a beautiful lagoon.

The lagoon is open on its southern side but the crater rim on that side extends into a long coral reef.

The trek was stunningly amazing and 45 minutes long! It was easy enough and on a slightly overcast day we could see the views of the reef and surrounding islands!  As part of the Tun Sakaran Marine Park there are eight islands – Bodgaya, Sibuan and Bohey Dulang and two reefs.

On our next stop, we went ahead to Mantabuan islands for a quick lunch stop and break with beautiful blue waters. The island was pretty small but it was great to stop and just take in the views!

The last island Sibuan was perhaps one of the most beautiful islands on the Celebes sea! It is a triangular-shaped sand cay located in a reef that stands alone to the northwest of Bodgaya.

A few sea gypsies live on the island and we visited their settlement on the other end of the islands. It was pretty cool to take a look at their uniquely designed boat called boo'gok-boo'- gok made of coconut husks!

We also snorkelled in the nearby waters and loved seeing the transition of colours!

Day 2: Mataking - Timba-Timba - Pom-Pom

timba timba island — unbelievably blue waters!

Perhaps some of the bluest seas that I have seen, Timba-Timba island took my breath away! Due to the soft sands, we were not able to anchor the boat for long.

It is a fine sandy beach and we saw migratory birds flock at the tip of the island which almost look like a dreamy postcards - the kind that you’ll find in Maldives!

As most of these islands are private islands, it was very hard to stay for long as much as wanted to. The snorkelling trip in Mataking was equally stunning, we saw schools of barracuda, trevally, spanish mackerel, rainbow runner and tuna, goby, frog fish and mandarin fish.

Day 3: Mabul - Kapalai Resort

I didn’t end up going on the last day as I was all snorkelled out! If you want to take a lot of pictures and exploring these resorts including seeing the Bajau people, then it would be to worth it to explore.

There’s an addition RM30 charge to visit Mabul Water Bungalows. In my opinion, it was too touristy and I wanted to take a break and head to Tawau instead to spend a night in a forest reserve.

Visiting Tawau and Exploring Tawau National Park

evening walk among the dipterocarp trees at tawau national park

As everyone is on a mad dash to visit the islands in Semporna that they almost forgot about another national park in Tawau which is hugely underrated!

Not many people know but Tawau is one of the best places to see wildlife upclose minus all the touristy frills in other popular areas like Danum Valley or Sukau in Kinabatangan area.

I highly recommend a night walk at Tawau National Park organised by wildlife conservationists called 1StopBorneoWildlife. Shavez and Chun took me on a night walk to spot various animals and insects that remain camouflaged during the day

You will also get to see and visit one of the former tallest dipterocarp trees and more opportunities to see wildlife in an intimate way.

We listened to the sounds of black-crested gibbons echo through the jungle air and red leaf monkeys (also known as maroon langur) which has the widest geographical distribution in Borneo!

You could also check out the Columnar Basalt Balung Cocos (Sungai Balung) or extend your trip and hike Mt Lucia and Mt Maria, both extinct volcanoes situated in Tawau National Park

Also Read: 17 Offbeat Borneo Places To Visit + Itinerary: Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei & Kalimantan

Have you been to any of these places or other underrated parts in Borneo? Share it with me in the comments below.