During our trip through Sabah, we wanted to spend a few nights on an island near Kota Kinabalu. And because a little luxury never hurts, we chose the beautiful JSK Mantanani Island Resort on Mantanani Island. It’s an attractive family resort with beautiful detached bungalows on the beach and standard chalets a bit further inland. We stayed there for a few nights while visiting this lovely diving and snorkeling island — and it was simply wonderful.
Mantanani really is a tropical island paradise, with powdery white beaches and crystal-clear seawater. It’s a small island, less than 3 square kilometers, with a total of six resorts and a few homestays at the time of writing. The resorts are spread around the main island, Mantanani Besar, all right on the beach. JSK Mantanani Resort is the most luxurious one on the island. It’s also one of the larger resorts — though you wouldn’t notice it when staying there.
Beautiful chalets
Your own luxury chalet on the beach — it’s something everyone should experience at least once. Mantanani is a real paradise island, and if you stay at JSK Resort, you can walk to the sea in less than 20 steps and start snorkeling right away. The chalets are spacious and have a modern interior with lots of wooden accents. They’re fully air-conditioned and have 24/7 electricity. The beds are new and super comfortable. The most luxurious beachfront chalets have large windows with stunning views of the beach and the turquoise sea beyond.
Behind the beachfront bungalows, there are a few outbuildings where you’ll find the Deluxe Standard Rooms with views of the garden or jungle. These are quite a bit cheaper, but if you’re going for that true island getaway feeling, the Premium Sea View Chalets on the beach are definitely worth it.
We stayed in a brand-new chalet on the second row from the beach. Everything felt fresh and recently built. The air conditioning looked like it had just been installed (and even at 26°C, it was already freezing!). The windows misted up quickly due to the humidity, but luckily the aircon had a dry mode that took care of it in no time. The beds were incredibly comfy. And the view from our cottage was amazing — you could see the sea right between the front row of chalets.
Diving and snorkeling
Of course, you come to beautiful Mantanani to dive or snorkel. The JSK Resort has its own diving school where you can do a trial dive, a refresher session, or even a full diving course (PADI OW costs RM1200).
For little ones aged 6 and up, there’s a special Mermaid diving course, where kids can have fun getting to know diving and the underwater world. There’s also the regular PADI Open Water course, plus Advanced and Rescue Diver courses. If you just want to go diving without taking a course, you don’t need to arrange anything in advance. But if you want to book a course for yourself or the kids, you’ll need to let them know ahead of time.
We did three dives, and they were really cool. The visibility around Mantanani is great. Although the number of large fish species was a bit disappointing, we saw plenty of small marine life. The diving school was excellent, with almost brand-new equipment. All the divemasters were locals who know the dive sites like the back of their hands and speak excellent English. Since the diving school had only just opened, they weren’t fully booked yet — but I imagine that’ll be different next year (only the two large resorts on the island have dive schools).
What else is there to do in and around the resort?
There are three main activities that really stand out — and they’re all included in the price. The best one is the snorkeling tour, which takes place every day in the late morning. Also great is the night safari, where you go on a guided walk hoping to spot animals. The most special one is the Otus, an owl species found only on Mantanani, which attracts bird lovers from all over the world. Another fun activity is the sunset walk, where you head to the other side of the island around 5:30 p.m. to enjoy an amazing sunset from the beach. Alternatively, you can bike around the island on a mountain bike (note: a minimum number of participants is required).
Here’s how it works: in the lobby, there’s a large board listing all activities and start times. That’s the time you need to be in the lobby — if you’re late, you’ll miss out, as they leave right on time.
A fun way to explore the island is by renting a kayak. The JSK Resort has transparent kayaks with glass bottoms, so you can see the seabed beneath you.
You can also rent a mountain bike. The island is small, but big enough to explore by bike. You can circle the whole island in under 20 minutes, but it’s still a fun way to explore every corner.
Other activities at the resort weren’t really our thing, but many of the mainly Asian visitors seemed to love them — think ATV rides, banana boat, and so on. During our stay, no one opted for those, but the glass-bottom canoe was in use the whole time.
Food and drinks
All meals at the Alawa Restaurant are buffet-style and included in the price. Meals are served at set times: breakfast from 6:30–8:30, lunch from 12:00–14:00, and buffet dinner from 18:30–20:30. Clean-up usually starts after closing time, but you can still hang out — so no worries if you show up for breakfast at 8:20. Lunch and dinner were especially tasty, with a wide variety of local dishes. There was plenty of choice. Breakfast was simple, but fine.
You can also visit the Aramaiti Lounge daily from 7 p.m. for a drink or a snack (note: this is not included in the price). In the evening, it’s the perfect place to enjoy a cocktail (or mocktail). They also have vending machines with snacks and essentials like sunscreen and band-aids.
If you want to eat cheap and local, check out one of the warungs in Kampung Mantanani. Prices are very reasonable and the food is prepared with love by the locals. It’s less than a 10-minute walk from the resort to the village on the other side of the island. Make sure to bring a flash light though, as it will be quite dark on the way home.
What’s the best way to book a stay?
Prices at JSK Mantanani Island Resort are always based on full board, which means three meals a day are included in the price. Full board isn’t the same as all-inclusive, which you’ll sometimes see advertised on various booking sites. If you want to eat or drink outside the fixed meal times, you’ll need to pay separately.
You can book through all major hotel websites — we’ve always had good experiences with Booking.com and Agoda.nl. Just keep in mind that the resort is quite popular, and during high season (April through September), it’s often fully booked well in advance.
One advantage of booking through hotel sites is their flexible cancellation policies — often you can cancel for free up to a few days before arrival.
How to get there?
The JSK Mantanani Island Resort is located on Mantanani Island. To get there, you first fly to Kota Kinabalu (KK), a large city on the west coast of Sabah. There are dozens of daily flights from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu. It’s best to arrive in KK at least a day in advance, because catching everything on the same day can be a bit tight.
If you book through the resort, transfers are included in the price. You’ll arrange your pick-up location in advance — either KK Airport or Jesselton Point Ferry Terminal — where you’ll be picked up in the morning for the drive to JSK Rampayan Harbor, near the town of Kota Belud. The ride takes about 1.5 hours in the special JSK bus.
We left Jesselton at 11:45 a.m. and arrived at the JSK Jetty at 1:45 p.m., where you’ll ‘check in’ as a guest and get your luggage tagged. After that, you get a short lunch break at the Rampayan Café.
Around 2:30 p.m., you’ll board the JSK Mantanani boat, which takes you directly to the resort (30–40 minutes by boat, depending on sea conditions).
You can also drive to the harbor yourself if you have a rental car. You can park your rental car at the JSK Jetty, and JSK Rampayan Jetty is easy to find using Google Maps.
Tips
- The resort’s official website often has competitive “Package Deals”, such as 3D/2N (3 days, 2 nights) including all meals. Sometimes, these deals work out cheaper than booking the same number of nights through Booking.com, for example. If there aren’t any offers listed, you can also try contacting the resort directly to see if they can offer you something special.
- At the time of writing, only full-board packages were available — meaning all meals and activities are included. That’s totally fine, because unlike an island like Perhentian, you don’t really have many dining options outside the resort. On Mantanani, you can’t just walk from one resort to another for a meal (as it is a long walk).
- Most resorts on Mantanani don’t have a swimming pool, but JSK Mantanani does. JSK doesn’t have a spa, but the nearby Sutera Mantanani Resort does.
- JSK Resort is a fairly large resort. If you prefer a smaller, more intimate place, it’s best to look on the other side of the island, where most of the smaller resorts are located.
- It’s best to leave the air-conditioning on the dry setting at night — this helps remove moisture from the air, which is useful since the island is quite humid.
- The resort is still fairly new (currently in the soft-opening phase), and you can notice that in a few areas. Over time, more vegetation will grow, making the surroundings feel less open and bare. Still, it already looked great — so it can only get better from here!
- Kawa Rampayan (where the JSK Jetty is located) is also a departure point for river cruises, including tours to see Proboscis monkeys and fireflies.
- There’s Wi-Fi in the main building, and the range is pretty good. If you have your own local SIM card, the mobile reception is also decent.
- For kids, there’s a play area with foosball (table soccer), pool tables, a games corner, and more.
- Between March and July, you might be lucky enough to see the “Blue Tears” phenomenon (bioluminescent phytoplankton) on the beach at night — a truly magical experience.
Suggestions?
Got any good tips to share with us? Do you know of any great things to do in Sabah, or tips on the best places to eat? Let us know by leaving a reply below!
