Welcome to Kota Kinabalu!

Kota Kinabalu is the capital of Sabah, one of the two states of East Malaysia, and is located on the picturesque tropical island of Borneo. Getting to a good hotel in Kota Kinabalu from the airport is easy and convenient because most of the hotels in Kota Kinabalu are just a short distance away. There is a variety of accommodation available, from classy holiday resorts to budget hotels. If you are a golf enthusiast or enjoy sailing, you're in luck, for the city boasts golf courses where many a championship has been won, and also has a world class sailing marina.

Should you be travelling here on business, this city is the perfect choice in South East Asia. The business area is in close proximity to government and commercial offices, as well as banks. What's more, from the Kota Kinabalu International Airport, there are direct flights to many of the important cities in Asia.

You won't find it difficult to communicate with the people of Kota Kinabalu as most of them have basic English skills, and some even consider English their first language. This is because the national education system has made the English language compulsory in the curriculum. The most widely spoken language though is Bahasa Malaysia, while the Chinese settlers here speak Mandarin and Hakka.

The best way to spend an evening in this city is to go down to the waterfront around 6:00 pm. Here on the promenade, you can get yourself a drink and sit on a bench to watch perhaps the most spectacular sunset of your life. As the sun begins to sink into the sea, the sky is splashed with red, gold, and purple. If you'd rather stay inside your hotel haven, you could watch the sunset from the hotel gardens (most Kota Kinabalu hotels have gardens). Just relax and allow the cool breeze to lull you while the palm fringed islands before you add to the magic of the moment.

The people of Kota Kinabalu are passionate about Karaoke. If you like to sing, there are a lot of karaoke bars in Kota Kinabalu where you can indulge your vocal chords and have some fun in front of a large audience, or go private with friends. Most places offer a selection of golden oldies as well as the latest hits. For those who would rather listen to music, live bands perform every night in the bigger hotels. And after partying until dawn, you can stay up to watch a spectacular sunrise. In Kota Kinabalu nothing beats the sunset, but the sunrise comes close!

For those who prefer to be more active, there is a lot to see and do in and around Kota Kinabalu. There are long sandy beaches with soft white sand, and the sea is the perfect temperature to swim in. You could take a pleasant stroll down the 6.4 km (4 miles) Tanjung Aru Beach, or go to the islands just across the channel by boat. You could choose to go river rafting, or probably the best thing you can do in Kota Kinabalu is take a break from your busy routine, and just watch the world go by. It is also the ideal place to take a Borneo eco tour and see such wildlife as orangutans, proboscis monkeys, and pygmy elephants.

Explore Kota Kinabalu by taking one of the Kota Kinabalu tours or if you prefer to get to know this city by yourself take a look at our Kota Kinabalu map. We also have accommodation options available in nearby Sandakan, Sabah and also Malaysia's neighbours Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and Timor Leste.