Berhala Island,Sandakan,Sabah

What's up peeps?

Lovely Tuesday morning here in KK today and boy was I drained from my Sandakan trip last week!

(Day 1)

Last Friday, Vince,Roy (SICC boys) and I carpooled to Sandakan.
We rented a small car and left KK around 10.30am.

Funny thing happened along the way. As we were making our way up to 

Ranau, our car had a little problem. The clutch stopped working!

After waiting for a bit, the clutch decided to come back alive so we went on with the journey!

Bought ourselves some snacks to keep us awake and also made a few stops for a short break. 

Vince and I saw this cute egg machine beside us and decided to give it a go. 

Its been YEARS since we last saw that machine! Brings back good memories!

Arrived in Sandakan around 6.30pm and we were so looking forward to checking in to a backpackers fast. 

Met up with Zack (another regular climber from SICC) and he brought us around for
an awesome dinner and chillout session!

 Pai Kut Wong (Pork Ribs), Shi Mien Dou (Four Cornered Beans??), 

Lu Rou Chao Jiang (Ginger Deer Meet)

Chilli Crabs with Mantou

After dinner, we decided to chill out at  English Tea House!

 A must go place if you are in Sandakan!

Just pictures of the sign in case you're planning to look for this place!

The next day, it was raining in Sandakan.

We were really looking forward to a bright sunny day but it rained.

We had our breakfast while waiting for other climbers to arrive.Waited till about 1pm for the rain to stop.

A total of 7 climbers (including me) went off to Berhala Island.

Roy and Zack

 We arrived at the Main Beach of Berhala Island at 1.20pm.

Unpacked everything and started to explore around the main beach

 while Roy and Vince were busy setting up anchors and ropes for us to climb!

Beautiful wall!

While waiting, Zack and I had our little camwhore moments!

The Chimney

(Grade 5C route)

Quite challenging for this route because as you climb higher, the space gets smaller and tighter.
A really good route for starters!

Eat Blue Llama

(Grade 5C+ route)

This is one of my favourite route because it forces me to figure out

different moves and techniques that I need to use and also helps improve my footwork!

 Good warm-up route as well!

(Day 2)

Before heading off to Berhala Island again,the boys and I had our breakfast at a fish market!

 According to Roy, this fish market is one of the cleanest fish market in Sabah!

How often do you see a clean and dry fish market!

We set off to Berhala Island at 11am. This time the weather was perfect! 

Scorching hot sun with blue skies and all smiles!

 We had to find a little island for our stuff as the tide was coming in

and also trying to avoid all the rubbish! But that never stopped us from climbing!

One thing that really shocked us was..as we arrived onTurtle Beach,Berhala Island 

(another side of the island),despite the high tide and heat..we saw the beach and

the first thought that came into my head was

IT WAS LIKE A DUMP SITE!

Zack, Dave and I were busy exploring the beach while 

Roy and Vince were busy setting up everything. 

The rock surfaces are actually sand stones. Quite sharp but easy to hold!

Dave doing a red point

After climbing and also doing a bit of lead climbing,

We had our little fun taking crazy pictures!

A must do thing at the beach!

JUMPING POSE

 Oh Hello! 

Vince found this really huge jellyfish stranded on the beach!

HUMONGOUS!!

Tanned feet!

Zack and I trying to steer the boat!

After a long tiring day, we went back to the backpackers for a quick shower

and head back to KK around 4.30pm. We were all tanned, some were burnt,

tired,hungry and sleep deprived but it was all worth it!

A little message to share :

I seriously recommend climbers to climb in Berhala Island

if you have never climbed outdoor or if you want to try out something different! 

This was my very first outdoor climb

and I seriously had the best climbing experience ever!

Routes were challenging! 

No complaints about the routes but craving for more climbs! 

A different feeling from climbing in the climbing gym!

I learnt how to improve my techniques,moves as well as footworks! 

I even learn how to communicate better with the belayer and also climber!

Berhala Island, Sandakan, Sabah

Price : Rm185 per pax

 (includes rental of equipments and boat fees)

*Note : Accomodation and Transportation charges are not included*

For more info, you can contact Roy at 0148511400 

or leave a message at the SICC page!

(Picture credits to Roy and Zack)

For more pictures, click here!

Click here to check out more about SICC (Sabah Indoor Climbing Centre)!