First known from an international Television program, ‘Survivor’. Pulau Tiga means ‘Island of Three.’ In the Malay Language. In 1978, Pulau Tiga was atoned as a Marine Park, which covers 158 square kilometers of land, while 96% contains the coral reefs of the area. The park consisted of three islands; Pulau Tiga (Survivor Island), Pulau Kalampunian Besar (Sand spit Island), Pulau Kalampunian Damit (Snake Island).
To go there, the trip is a 2.5 hours car drive from Kota Kinabalu City to Kuala Penyu town. Then, you need to take a 20-minute boat ride to the island that is 15 kilometers away. You could follow the boat of Pulau Tiga Resort to the island; however some heads up, you need to book the island tour in advance. They- the resort will provide land transport from Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Penyu with fee fair. For visitors that have transport, it is fine to leave your transport outside of the office at Kuala Penyu. One out of three islands is habited – Pulau Tiga while the other two, Pulau Kalampunian Besar and Pulau Kalampunian Damit are inhabited.
Visitors should spend a night or two at the island for a change of pace. The resort area flourished with trees as the policy of the park as no one is allowed to cut off any trees around the island, the resort staff would brief on the do’s and don’ts of the island once you checked in.
What makes Pulau Tiga unique, the Mud Volcano spa; the mud volcano is one of the unknown wonders of Sabah. There were 3 active Mud Volcano springs, however, two dried up according to the guide from the island. The only active and largest Mud Volcano is located at the center of Pulau Tiga, the hike to the spring is about 100 meters and it is just behind the Pulau Tiga Resort. The trail to the mud volcano is flat and easy to walk; you will reach there within 20 minutes. If luck is on your side while walking to the mud volcano spring you might also see Red-faced Megapod galloping through the woods, there are about 10 exotic fowls in the forest.
The Mud Volcano is undoubtedly a tourist trap, there is a shelter near the spring as you could rest from your long hike to the spring. Most of the tourists would get themselves dirty and muddy from the spring just for the fun out of it. Some say the mud from the spring has medicinal and therapeutic properties that are beneficial for the skin. After your mud spa treatment, you could wash clean at the beach and be cautious of your own self.
In addition, if the mud volcano is not your cup of tea; the mud volcano area has a junction that leads to Pagong-Pagong Beach which is an 800 meters walk, however not many tourists would walk the trail as it is not maintained properly. The beach is located on the north side of the island, the beach is deserted most time moreover; you could see both Snake Island and Sand Spit Island from your spot at the beach. Other than Pagong-Pagong Beach, Larai-Larai Beach is also a to-go-to at Pulau Tiga, located on the west side of the island.
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