How to get to Mt Kinabalu, Kinabalu National Park, Sabah, Malaysia?

Thanks Junious, for your photo.
In general,
  1. You fly from anywhere of the world to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia.
  2. Change your flight to AirAsia and fly to Kota Kinabalu
  3. In the airport of Kota Kinabalu, with prior arrangement, a car rental service operator will provide van to pick you up.
  4. With approximately 2 hours or 88km travelling in van, you will reach Kinabalu National Park, where Mount Kinabalu is located.
  5. On going back to airport, you can arrange with the same driver to pick you up from Kinabalu Park on specific date and time. 


    Airlines

    There are a few airlines fly directly from various locations to Kota Kinabalu. You can fly directly to Kota Kinabalu from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, Firefly), Singapore (Singapore Airlines), Hong Kong (Cathay Pacific Airways), Taipei (Cathay Pacific Airways), Tokyo, Osaka, Perth, Bandar Seri Begawan, GuangZhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Jarkatar, Manila, Seoul, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, etc.

    Here is a list of Airlines flying to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.





    Looking for cheap flight? Book early.


    Fly cheap: AirAsia, from Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) at Sepang near KLIA

    AirAsia is a low cost carrier/ airline. It gives the cheapest price if you can book the flight earlier, i.e. 6 months earlier, etc. This makes sense since you need to make your lodging booking in Mount Kinabalu 6 months earlier too. It may not be as comfortable as Malaysia Airlines (MAS), but the flight from KLIA to Kota Kinabalu is less than 3 hours.

    I did a search of AirAsia web site:

    • For a flight from KLIA to Kota Kinabalu, tomorrow is RM443 or USD142
    • For a flight from KLIA to Kota Kinabalu, 6 months from now is RM143 or USD46
    • For a flight from KLIA to Kota Kinabalu, 8 months from now is RM83 or USD27


    You can try MAS too. It is definitely more comfortable though more expensive.

    I also did a search of Malaysia Airlines web site:

    • For a flight from KLIA to Kota Kinabalu, tomorrow is RM749 or USD242
    • For a flight from KLIA to Kota Kinabalu, 6 months from now is RM239 or USD77
    • For a flight from KLIA to Kota Kinabalu, 8 months from now is RM239 or USD77


    The fare may change from time to time, but you get the idea of the difference between making early booking and between 2 main airlines flying to Kota Kinabalu from Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

    On the way from Kota Kinabalu to Kinabalu Park.

    Road Transport between Kota Kinabalu and Kinabalu Park

    Before you go to Kota Kinabalu, you can pre-arrange to hire van or taxi to pick you up from Kota Kinabalu International Airport to the park. When you arrange your transport to Kinabalu Park, i.e. van or taxi, etc. you can also ask the driver to come back on specific day you want to depart. As such they will come back to pick you up. Along the way, you can ask the driver to recommend places to visit.

    You may ask Sutera Sanctuary Lodges's staffs to recommend a reliable transport company.




    These are the two companies used in my trips:
    First trip
    Bimaz Tours & Travel And Rent-A-Car Sdn Bhd (Co.625562-P) KPL/LN:3958 MATTA No.2904
    Kota Kinabalu Sabah
    Tel : (+6) 088 767214 | Fax : (+6) 088 766214
    Second trip
    Syarikat Gunung Kinabalu
    Contact person: Charles Kong
    Tel : (+6) 088 492 535
    Mobile : (+6) 012 869 7677 | (+6) 016 552 7177
    Email : kcydavid@yahoo.com
    One more,
    We had not used their service before, but we add the info here purely based on goodwill and suggestion.
    GBMS Management Services
    Contact person: Hani NJ (and her blog)
    Tel : (+6) 088 760 521
    Mobile : (+6) 014 658 7181
    Email : gbms.centre@gmail.com; hani_nj@yahoo.com.sg

    There are public transport between Kota Kinabalu and Kinabalu Park. You can read more details on lonely planet's "Kinabalu Park: Getting there & away". Personally, I prefer hired van or taxi for
    1. it is not expensive
    2. we are more in control of time to reach the park or leaving the park
    3. with a hired driver. we can be more spontaneous on going various places


    More Resources
    Posted by CT
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