The time came. It was January 2014 and our first born was
4 months old. We decided to bring him back to our roots for a first time meeting his great grandparents in Tawau, Sabah, a part of
Borneo, a truly beautiful place in the world.
Tips for stress free family travel with kids was on top of our minds.
First time flying as a family we wanted the quickest and easiest route from Melbourne to Tawau. Malaysia Airlines MH128, departing Melbourne (MEL) at 00:20 to Kuala Lumpur (KUL) 06:00, transiting in Kuala Lumpur for 1:30hours then flying MH2660 from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) 07:30 to Tawau (TWU) 10:20 was the one! We did what most new parents will do which was to consult our dear friend Google for tips and tricks for flying with kids. Our little one wasn't the best sleeper, but he can generally get between 2 to 4 hours at one stretch. We chose an overnight flight. That worked well for us, giving us a couple hours of shut eye at night.
Fast forward a couple of hours (it was a blur), as we approached Tawau International Airport, the view was simple amazing. Mountains of greenery, terraces oil palms and evenly squared off fish farms.
One-word Wow! The airport is about an hour's drive away from town centre. Sabah has as a world heritage site Kinabalu Park, if you do visit It is worth spending at least 2 to 3 nights in Tawau to indulge in the local culture. There are plenty of local coffee shops, seafood restaurants and
beautiful islands dotted around, this leads us to our highlight.
Other than visiting relatives and family back home (of course), the highlight of our trip would definitely be the islands. A very highly recommended must do and to jot on your to do list.
Sipadan Island is well-known for diving and being divers ourselves it was on the list. It is considered one of the most beautiful dive places in the world.
Check it out.