27 January 2014

An afternoon outing in Kota Kinabalu took us to the Likas Mosque (better known as the ‘Floating mosque’ in KK).  Being our first visit to a mosque, we read up a bit on dress code/etiquette required and figured long sleeves, long pants and a headscarf for H would suffice.

Upon arrival, we were directed to the small shop/reception office outside where a kind lady helped us to dress appropriately.  There were kaftans, scarfs and head gear available there (for free) so that non-Muslim visitors would be allowed in to the mosque.

Outside the mosque, you are required to remove shoes and a guide then takes you through the mosque giving information about its construction, use and history.  We were informed that the mosque was built over 11 years (1989 – 2000), construction cost MYR 40 million and the building can comfortably fit between 9,000 to 12,000 worshipers.

The fifteen-minute tour concludes and visitors can take a couple of pictures inside and outside the mosque, provided no worshipers are disturbed.

At the same reception office, you can pay MYR 5 each and go on the peddle-boats in the water around the mosque. This is great for some fun and for getting a different angle on photos of the mosque. There is no time limit on using the peddle boat as far as we could tell.

Read the reviews on TripAdvisor. Be aware that some travellers have confused the floating mosque (Likas) with the Kota Kinabalu State Mosque, which are two different locations.

Getting here:

Take a (big) bus from in front of the Shangri-la Motel (NOT the same as the fancy hotel complex far out of town). Ask for the Likas bus (it has a purple stripe) and ask the driver to drop you at the Likas Mosque. MYR 1 each.

Favourite memory:

We finished a nice afternoon exploring the mosque and riding the peddle boat and decided to catch a bus to the next stop, the Kota Kinabalu Wetland Centre.  We were told that it was an hour’s walk from the mosque, so thought the bus would be best.  First, the bus drivers told us ‘no bus, no bus’ (of the three busses standing there), then after some deliberation they decided it would be best to do a bus trip after all.  The few tourists and locals were herded on to the one bus and, after a push start, the wonky old bus started going, in the wrong direction from where we needed to go… In fact, it did a full circle and came back past the mosque bus stop before finally continuing on to the route we needed to go. The delay was only about 40 minutes, no big deal.