I was looking for a good sunrise and sunset spot when I was in Tawau just recently.

My friend, Zell suggested that I should check out some beaches at Kampung Batu Payung for sunrise.  The village resides along the coastline of Jalan Tinagat road. The only place in Tawau that has sandy beaches. This place brings back sweet memories, when I was young my father used to bring me and my brothers here for our weekend gateway.

So, we went driving along the coastline when I spotted a jetty on one of the beaches. A burger stall sits strategically next to some well-decorated benches. I saw several hammocks tied to some trees around a shade. Seeing the burger stall, our children screamed that they are hungry (just after our ‘big’ lunch, 2 hours ago lol). We then decided to check out this place.

Jeti USBA kampung Batu Payung, Tinagat, Tawau

USBA Jetty at Kampung Batu Payung is owned by a 71 years old man, Uncle Sabturani bin Angsa. USBA stands for Usaha Sabturani Bin Angsa. Usaha means effort, so USBA stands for the effort of Sabturani bin Angsa taken care of this place.

Uncle Sabturani came to greet us at the bench while I was busy with my cameras, attempting to capture the sunset. My children were dangerously goofing around in one of the hammocks and he was worried that the hammock might snatch and hurt them. Well, children usually would listen to a stranger than to their parents, right?

This is the only place along the Tinagat road that has an Instagram-worthy spot. Except for the warning sign “Tinggalkan tempat ini jika bukan suami isteri atau muhrim” which are written at every corner of this place, this place is soothing. The warning sign says, lovebirds or unmarried couples are not welcome here and please leave this place as soon as possible. So, if you are unmarried lovebirds, you are not welcome here. Please respect that.

This place is for family hangout and for anglers, oh yeah … and for a photographer like me, lol. He provides hammocks, small surau (prayer place), light for the night anglers. And, if you are hungry … just order your Ramlee burger from the nearby burger stall.

Since this place is a private place, I think it would be good if we can donate some tips for his effort in maintaining the area. The donation box is just next to the surau.

Rumah Khazanah USBA, Kampung Batu Payung

Across the road is Uncle Sabturani’s home where he converts it into a little cozy personal museum, displaying his collection of antiques. He called his little museum as Rumah Khazanah USBA. Old telephones, lights from the previous old lighthouse, his records collection and his well-maintained record player etc.

Ahh … he was a videographer for events and weddings during his younger life, so he showcases all his old video making equipment at one corner. And, he has a storytelling corner too where he displayed old pictures of places in Tawau. A passionate storyteller, it shows when he eagerly narrates the early story about Tawau and Sabah to our children.

“Melopong mulut” our children listening to his story.

My little daughter Arissa loves his museum so much. When I asked her why she likes this place? She said because she could touch and test the things there (direct interactive), most museums do not allow us to touch the items on display. And, the children are happy that they were allowed to leave their message on his logbook. Easy entertainment for the children.

There is a donation box located outside his museum, I strongly encourage visitors to drop some donations for him as a token of appreciation for his effort.

The beaches here need cleaning work

As I said earlier, the jetty has an Instagram-worthy view but the condition of the beach here is another story. We as Malaysians generally are still not doing much about our rubbish, particularly our plastic issues. The beaches along Tinagat road are filthy with all kinds of trashes. So, if you plan to walk along a clean romantic beach here you might as well forget about it.

Of all the things that being said, if you happened to pass by this area, I still think that the USBA jetty and Uncle Sabturani are worth a visit.

Time well spent here in Tawau. Sharing with you timelapse landscape videos of a few places that I went during my stay in Sabah. Stay curious and keep on exploring your surroundings.

Cheers

MM