What is so interesting about the tip of borneo? 

The "tip of borneo" has recently been discovered to have the best beach in Sabah.

This area is home to the most traditional ethnic groups in Sabah, Rungus people.

The original rungus name for the tip of borneo is "Simpang Mengazou" which means Pirate Junction.

But the Malay name is Simpang Mengayau which you will see on the signpost directing you to here.

You will see a few longhouses here which for today remain a tradition rather than the function for what it was meant for many years ago.

The longhouse is built on stilts with outward sloping gate wall about one feet spacing.

In the beggining of the century before the europeans arrive dangerous animals were a present danger and pirate raids are quite frequent from the sea.

Historically, this little headland has a very interesting history.

It is the staging post for pirates. Chinese trading junk hug the coast en route from Singapore to the spice islands , "Sulawesi" in present day Indonesia.

Unfortunately there is very little documented evidence other than old British sea merchants record.

 

There has been a fourth discovery in NOVEMBER 2010 of a sunken Sung (800-900 years) dynasty trading vessels laden with centuries year old cutlery. After been looted by the local fisheren and sold the remaining pieces are taken by the Sabah Museum.

The remaining pieces are in the Sabah museum in Kota kinabalu.

Olden days shipping always hug the coast if they can because their wooden ships constantly need repair and they need provisions of water and fresh food.

Look at a map of borneo and you can see that chinese junks have to pass the tip of borneo en-route from Singapore to Sulawesi (for spices).

As this is the turning point for vessels hugging the coastline it is also a place of great tragedy. Local historians estimate that there is at least twenty more undiscovered wrecks in the vicinity of 10 nautical miles off the tip of borneo.

WHY DID THE "TIP OF BORNEO" SINK SO MANY OLD TRADING VESSELS?

The tip of borneo cuts two seas, "the south-china sea" and the "Sulu Sea".

 If you are sailing over the tip of borneo, the cross current is sometimes stronger than the wind power SO if the wind is not strong enough the current will push you to the coral reef. Modern sailing boats have engine power but olden day sailing boats only have sail power.

That is why it is impossible to estimate how many ship wrecks there are.