Stargazing and Milky Way viewing near Mersing

In order for city dwellers in Singapore to stargaze and take photos of the starry night sky, we have to travel across the causeway to Malaysia.

I visited Srikandi Resort in Mersing twice, once on my own and another time with a group of astrophotographers led by Remus Chua.

I went to Srikandi Resort in June 2017 and again in March 2018.

Mersing Milky Way Trip, June 2017

For my first trip, I travelled by public transport. I took the bus from Singapore to Larkin. From JB Larkin Sentral, I took the S&S express bus to Mersing Bus Terminal. Then I took a taxi to the Srikandi Resort, about 30 minutes’ drive north of Mersing town.

It was a weekday and there was no other guest. The place was empty and really dark at night. Despite the not so clear sky, I was able to see the Milky Way!

The dark sky at Srikandi Resort Mersing on 20 June 2017

The resort’s kitchen only opens on weekend and there is no restaurant nearby. As such, I stayed for only one night on my first trip as I did not want to carry more than one day’s ration of food and drink.

Mersing Astrophotography Trip, March 2018

To save the hustle of taking multiple buses and taxi rides, I decided to join 3D2N Astrophotography Trip to Mersing in March 2018 organised by Remus Chua, founder of the SingAstro forum.

The assembly and pickup point was at Kranji MRT on a Friday morning. Beside the two-way transportation by MPV between Kranji MRT and Srikandi Resort, meals (2 dinners, 2 breakfasts and 1 lunch) were provided at the resort during the 3D2N weekend trip. Visit www.celestialportraits.com to find out more.

Milky Way at Mersing Srikandi Resort on 17 Mar 2018

Stargazing and Seeing the Milky Way in Kota Kinabalu

Last August I went camping in Sabah hoping to catch a glimpse the Perseid Meteor Shower. I spent the first two nights at the Tegudon Tourism Village, a popular camping site for stargazing about 2 hours’ drive from Kota Kinabalu, to shoot the meteor shower and Milky Way. On the third day’s afternoon, I was back in the city hoping to catch up with my sleep before taking the morning flight. Instead, a friend insisted that I should go try my luck shooting the Milky Way in Kota Kinabalu at a dark location about 30 minutes’ drive from the airport.

The “newly discovered” stargazing spot near Kota Kinabalu was located up in the hills along the Sugud Timpango Road. Standing at 600m above sea level, I could see the bright lights of Kota Kinabalu city. In the south direction was the Crocker Range and the sky was cloudy.

When we arrived at 10pm, the stray light from the city of Kota Kinabalu was bright enough to be reflected by the low clouds and made visible the nearby trees and excavated slope.

The low cloud started to clear and the sky became darker later in the night when the city went to sleep and the lights went off. The hazy band of stars became more visible and I could actually see the Milky Way with my naked eye!

According to the local people, the area is known as Kampung Sugud, Penampang. However, the nearest landmark indicated on OpenStreetMap.org and Google Maps when I tried to search for the exact location online is known as Himpangno. Here’s the map below if you’re interested to visit this place.

[Updated 6 Nov 2019]
The Sugud stargazing spot has been added into Google Maps recently. You can navigate there by searching for “Sugud Milky Way Plain” or click here.

After some quick recce of the area I found a lone declining tree and decided to use it to frame the Milky Way shot. The planet Mars was shining brightly and appeared to be relatively bigger due to the diffused light caused by the thin cloud. It would have been better if the sky was clear and completely without cloud.

Being here for the first time and able to capture several satisfactory shots of the Milk Way made me want to return again.

This location is great for stargazing and seeing the Milky Way in Kota Kinabalu. I really envy the locals who live nearby and can come up here as and when there is no moon and the sky is clear.

Camping under the Milky Way in Sabah

The idea of camping next to a pristine river with Mount Kinabalu in full view and the chance to see Geminids Meteor Shower was an opportunity too good to pass up. With luck, we might even be able to see the Winter Milky Way!

Geminids Meteor Shower 2017

Knowing that December is one of the wettest month of the year in Sabah didn’t stop our yearning to see one of the greatest meteor showers.

So my wife and I made the trip in December 2017 and camped at Tegudon Tourism Village, Kota Belud. We were quite lucky that it didn’t rain during our two nights camping at Tegudon Tourism Village.

Geminid’s fireball captured at Tegudon Tourism Village on 17 Dec 2017.

The sky was overcast most of the time and only cleared up briefly during the night. We managed to catch several meteors and glimpses of the Winter Milky Way.

Mount Kinabalu and Winter Milky Way at Tegudon Tourism Village.

Overall, our first camping trip to Sabah turned to be better than expected despite our worries about the heavy rain due to the northeast monsoons and possible flooding!

We were happy to have enjoyed the bathing and rafting at the river, caught several glimpses of the Geminids meteor shower, and took photo of the majestic Mount Kinabalu with the Winter Milky Way as the backdrop.

Parseid Meteor Shower 2018

In August 2018, I camped again at Tegudon Tourism Village hoping to capture the Parseid Meteor Shower and the Milky Way. However, the sky was cloudy on both nights and most of the shots were obscured by the clouds.

Camping under the stars at Tegudon Tourism Village, Kota Belud, Sabah.

I only captured two shots with a meteor out of the several hundred frames on time-lapse.

Mars and Parseid’s fireball over Mount Kinabalu on 10 Aug 2018.

Parseid’s meteor at Tegudon Tourism Village on 11 Aug 2018.

Featured image at the top was photographed during my second camping trip at Tegudon Tourism Village in August 2018.