The hub of Kota Kinabalu (KK) is the city itself, but in the greater beyond, there are a few treasures to be found in its neighbourhoods.

Karamunsing (technically it is not a suburb but local likes to reference any place close to the Karamunsing Complex as Karamunsing) - One of the closest areas and technically just a short walk from the city centre.  You do have to cross a few busy roads though, and it's not the most pedestrian friendly area.  The biggest attraction in this neighbourhood is the Karamunsing Shopping Centre and Karamunsing Capitol. This place is now the place to go to if you are looking for computer and computer parts. But apart from this, there are also some furniture stores, a lot of clothing stores, and still a few electronics store.  Across the road is the Palace Hotel. On the Tuaran road from Karamunsing towards Likas is Gunters Restaurant (German cuisine), Japanese cemetery and an old Chinese temple.

Sembulan (suburb) - On the west side of KK and currently (in)famous for its water village.  It's populated by most illegal immigrants and as such not really maintained, resulting in it being a bit of a cesspool.  The water village is being filled in and will soon be replaced by a brand new shopping centre and apartments.  This is in progress and there are now a few reasonable 2 & 3 star hotels located here.  In this neighbourhood, there is the state mosque and many Muslim families live in the area.  Restaurants and coffee shops therefore serve mostly typical Malay cuisine. The Grace Square complex is a cluster of shop lots with a few restaurants but also feature a specialty chocolate shop, The Bamboo Restaurant, a Spa & Reflexology Centre and a fairly decent souvenir and curious shop - well worth a visit. The Sabah State Museum is situated near by.

Likas (suburb) - Driving out past the harbour area, along the beach, towards the Floating Mosque, you pass the neighbourhood of Likas.  It's most famous for the sports stadium, home to the local football team, The Sabah Rhinos.  The stadium is venue to frequent match-ups, as well as the odd concert or charity event.  Next to the stadium is a sports complex presenting a range of activities, most frequently used for evening walk/jog and swim.  Visit the climbing centre or the skatepark.  There is also a 2-storey driving range nearby that is open from day to night.  In this neighbourhood there is also the Likas Square Shopping Centre, one of the smaller ones in KK.  The KK International Exhibition Centre and the Likas Service Apartments are also here.

Lintas (part of Luyang suburb) - A little further out away from the hubbub of KK is Lintas. The area is famous for trendy eateries, many under names you could find elsewhere in KK, but here, for some reason, they are more up-market cater for expatriates and young adults.  This includes the Pizza Hut, YoYo (Taiwanese style milk tea place), Upperstar, Brass Monkey (a western restaurant), 3 Japanese restaurants, 1 Korean restaurant and 1 Bollywood style Indian restaurant. There is a small driving range here as well. The remaining little shops are nice for treasure hunting for knick-knacks. Lintas also has a few pubs/karaoke joints.

Damai (part of Luyang suburb) - In the greater area of Luyang, Damai is another shop-cluster and a place full of cars from morning to evening. It features a Coffee Bean, a Burger King, a Japanese restaurant (Miyabi), a Pizza Hut and other lesser know eateries. There some pubs and karaoke bars litter around the area. Quite popular in the mornings and during lunch, Damai is rich with local eateries and on weekends is popular for serving pao (Chinese bun), dim-sum, dumplings, bread with kaya (local coconut and egg jam) and butter, clay pot dishes and noodles.  Nearby is also a Japanese food wholesaler, where you can pick-up all your Japanese food supply requirements and eat quite a big portion of salmon sashimi at a cheaper price. Generally locals visit this area for the local eateries. Further up from Damai is the famous Sabah Medical Centre, a private clinic.

Penampang (technically a district beyond the KK City jurisdiction) - Jokingly referred to as the Kadazandusun Headquarters, where Donggongon is the capital for Penampang district. Penampang is indeed a focal point for the Kadazandusun Culture. The KadazanDusun Cultural Association HQ (KDCA), is located here. KDCA is best known as the site for the Kadazandusun Harvest Festival, which is held annually at the end of May (30 and 31 May).  Monsopiad Cultural Village is also sited within this district. There is also a popular farmers' market held in Donggongon, on every Wednesday evening, Thursday and Friday. A wide variety of local produce (such as tuhau, bambangan, bosou), handicraft and other consumer products are on offer. Foreign visitors would have, perhaps, the only opportunity to taste authentic Kadazan cuisine from several stalls. There is, currently, no dedicated Kadazan cuisine restaurant in Sabah, although a closed-door restaurant, nearby, would oblige. This alone makes an outing well worth while. The town has many shop-lot clusters, including Chua Kah Seng (CKS) - a local supermarket chain. A new mall called Megalong was opened in 2010. There are several other attractions at the fringe of town, These include its oldest Church (1936) made of granite, hauled up the hill from the nearby river, a picnic area beside a sparkling stream, fish breeding farm, a roundabout featuring the Kadazan headgear, the Sigah and the easily accessible village roads and suspension bridges, which are used by villagers, on a daily basis. Plans have been announced (21 Aug 2011), to convert the Penamapang Cultural Centre into Sabah's first dedicated complex for the Arts. Finally, for those interested in church architecture, there is a host of Catholic churches, in varying designs, within close proximity of each other.

Bukit Padang (Penampang jurisdiction) - In this area, towards the hill is the Sabah Golf & Country Club, and past this, a dam located in the hills called the Tun Fuad Park, is popular for evening walks/jogs and families playing in the nearby water park called Waterworld. Kampung Nelayan, the Floating Seafood Village is also popular for their fresh food, and inside this restaurant is another restaurant called Beijing, an open air BBQ buffet restaurant.  In the parking lot, locals often sell fruit and when in season, the smelly but popular Durian.

Beverly Hills (Penampang jurisdiction) - Beverly Hills is a well-known apartment housing areas, but not as up-market as its U.S. namesake.  Where there are housing areas, there are shop lots, and this area is no different. There are few locally famous restaurants in this area along the Jalan Bundusan (also known as Jalan Duta); few seafood cafés/restaurants, few Chinese restaurants (Supertanker, Mayflower, New Wong Kwok Restaurant etc.) and few specialty café on wild fauna. Populated by little shops, lots of other eateries and a collection of graphic shops, Beverly Hills is also near the DHL headquarters, which is located alongside a go-cart track.  There are various office lots and small industry lots around here too. 

Tanjung Aru (suburb) – This is the first area most visitors to KK will either stay near by or pass by. It is where KKIA Terminal 2 located. The largest resort is the Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort (the locals like to call it Beach Hotel). There are 2 Korean restaurants in this area and a well-known Chinese restaurant that serve Northern style Chinese cuisine since KK does have significant number of Shantung Chinese descendants. Most locals visit Tg Aru for the First Beach. There is a hawker center where you will get variety of local snack food and some nice cafés/restaurants.

Inanam (suburb) is another interesting location. It is at the heart of KK industrial zone (squeeze between Kolombong and Menggatal). Many from outskirt of KK will stopover here because the long distance coach terminal is situated at Inanam. Anyone who wishes to travel by land using coaches to Sandakan, Lahad Datu, Semporna or Tawau must get to this terminal. Other coaches for Kudat, Keningau or Tenom are located at different place (at Bandaran within KK CBD right next to the Merdeka Field). For up-market area, do try Inanam Taipan.

Note

Each neighbourhood has its highlights, but in each one there is a vast array of little shops, not so little shops and various other things to discover.  Often excluded from the typical tour, tourists will discover a wealth of hidden treasures should they venture into these neighbourhoods.