6 Best Places to Go Shopping in Kota Kinabalu

Suria Sabah shopping mall is best known for its stunning food court where cosy, local eateries and juice kiosks co-exist with international food outlets. Try one of the restaurants on the upper floors to enjoy your meal with fantastic ocean views. Suria Sabah also features a lovely spa and a cinema complex showing both international and local blockbusters.

At this modern mall, you can stock up on daily necessities, find phone chargers and memory cards and hunt for fashion bargains. With its large supermarket, cashpoints and excellent location close to the Jesselton ferry terminal, it’s a terrific place to prepare for your island-hopping adventures. Suria Sabah is also a fantastic spot to meet locals who love to shop here.

The bustling Centre Point shopping mall is the perfect place to meet with friends for a delicious meal or an extravagant shopping spree. In this popular mall in the city centre, you’ll find a vast array of clothing stores, beauty salons and bookshops. To get a bespoke outfit made, the many fabric shops and tailors will help you make your dream dress or suit come true.

The food courts welcome you to rest your feet and enjoy delicious treats from Malaysian, Indian, Indonesian, Korean and Chinese cuisines. To find local delicacies to take home, head to the Servay Premier supermarket and fill your shopping basket with dodol (a sticky toffee-like sweet), white coffee and durian chocolate.

Gaya Street Sunday Market is a welcoming, colourful street fair where you’ll experience the local way of shopping and discover local products to take home. Whether you’re looking for batik sarongs, rattan bags, footwear, snacks or antiques, chances are you’ll find them here. The stalls are brimming with handicrafts, fresh fruits, cooked food and cool drinks to keep you hydrated. 

This fun market is an excellent way to learn about the local way of life and see Kota Kinabalu families on a leisurely Sunday outing. You can also try your hand at haggling to get the best price for your souvenirs. The market closes in the afternoon, so come early to beat the crowds and the heat of the day. 

Located at the waterfront, the Night Market is an incredible place for shopping for food and having a tasty bite to eat at one of the many food stalls. Here you’ll find every variety of fresh seafood, dried fish and fruit and vegetables at a very reasonable price. If you’re feeling peckish and gastronomically curious, try the durian fruit, cooked chicken wings, delicious satay or lobster. Or why not have a fresh mango before you continue to browse the gigantic market area?

This busy (and slightly chaotic) market is known for its welcoming atmosphere, fast service and vast array of products for sale. In addition to great food, you’ll find amazing bargains on clothing, jewellery and traditional souvenirs.

The versatile Filipino Market boasts a wet market, night market, handicraft complex and hawker centre; no wonder it’s popular among visitors and locals alike. By day, the market features beautiful handmade products, colourful jewellery and pearls harvested from Sabah’s ocean. At night, it transforms into an aromatic and bustling food court.

If seafood is your thing, look no further. At Filipino Market, you’ll find fresh shellfish, snapper, tuna and blue-eyed anchovies to name just a few. Just pick the fish you want, take a seat and wait for your meal to be cooked. That’s fast food at its best. You can also hunt for bargains at the spices stalls or look for local snacks and sweets to take home.

Galleria Artisan is a retail shop that doubles as a gallery for displaying and selling stunning handmade clothes, handicrafts, batik and art made by local talents. If you’re looking for truly special accessories and jewellery, you’ve come to the right place. In Galleria Artisan, you’ll discover unique products made using the local weaving technique, ‘ribu-ribu’. To really make a statement, invest in an exquisite handbag or pencil case made of the pandan plant.

In this quirky shop, you can participate in a batik workshop and try your hand at batik making with a ready-made painting kit. You’ll find Galleria Artisan in the impressive Tun Mustapha Tower, about 15 minutes’ drive north from the Kota Kinabalu centre.