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Pitas is located under the district of Kudat, Sabah, Malaysia. The town is made up of people from the ethnic Rungus and Orang Sungai including Tambanuo. There are also a small number of Chinese Malaysians as well as other ethnic minorities in the area. Pita was acknowledged as a full-fledged District in the year 1975 by the government.

The name originated from the word ‘NOPITAS’ which is a word from the ethnic Sungai which means ‘cut off’. One time Sungai Bengkoka was flooded and due to the strong current from the flood the stream was cut off. Hence the word ‘NOPITAS’ or ‘cut off’ was embedded by the locals at that time until now.

Pitas is the size of 141,935 acres and the topography is hilly with sloping lands. It is located roughly 195 kilometre from Kota Kinabalu which is the capital of Sabah and 132 kilometres from Kudat. Pitas is at the border of District Kota Marudu on the west side and District Beluran and Paitan on the east side. However despite it all, it is still geographically isolated and agriculturally it is generally unsustainable hence has made Pitas one of the highest rates of poverty in Sabah.

The people in Sabah speak Bahasa Melayu as their main form of communication however they would have a dialect of their own which makes the language a little bit different. Moreover for smaller towns like Pitas with their own ethnicity, they might have a more different dialect to the whole language.

How to Get There

By Plane

One can take a local flight such as AirAsia or Malaysia Airlines and Firefly and fly to Kota Kinabalu. From there, there will be plenty of taxis waiting outside the airport to get the visitors to Pitas. It might be costly as the journey will take around 3 hours drive.

By Car

One may take the Jalan Kota Belud Bypass via Route 3/A1/AH150 and Jalan Sapi – Nangoh if they were to drive from Kota Kinabalu towards Pitas. It is 168.6 kilometres far with the driving time of 3 hours and 3 minutes.

By Bus

Pitas is on the northern side of Sabah therefore the bus terminal in Kota kinabalu that heads towards the north is Padang Terminal. Other towns that are included in the route are Tamparuli, Tuaran, Kota Belud, Kota Marudu and Kudat. The best time to catch a bus to these destinations is in the early morning when many buses are scheduled to leave between 7am and 10am. Some buses do leave in the afternoon but the frequencies then would be much lesser compared with those in the morning. The fare would be RM30 for 1 way from Kota Kinabalu towards Pitas.

Tourist Attractions

Pulau Batu Supirak

The legend of the Supirak Ship is very famous in the folk tale of the people in Kampung Malubang. This stone island looks exactly like a ship. It was said to have objects such as humans, ropes, tables and other things belonging in a ship. It has all then turned to stone.

Mata Air Tawar

Mata Air Tawar is a place that produces fresh water. There are times when the source is submerged in seawater during the tides, it still produces fresh water. The locals believe that the fresh water has medicinal benefits.

Tamu

Tamu or also known as market is being held weekly here in Pitas. It is the time where the locals would come together to bring their best produce to be sold to the visitors. Usually the produce are self-planted and they would take care of the plants until they will grow healthily.