Sipadan Island is categorized as a paradise for divers, especially in Malaysia. You will be able to see sharks, turtle, barcuddas, and many more. Therefore, I have decided to try to dive into Sipadan's ocean.
These are the details:
Travel date: 13th-17th June 2012. Location: Mabul, Sibuan and Sipadan, Sabah (stay at Semporna, Sabah).
Activities: Dive, Eat, Dive, Eat, River Cruise and search for the Probocsis Monkey, Seafood dinner.
Dive team: Angel Heart, Mat Nurbaida Wahab, Pak Haji Yusof, Mares Xstream, and Ja Mal.
Sipadan Island is located in Semporna, Tawau. We boarded the flight on the night of 13th June 2012 to Tawau and picked up by driver from Borneo Global Sipadan Backpackers. Journey to Semporna took about 1 hour to reach the town. Just because there are six of us, we prefer to stay in 2 triple rooms with attached bathroom.
 |
| Borneo Global Backpackers Sipadan (BGB) |
Day 1-14th June 2012: Mabul Island
Mabul Island is located about a half hour by boat from Semporna. There are many chalets which generally categorized as moderate budget. You can dive below the chalet as well. Fish is plentiful and different compared to Peninsular Malaysia. The fish are large and always in a school.
 |
| Erkk!! |
 |
| It's turtle!! |
 |
| Clown Fish |
 |
| School of Jackfish |
Day 2-15th June 2012: Sibuan Island
Sibuan Island is also located about a half hour by boat from Semporna. It was quite disappointing because this island ever bombed by fishermen. Its a lot of coral that has been destroyed. So our mission here is to find macro creatures like nudibranch.
 |
| Nudibranch |
 |
| Nudibranch |
 |
| Our DM tried to cheat us by showing this.. |
Day 3-16th June 2012: Sipadan Island
This is the climax of the event. Travel to the island was also very challenging. It took nearly two hours to arrive coupled with a fairly strong current conditions that causes the boat crashing waves. This challenging course caused us suffering seasickness.
 |
| Rafiee tried to be the pilot |
 |
| Frog Fish - looks like fake, isn't it? |
 |
| Scorpion Fish |
 |
| Baracuddas |
But all the difficulties that seem to disappear when we start jumping for diving. Sharks are everywhere, baby sharks of course. Turtle is also present everywhere. The most challenging part was when we dive in Baracudda Point. Baracudda love to turn the tide in search of food. Normally they will be in school. We have to fight the current to get to them. The scenery was so amazing. I almost drifted due to strong currents. Luckily, one of our Dive Master managed to catch me and grab me to hold on coral reefs. What a thrilling experience.
 |
| Its time to take picture and rest! |
 |
| Shark!! |
 |
| Me!! |
Upon completion of the dive at Sipadan, we go home before leaving for dinner. The dinner is a bit special because we will do the river cruise while looking proboscis monkey, a type of red-nosed monkey.
 |
| Borneo Semporna Proboscis River Cruise |
 |
| Starving faces when river cruising |
This river cruise took quite a long time until we were all starving. We then served with a seafood dinner buffet. More special, our friend, Zack was celebrating her birthday and we managed to do a surprise party for her.
 |
| Dinner time! |
The next day, before returning to Tawau, we spent some time exploring Semporna town. This town is very small and we managed to make a round within 1 hour. We also enjoyed having ABC at a hotel next to our lodge.
 |
| Semporna Town |
 |
| ABC Special at Seafest Hotel |
Before we go to the airport to catch our plan, Abg Usop invite us to his parents' house at Tawau. They were having family gathering and had a BBQ session. What a friendly and generous family. After that, his brother in law send us to airport. Abg Usop was taking flight back to KK while all of us were taking flight to KL.
I miss Sipadan. Even though it was an expensive trip, but it was worth it.The experience that we couldn't get anywhere.
Comments
Post a Comment