dive sipadan 4-8 mar 06

uw photos by siok khoon
other photos by nan

dive in sipadan this time was quite disappointing.













the green turtles that it was famous for had mostly gone into hiding. when i dove sipadan in aug 2002, it was common to see some 20 turtles each dive and some were bigger than me. this time, only 3-4 turtles each dive. also common then were whitetip sharks and huge schools of jacks, not to mention the schools of longfin bannerfish and redtoothed triggerfish. the schools of banners and triggers were still there but visibility was not so good (abt 10-15m) so the visual experience was greatly reduced. also the rave reviews about great muck diving at mabul didnt live up to expectations. no harlequin shrimp, no blue ring octopus and generally the marine life there was not as rich as manado lembeh straits.


















only dive that was typical of the sipadan of 2002 was at southpoint. at shallow waters, huge school of hundreds of jacks, a few giant trevallies in their midst and whitetip sharks circling around beneath the school, hunters on the prowl. was like sentosa's underwater world!


we stayed at borneo divers' mabul resort. it's a pretty new resort, nice and clean. they just built a new swimming pool which you would think was a silly thing to build next to a beach with beautiful, clear waters but it was very useful for us when we needed a refreshing splash after our afternoon nap and before mid-day dive. our room was just next to the pool, you see.

dive shop was nice, big and spacious with booths allocated for our barang-barang and hangers for our bc and wetsuits and there were huge tanks for rinsing dive gear. very good facilities i must say. but i wished they provided complimentary gear carrying and washing service, too! asking for a yard....















nice beach bar that served free flow of coffee and tea. tea was very thin though.


















dive boat was powered by twin engines and very fast. dm claimed it was possible to get to sipadan from mabul in 15 mins. but usually we take a leisurely 30 mins to get there. our boatman was very experienced. successfully pulled us out of strong currents in what i call group wakeboarding with full dive gear. at the dive at coral garden, we had jumped in at the wrong point and currents swept us to the shallow part, away from the reef wall. we had to surface, grab on to a rope from the boat and got pulled out of the currents to a calmer area. bonz, siok khoon and USpaul managed to 'wakeboard' with just one hand holding on to the rope and the other hand holding on to heavy camera equipment. i must say that was a very outstanding action stunt that can rival jackie chan.














our dm was melvin, 24, a kadazan. bears a striking resemblance to garfield. yes, both the face and figure. very cuddly looking. had been diving with borneo divers for 4-5 years. quite an experienced dive guide. i would give him rating of 6.5 out of 10 bubbles. he pointed out the ornate ghost pipefish, countless leaf scorpionfish, nudibranchs, manta rays, imperial shrimp on sea cucumber (note: this is not the name of some exotic dish in chinese restaurant although it sounds suspiciously like it), assorted crabs, shrimps, squat lobsters in feather stars and pink hairy one on barrel sponge - things that AUSpaul says don't bother him with cos they don't fall into the category of BIG. he looked very disappointed when we asked him whether he saw the manta ray after our checkout dive. agent bonz made that up but he was none the wiser. his buddy was a dm, USpaul, who didnt believe a manta could be swimming around in such mucky waters. but at the same time, he couldnt believe that two gals would trick two big guys whom they had just met. together, the pauls were a comedic duo, full of humourous banter and the rest of the group was very much entertained, though a few times i cannot catch what AUSpaul is saying cos of his australian twang.

i have to go back to sipadan again some day. to find the herd of some 40 bumphead parrotfish that the pauls claimed they saw...

some useful information:
6D5N dive package: S$1,099
4 dive days, with 2 dives at sipadan, 1 dive at mabul and 1 sunset dive at house reef (paradise II) each day
price incl one night accomo at Kota Kinabalu at the crummy counterfeit hotel shangri-la, return flight to Tawau, transfers to Semporna and onward to Mabul resort (45mins by speedboat).













hotel shangri-la which had an elevator that was bent on crushing unsuspecting hotel guests. you had to move in very quickly because the doors would close on you regardless of whether someone was pressing on the 'door open' button. very challenging especially when you are dragging heavy luggage and there is just enough space for 4 persons and two luggages at any one time.














a typical day:
7.30am breakfast - there's coffee, tea, weak orange cordial, omelette with ham, onions, cheese (must pick up cheese from toast corner and make spesial order..), fried bee hoon and toast.
8.30am on the boat. speed off to sipadan.
9.00am first dive
10.00am go on shore to sipadan island for surface interval. 2nd breakfast.
11.00am second dive
12.30pm back at mabul resort. lunch. chinese food - rice, meat, vegetables and western food - chips and either grilled tuna, lamb or fried fish fillet.
3.00pm back on boat. speed off to some dive site at mabul.
3.15pm third dive
4.30pm back to shore at mabul. afternoon tea at beach bar.
5.30pm sunset dive at house reef, paradise II.


note:
* towels and bottled mineral water provided in dive boat.
* shore dives not allowed.
* sunset dive: buddy dive without dive guide and paradise II was hardly a paradise.
* night dive: costs additional RM$50
* the internet connection was down when we went and we were told it won't be repaired in another 6 months...
* to make calls on your mobile, you have to climb up a little mound next to the beach. there is pretty good reception there and they even provide a little plastic chair for you at the top of the mound. talk about attention to details!

Some dive sites:

mabul
lobster wall
there were no lobsters here. saw a juvenile teira batfish here.

paradise II
mandarin fish at a hard coral patch near to the unused jetty. hard coral was mustard colour with white terminal polyps (but is not fire coral). mandarin fish here don't mate so freely though...
we waited in vain till the sun went down.



kapalai
mandarin valley
there were no mandarin fish here. 2 wrecks where we saw ornate ghost pipefish, octopus and mother-of-all crocodile flathead.



sipadan
south point
huge school of jacks, giant trevallies, whitetip sharks at shallow waters. greeted us the moment we hit the waters. many large and beautiful table corals.

barracuda point
sposed to see the swirling school of barracudas here but we didnt see it.

Borneo Divers rules (wilfully and wrongly interpreted by roseo)
* strict 'no touching of marine life' policy - if caught touching, will be warned then banned from subsequent dives. i.e. no touching with hands. but if you have a pointer, you can poke freely. also if you are taking pictures, you are allowed to hold on to hard coral with one hand.
* no wet clothes in dining hall. (this is a serious problem because customer's wetsuit may be too tight and will be hassle and pain to remove and put on in between dives)
* do not leave things lying around outside your room otherwise the village dogs will chew or remove them. yes, even the inedible stuff.
* do not buy shells souvenirs from the hermit crab cemetery in the village next door cos you are indirectly depriving a hermit crab of a home. however, it is possible that profits generated from such souvenirs goes to buying/maintaining a villager's home.
* fix up your own gear and take care of yourself on the dive boat. abang will not help you even if you scream 'tolong'.
* after dive, climb up to the dive boat with your heavy equipment on your own. nobody will help you up.
* on your first day, you arrive at mabul around 10am and would waste almost an hour in what i call the 'UN Summit Meeting' where you listen to a lot of unneccessary talk and then sign your life away. you are then given just 15 minutes to unpack your luggage, grab your necc stuff and meet at the dive shop for the first check out dive. this is grossly insufficient and stressful and leaves you with no time to set up your camera equipment if any, no time to lay your clothes nicely in the cabinet, put your toothbrush in the bathroom counter, display your day, night, eye creams on the vanity counter...
* you will be assigned with a relatively inexperienced dive guide unless you make spesial request...

Agent Bonz at UN Summit Meeting