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Published: March 28th 2011
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Just a few kilometres off the coast of Semporna is one of Sabah's most impressive and newest marine parks. It includes places such as Pulau Sipidan which is classed as one of the best dive sites in the world.
Dave had organised for us to stay on nearby Mabul Island with Scuba Junkies, as it provided us with a great base to explore the islands. However a few weeks prior to our arrival... It burnt to the ground! We were quickly offered a few options in the form of nearby Longhouses which are large, basic, wooden guesthouses on stilts. When we arrived, ours could definitely be described as basic. For 80MR per person per night (£16) we had all meals included, a private bathroom (woo hoo!), dribbly cold shower, electric at certain times of the day, room fan, and some bedbugs thrown in for free! Bargain! We were there for the diving not the rooms (that's what we kept telling ourselves anyway). The people who ran it were lovely, but I'm not sure we'd return. When we first arrived we thought we'd never sleep with the noise, but after a day of diving we managed to pass out around 10:30pm
each night.
First impressions of the island itself was that it was very dirty. The locals seem to use the sea as a dumping ground. Every high tide near the main jetty loads of plastic bottles, clothes etc would be washed up. Dave actually saw one lady empty her bin straight into the sea, only metres away from a reef. We were told a lot of the inhabitants were illegal fisherman and their families, many whom took part in shark-finning and other dubious fishing practices. They know that they could be forced off the island at any time so have no immediate need to look after it. It's such a shame if that's the case. I think the stream of visitors won't hold out forever if things don't improve. It's a stark contrast to the amazing reefs and marine life that lay just metres from the shore.
On our first dive we went to the Artificial Reef on Mabul and saw loads of fish including some huge schools. Clown and Lionfish are considered quite run of the mill here. The experienced divers were more interested in the macro life and things that were harder to spot, such as Frogfish,
Stonefish and Ghost Pipefish. One of our favourite memories from this dive was watching a school of 200 fish swim around us and then part when a massive 350kg Grouper glided through directly towards us! Now that was a big fish!
We dove at sites with coral walls that dropped vertically to 40m or more. We did drift dives and got slowly pulled along by the currents, and also went to sites that just had sand bottoms to find stingrays and other sediment dwelling creatures.
The best day without a doubt was the day we went to Pulau Sipidan. You have to have a permit to dive here and no more than 120 divers are allowed in one day. We'd had to sort ours out months in advance. One of the sites, Barracuda Point, is apparently the second best dive site in the world. The geography of this island makes it perfect for creatures large and small. It rises almost vertically from around a mile deep, so you can get some amazing fish coming up from the depths to feed and be cleaned. We saw tonnes of White tipped sharks and Green turtles, as well as huge school
of Barracuda. The high point was on the last dive when we went 'out into the blue', and came across a Devil Ray, not once but three times as it circled us curiously. An immense end to our day in Sipidan.
We'd had a really great divemaster called Kevin on the first day. He'd boosted our confidence in the water and gave me some good tips on equalising (I'm a pro now!). As the week progressed, we decided to extend our stay and do our Advanced Open Water course. You have to do five speciality dives, two of which have to be Deep dive (30m) and Navigation. We then chose Peak Buoyancy (where you do underwater headstands and swim through hoops), a Night Dive (surprisingly relaxing), and Underwater Photography. The first few days in Mabul were really sunny, but the last couple it rained so the visibility was greatly reduced. I still think we still got some good shots.
This week was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. It was like being at a holiday camp! Everyday you got up and went down to the jetty to see who you were with and where you were
going that day. You were always with different people and divemasters so you got to know everyone really quickly. There is no evening entertainment on Mabul but Scuba Junkies did have a little bar which we often went to (only for one of course!).
We were sad to leave and are already looking forward to our next scuba session! Mabul could really be an amazing destination. The sea is beautiful and the reefs are teeming with life. The island itself just needs to be looked after better.
Love Emma & Dave xx
P.S we do have some better pics on a DVD but can't get them off on these crazy computers!
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bill
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sunset from longhouse
Stop it!! :o)