Equalizing

---

After our first 9 day rotation at Sepilok, a group of five of us made plans to use our 3 days off to go on an adventure. And as one of the must-sees of Borneo is the diving at Sipadan, that is where we headed. Our plans we too last minute to find beds at Sipadan, so we went for the next best thing and stayed on nearby Mabul Island.

The entire trip was absolutely awesome. The hostel/hotel we were staying at had rooms sitting on the water and everyone there was really cool. We spent our days diving and snorkeling, and the evenings chilling out by the water. It was a perfect little getaway and the girls I was travelling with all agreed. We all felt a little more balanced after the trip.

Obviously, the main focus of the trip was on scuba diving. While 2 of our group had certification and went off for more serious dives, 3 of us were using the chance to do some discovery dives and see what diving was like. While the other 2 girls took to diving instantly, I had a few issues. No matter what I seemed to do, I couldn't get either of my ears to equalize. We weren't even that deep when the problems began (3 metres), and I couldn't go much deeper. I was able to manage to continue on the first dive we did despite this and it was AMAZING. To see the fish and other ocean life like that was one of the coolest things I've done (so much better than snorkeling) and I am so glad I got to experience it. However, it will probably be the only time I do.

Later that afternoon, we headed for our second discovery dive in another area known for its turtles that was a little bit deeper. Again at as shallow as 3 metres, my ears just wouldn't equalize. But this time the pressure was way worse and I had to come up and get out of the water. It was very disappointing and frustrating, but I'm not going to mess around with my ears. My body was telling me diving was just not for me, and I (ironically) had to listen.

A few days later I was checking in with my parents and told them about the problems I had with diving. My Mum's been an avid scuba diver since I was a little kid, and my father had tried but never got into it. It turns out he had the same problem with equalizing that I did. I guess it's genetic. Thanks Dad!

Despite my "never diving again" situation, I was able to make the best of Mabul and did some awesome snorkeling with waterproof camera in hand. The coolest place we went was out to the sea wall that surrounded the island, and explored the reefs there. We saw several sea turtles (or possible one that kept returning over and over again), and a wide variety of fish. My favourite were these tiny black and white striped fish that like to hang out in the coral. No sharks this time around, but I'm kind of relieved as despite the awesomeness of my last shark encounter, being out in the open water with them would have been a tad bit more scary than at the marine park on Pulau Payar.

So the mini-trip to Mabul was definitely one of my highlights of the last 6 months. While I wish I could have stayed longer, the three days we had were great. And while technically I couldn't equalize, I felt equalized from the trip as a whole.

---

Comments

[Mum]

OK- yet another WOW!
Scuba is better than snorkelling- we can work on the equalizing thing.