MY TIME IN SINGAMATA

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From the bus station near the Naval base in Sandakan waterfront I took a local bus to Bus Express station, arriving there touts competed for me, I ignored them and went straight to the buses, I asked the time table one leaving at 7:30 am another at 8am, I took the 7:30 bus cause it's nicer and for 30 ringgits. I asked the ticket lady if she could let me borrow her phone so I can call and tell Singamata about the bus arrival time in Semporna. I got in touch with them and they will be at the bus station waiting for me. 5 1/2 hours later we arrived in Semporna, the Singamata shuttle is there and also gave rides to 3 other tourists to town who was contemplating on staying there too but in the end decided not to. I had a Chinese lunch near their office in the waterfront and when I came back before 2:30pm 3 other people are going there, we took a speed boat about 10 minutes away to Singamata Resort. 60 ringgits/day all meals included. This was recommended to me by my friend Su.

People there are very friendly, mostly Filipino staff some can speak Tagalog. Me and the other guest Erika from Sweden were taken to the dorms where we met Ville from Finland who had been here since December! Later we met the other roomies, Simon and Annette from UK and another dude from the UK whose name I forget. There were only 10 guests at the moment and were all friendly, we all watched the sunset together. This place is cool, they have an in house aquarium of sorts where they keep big sized fishes! 30 ringgits if you want to snorkel there but since Chinese New year it's been free! They are fixing the steps leading to the aquarium so we have to wait till tomorrow to have a go at it, the fishes there are enormous, including a few yellow fin tunas. Gilles and Liz, the couple who came with us here will be snorkelling tomorrow along with me and Annette, we join Erika while she dives at the island called Sibuan. Everyone was tired so we called it a night early, At night it's high tide and the water is only inches away from the walkways.

I went for a pee early morning then Ville got up and Simon who dives to Sipadan, I could not sleep anymore, I went for breakfast while Ville wakes up the girls, Annette and Erika, we got ready for our trip today, we went to rent the gears, Ryan who is Pinoy helped us out, there were no medium sizes for the fins so have to settle for a small one because the large is really big for me. These guys are mostly from Mindanao which is close by, I dont know how they got here I dont want to be too inquisitive, but they are all good staff, friendly and polite to guests. The boat trip to the snorkelling site is about 40 minutes, we dropped off the divers and then we all jumped out to snorkel, visibility wasnt that great but we had fun. We then moved to the beach, this island is small but beautiful it's called Sibuan, we saw Bajau people living there going about their daily lives, a father and his kids just coming back from extracting baby giant clams from the corals, I saw them when I was snorkelling, there is a lot of them here they wedge themselves amongst rocks and corals for protection and gets imbedded there eventually but then also I saw holes where they were harvested, fishermen do this regularly as I see lots of hole where clams used to be, they are taken while still small it's a pity, but they eat this here I just hope they dont deplete these wonderful creatures. I also saw lots of scallops embedded in rocks as well and some type of clams, 1st time I saw them while snorkelling, Me and Gilles were diving everywhere getting close to the fish while the girls are contented to be in the surface. The 2nd snorkelling near the shore was better, lots of things to see though the current is quite strong.

Went back to Singamata and had lunch then chilled out and lay in the sun, later we will try and snorkel with the big fishes in the aquarium.4 new people came, 2 Danish girls a Canadian girl and a Dutch girl, we all met them over dinner and talked about our world travels. The next day I got my snorkel and fin ready for a chance to swim in the house aquarium full of big fish, some tunas, Napoleon wrasse and others, me and Erika went in first but we're a bit intimidated by the size of the fishies we stayed next to the stairs platform for maybe 30 minutes, these guys surround you and takes awhile to get used to, it did not help that Ville whoa was taking our photo from the top started feeding them with cookies throwing it right on top of us for him to get a better picture! I yelled to him a couple times to stop it as they are all over us but he kept on, then the big ones started to come close so a few time me and Erika have to go back to the platform, in the end she, a "dive master" could not bring herself to go in again, scared of the big fishes. The Danish girls, Lizette and Cat came along so I have some company to snorkel, this time I quite enjoyed it we swam around and took lots of photos, and I even had the courage to dive down the bottom to take a look at the fishes that are in the sand, the tuna fish comes passing by every now and then a few groupers and a fish that looks like a baby shark but it's apparently a kingfish. I noticed later I was the only one in the water so I slowly swam back to the platform as I was walking up the stairs which is still in the water, they told me to be careful and just keep going I said why, well, there is a sea snake behind you, f@&K!! I just literally ran out of the water, good thing the snake dived down I did not get to see it. There is a hole opening in the corner and so some guests occasionally come in like the sea snake, they are fixing the walkway so perhaps they opened a gap to let in the lumber, the big fish does not leave though, they are used to being fed so they stay.

Around 130am we got a shuttle boat ride to town to do some things, internet, shop for junk foods and sort out stuff like bus schedule out of here or even flights, Erika sorted out her diving at Sipadan. We rushed as we thought we might not have enough time but we actually waited some more at the Singamata office as the boat is delayed, 4 Finns came and they will stay there too, they will take the 6pm shuttle so Erika and I hopped on the late shuttle boat back, the boat is full of lumber and tiny splinters and dust flew about one got to my right eye, painful but came off later, we ran out of fuel about 500 meters from the pontoon of the resort so we have to be pulled with a rope by the other boat. When we arrived as we were chilling in the lounge I saw a small turtle surface for air, really cool. The 6pm shutlle came and Gilles and came back with it along with the Finns, Gilles was saying how great their snorkel at Mabul was, they saw 6 turtles! and an octopus, nemos etc! They booked it with a company from the mainland and for the same price as we pay here they snorkelled for the whole day not half.
After a good dinner of adobo chicken and some veggies Cat and I exchanged movies from out laptops and then these noisy bunch of Chinese people arrived and they had a different meal, they are having lobsters!! They must pay more...

Lizette joined me and Cat at the top deck to watch Kite Runner on Cat's computer, then we went to bed, The next morning Gilles was complaining how noisy the Chinese were, they are in the same complex as they and he had to bang on the wall a few times to shut them up! And they also had a different breakfast from us... It pissed down rain this morning, the Finns went out to snorkel and the rest went back to bed! I fed the fishes with my left over bread, its high tide and good time to jump in again in the aquarium but I will wait for company.. Gilles and Liz the wonderful British couple went in with me to the aquarium, we got stung by jelly fish but not too bad, only now did I notice the giant clam in the corner and the nemo fish that lives next to it, the Napoleon wrasse tries to stay away from us but the other big fish linger around especially they start feeding them bread while we are in. Lunch time came and everyone is disappointed with the menu, they made a curry fish balls and fish cakes and tastes like cat food, apart from some greens it was not that good. We always say now that we pay(60 ronggits) for the location and not the food, it's like cafeteria food in school.That is our only complain and also the lack of tact shown by the owner, the owner being Chinese, have a group of Chinese guests who have a different menu from us, they are on the big round table, they eat great seafood, booze etc. granted they must be paying way more than us backpackers but maybe they should not show it to us cause we get jealous!

In the afternoon Cat and I jumped in again in the aquarium, the Chinese group did as well in full gear, fins and all and it's low tide they been hitting the bottom, the corals and us! Ahhh so annoying and scream at each other while snorkelling, i left right away very disgusted, these people have no tact and spits in the water too. One of the staff caught me leaving the aquarium and asked if I could help her retrieve her SIM card that fell off the side of the lounge in the water, I dove for it and found it easily, this time also was when the boat came from town with new guests and loads of seafood for the Chinese guests, the size of those prawns, man! Come dinner time noisy as ever they ate in the presence of everyone who just had a meager dinner, in their separate table attended to by almost every staff, one great dish after another, what ever left over they have they fed it to the fish in the aquarium, grrr..

Erika woke me up in the morning to say goodbye, she if oss again to do some diving while i will leave today for the overnight bus back to KK. Great times here in Singamata, great location and excellent and attentive mostly Filipino staff, the only drawback, tactless management and not much food variety, you get the same kind every other day only cooked in different ways, fish tonight, adobo chicken the next. At the end of your stay they hand out this suggestion sheet, and everyone of the backpackers are more than willing to fill in with their comments and complaints, mostly the food, hopefully they read them and listen to the general guests, us poor budget travellers, feed us well! We may not have the money like the annoying Chinese groups but we come consistently and by word of mouth we spread the word around about the place. Anyway excuse my ranting come anyway its a fab place to chill and relax, bring snacks in case you don't like the food.

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Photos

Singamata
house reef

Singamata
sunset

Singamata
aquarium

Singamata
Villa the Finn

Singamata
Liz and Giles

Comments

[noisylim]

singamata stay
Friend, take it easy. I admit chinese loves to make noise. This shows they are happy going type. No worry they are all friendy and helpful. Join them if you cannot beat them. I am sure you will like to make noise too expecially when you are high with alcohol. Singamata is quite a nice place to stay in view of its close proximity to Jetty and Semporan town. The boat ride is only 10 minutes. Fully agree with you that the food served is lousy. But you can buy from the market in Semporna Town for the kitchen to cook for you. Labour charges are about RM15. Reasonable. I just spent a night there on 18th April 2010. The next day my group went to Kapalai Sipadan Resort. 5 star hotel compared to Singamata which has no star rating but you can sight many many stars at night in the sky. Also agree with you that all staff are friendly except the Chinese lady in charge.