Great Diving in Borneo...sipadan still the best

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Do you know that feeling.....than when you have to hurry things just go too slow!!!

After a month in Indonesia, it was time to leave Bali (our last spot) and spent our last days diving in Malaysian Borneo! Just a quick meal in Kuta Beach before we would go to the airport......well we were so hungry that we almost missed our flight but.....luckily we just made it!

Well for me it was traveling on familiar ground, since 5 years ago I had been traveling in Borneo...since Anneke got her openwater for diving last year in Mozambique, I wanted to take her to a great place for diving. So we would head for Sipadan, a small white sandy beach island 2 hours of the coast of Borneo!

To get there we took the plane to Kota Kinabalu where we spend the night there. Met a nice dutch couple with whom we had some dinner and went for a beer in the local bar, but on monday it was pretty slow!!
Well next morning flew on to Tawau from where we made it to Semporna, not the greatest town but just a gate way to some amazing diving!

We first made a trip to Sibuan, one of the most beautiful islands of malaysia! Ann went snorkeling and I made some dive's. apparently I had seen some quite special Manderin Fish but they are tiny, and i'm more liking the Big Stuff!!
Next day we took our bags on the boat and left for Mabul, made some dive's together and seen some nice stuff like and octopus, some cuttlefisch (pijlstaart inktvis) green turtles (big ones!!) and found NEMO again!!
We spend the night in Mabul watervilage, where we had some basic accomodation....our neighbours on the other side of the island had a bit more luxury but wel the may have paid 20 times more for a night!!

Then we went in the morning on a boat to Sipadan......I remembered it as the best diving I had ever done and as a beautiful Island......well it was still the best diving but the Island was not what it used to be!
5 years ago there were just 2 resorts where you could stay overnight......the only others that spend the night were the turtles who used the island as breedingground.
Nowdays it is not allowed to stay overnight on the island, during the day it is protected by the navy but instead of playing cards the should also clean up the island. The old resorts are now some ruins and there is just trash everywhere!!!

But like i said the diving is still super!!
First dive I had spotted a white tip reef shark and a big green turtle after being in the water for only 3 seconds. many reefsharks and turtle swam in my sight during the 3 dives. Also we saw some big schools of fish (jackfish, barracuda's, batfish and the best was the school of the bumpy head triggerfish)
Anneke was a bit scared for the sharks but after seeing them in the water for the third (till the 15th) time or so they were more interesting than scary too see

Well, we ended our day in a resort near semporna, well it was a resort for locals, wich means no white sandy beaches, just some restaurant build on poles on the water, but we had a good day reading and relaxing before we started getting our long way home.

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Photos

Green Turtle at Sipadan
It's great to see them swimming in the ocean, so relaxed how they move

Me diving at Sipadan again
It's still an amazing place for good diving

Sibuan
White sandy beach and palmtree island....and nice for diving too

Mabul water village
nice and small island where we spend the night between diving mabul and sipadan

climbing a coconut tree
Well you have to do someting when you're thirsty!

Last day relaxing
Well this is how a resort looks like! A resort for the locals then!!