Blogs from Sipadan, Sabah, Malaysia, Asia

07h00 alarm, it's too damned early. I only need to put some clothes on and grab my bag so I wait for the snooze before going for a shower. Breakfast roti until the shop opens and then put my gear on the kerb until someone tells me what to do. Turns out that despite that I was told previously I'm going to Sipadan today. Sweet. It takes and hour to get to the island by boat and then we have to sign the register before we dive. First site Turtle Patch. I see my first turtle and it's much bigger than I was expecting (I thought we'd see the smaller ones). It's asleep. Second turtle isn't any more active. Netta scares a shark. Two of the regulators have leaking first stages and my DCB doesn't inflate ... read more

Sipadan!! We have both done some incredible things on our trip which we will never forget, but our two days in the underwater world of Sipadan were the best yet.  Known as one of the best dive sites in the world, Sipadan is (now) an uninhabited island off the east coast of Borneo. Due to it's magnificent reputation, the government imposed a permit scheme, where only 100 divers per day are allowed to visit the island and it's surrounding reefs, therefore protecting it from overuse and development. Because of this, we had to book our permits in advance and after a long period of sending emails, we  managed to secure a days diving in Sipadan along with a days diving off the nearby island of Mabul. The company who we booked with were the cheapest we ... read more

Well we had been looking forward to this diving ever since we read about it at the start of our journey. At man. Different point we thought we might not be able to but here was the day. Matt and I were stoked, all week we had been hearing other peoples stories as they came back from their own diving trips to this crown jewel of south east asia. We grabbed our dive gear checked it all to make sure we were good ( the last thing we wanted was to arrive at sipidan with malfunctioning gear) then jumped on the boat with about 8 others. The boat ride only took about 20 minutes prompting speculation about secretly swimming over from Mabul. When we arrived Matt and I got put into two different groups because he ... read more

(english text see below) Eine 8-stündige Busreise brachte uns von Sandakan in den chaotischen und siffigen Ort von Semporna. Eigentlich wäre die Busfahrt ruhig und angenehm gewesen (wenn man von den frostigen Klimaanlagen einmal absieht). Aber irgendwie vertragen die Malaysier Busfahren nicht und sie füllten fleissig ihre Kotztüten, die immer in den Bussen in Sabah verteilt werden. In Semporna hiess es für uns eigentlich nur, eine Nacht zu überleben. So waren wir extrem angenehm überrascht, als wir in unser Zimmer im Dragon Inn kamen. Es war gross, sauber und sehr günstig. Das ganze Hostel ist auf dem Wasser gebaut und gehört immerhin zu den Top 10 Floating Hotels der Welt. Am nächsten morgen fuhren wir dann 1 Stunde mit dem Boot in unser Paradies: Pom Pom Island. Über Sylvester gönnten wir uns einfach 4 Tage/3 Nächte ... read more

The sun is muted by the water into gradients of baby blue while darker sapphire obscures the ocean’s depths. I might be looking out for miles without exaggeration. Big turtles and white-tip sharks, one to two meters long, swim behind a hazy blue curtain, giving perspective on distance and visibility. I equalize my ears and sink lower, unable to take in every detail that vies for attention on the coral wall. Kaleidoscopes of fish flicker every which way. I'm in an otherworld on par with Dr. Seuss’s imagination. This is Sipadan, for the Big Stuff. If poetry takes physical form, surely, the ocean provides one of the most prosaic experiences. Sharp, crackling sounds travel through the water (4x the speed of sound in air). Every diver turns a different direction while trying to pinpoint the sound’s ... read more

Semporna est un endroit qui n’offre pas beaucoup d’attraits touristiques... Cependant, certains des sites de plongés qui se trouvent à proximité sont parmis les meilleurs au mondes, ce qui est d’ailleurs notre raison principal pour avoir inséré cette destination dans notre itinéraire. Je me suis aussi permis de m’inscrire au cours de ‘’Advance Open Water’’ ce qui me permettra de plongé jusqu’à 30 mètres de profondeur à l’avenir... Donc, après s’être installé dans notre chambre d’hotel, nous sommes allés voir l’école de plongée pour s’assurer que nos réservations étaient tous en ordres. Pour notre première journée, nous avions la chance de visiter l’île de Sibuan où l’on y trouve supposément la plus belle plage des environs ainsi que du très bon snorkeling et diving. Pendant mon séjour sous l’eau, Vy en a profité po... read more