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Published: June 14th 2009
June 11th
Today, we decided, was "Snorkel Mabul Day". We started by snorkeling part of the northern reef. We just walked to the end of one of the jetties and hopped into the turquoise water. We saw a lot of life including the biggest Trumpet-fish we'd ever seen. Even though this side of the island sees a lot of boat traffic, the reefs between the jetties are still beautiful.
After lunch, together with Esther and Fiona we charted a little boat to take us to the south-eastern reef. It's only about 300m from where we stay but a bit of a mission to get to without a boat. This reef is absolutely gorgeous with a deep drop-off, beautiful coral and tons of life. Highlights were a Blue-spotted Stingray that allowed us very close for a photo, a truly giant Giant Moray Eel, a big turtle cruising by in the blue, and Ferdi getting attacked twice by the same massive Titan Trigger-fish. We also saw a Black Lion-fish and a Giant Moray Eel hanging out together. At first Talita saw only the Lion-fish and signed it to Ferdi. He looked and only saw the eel, so he signed back saying it's
an eel, not a Lion-fish. For a few seconds we both thought the other had lost their mind, but then we both saw what the other had seen.
Getting back into the boat was a tricky affair and Talita managed to give herself a gigantic bruise on her thigh while performing the legendary "Stranded Whale Ninja Roll".
After a shower we walked around the island hunting for a shark tooth pendant. At a little shop we found the most beautiful Seahorse and Starfish pendants made from polished shells (for Talita), and a couple of Shark tooth pendants (for Ferdi).
Earlier in the day we had booked a dive trip to the sights around this island. Later, as we sat enjoying a few beers and a lot of laughs with the ladies, they said that they had really hoped to dive Mabul tomorrow, but there was no space available on the boat. When we realized that it was an "either tomorrow or not at all" situation for them (and we're totally flexible) we offered them our spots on the boat. Talita quickly arranged the change and booked us for the same trip the day after. We'll just have to
suffer through another wonderful day here on this great island...
Today's highlights:
1. Snorkeling Mabul Island's reefs.
2. Ferdi's first (and shortly there after, his second) Titan Trigger-fish attack.
June 12th
After breakfast we went to snorkel a different part of the northern reef. We ended up walking around more than snorkeling but did see a Banded Snake Eel hunting in the sand, as well as a huge school of fish.
With the breeze absent this morning the heat soon chased us back to the longhouse where we relaxed away the warmest part of the day.
There was some confusion around the boat that was supposed to take us snorkeling so when there was no sign of the boat by 3pm we bravely decided to swim the 300m to the drop off. The ocean floor in this area consists of coarse sand and sea grass and with the tide being out the water was only about 50cm deep, which made it a bit claustrophobic. 200m into the swim Talita decided to abandon the effort and head back. Ferdi wasn't happy but agreed to accompany her.
We had hardly turned back when Talita spotted a cute
little File-fish. On the swim out we hadn't thought there was much life here. We saw this area only as a piece of ocean that we had to cross in order to get to the good stuff. Upon closer inspection, there was a lot of weird and wonderful creatures just waiting to be discovered and Talita spotted them left, right and center. She found a male Sea-grass Ghost Pipe-fish, carrying his eggs on his stomach, pretending to be a blade of sea grass. He refused to move, no matter how close we came, believing his camouflage to be perfect (which it almost is). Then we saw a Graff's Sea-cucumber. This alien looking creature had a truly monstrous look about it. If it was bigger it could be a creature in a horror film! We saw a small and very shy Moray Eel, a Banded Snake Eel hunting for food and ignoring us completely (even when Ferdi stuck the camera right in its face), a beautiful Clouded Moray Eel, as well as a minuscule Commensal Shrimp feeding on a tiny Anemone. All these creatures were a first for us and we were buzzing with the thrill of discovery by the time
we left the water.
The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent chatting with Esther and Fiona. They have a wealth of knowledge and kindly identified all the crazy critters we'd seen. Near bed time a big turtle came gliding past the deck. It's awesome to be have creatures like these right at your doorstep!
Today's highlights:
1. Another great snorkeling trip (a near disaster turned into a great success).
2. Gaining a whole lot of knowledge from our two new friends.
June 13th
We said a sad farewell to the Longhouse, it's friendly cats and friendlier people. We had planned only two nights on Mabul and ended up staying five. It was great to stay right on the water and amongst the locals. This is definitely a place we'll come to visit again one day.
We were very excited to dive the reefs surrounding Mabul Island. We started by diving an artificial reef and within the first minute under water we found a big Cuttlefish chilling by a sunken dive boat. He wasn't shy and posed beautifully for his close-up. The viz wasn't great and there was a lot of particles but we were
loving it. Highlights were our first Ornate Ghost Pipefish and the smallest Juvinile Harlequin Sweetlips we've ever seen. They are so cute because when they're young they're absolute rubbish at swimming. Like puppies have to grow into their feet, these little guys have to grow into their fins. They flounder, they don't swim. We were very chuffed with ourselves because we were under for a record 65mins.
The second dive site was called Sea Ventures. This is the area surrounding and directly beneath a decommissioned oil-rig (home to a dive operation called Sea Ventures) close to Mabul Island. This spot is famous for being home to a tiny Pygmy Seahorse and Talita really wanted to see him. He has apparently gone on vacation cause we couldn't find him. We did see a bunch of Ribbon Eels, lots of Crocodile-fish and Scorpion-fish, a tiny Cuttle-fish, a big Frog-fish and various Nudibranch. Again, we had a blast!
After lunch on the island we hopped into the water by the jetty and set off on our third dive. Half way through our camera battery died so we just enjoyed a relaxing dive. We saw a couple of eels, the smallest Yellow
Box-fish in the world, a gorgeous Juvenile Harlequin Sweetlips and a few turtles. Sadly, we came across a huge turtle who had died very recently. We couldn't see any wounds that would hint at the cause of death so we think he died from natural causes. It's weird (and very sad) to think that that huge creature had probably lived for more than a 150 years.
We were very sad to leave Mabul behind. Our boat was severely underpowered and the trip back to Semporna took an hour and a half. We checked in to the backpackers, had a shower, found peauty chocolate for Talita, then went for a few beers while we caught up with the world and chatted with Esther and Fiona.
Today's highlights:
1. Diving Mabul. It rocked!
2. Seeing the Ribbon Eels, Frog-fish, Ornate Ghost Pipe-fish, etc etc etc.
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travislyon
Travis Lee Lyon
hey
Just saw your post and notice you are on day 138ish. thats cool. I'm on day 130, but go home in two days. anyway a bit random, but have fun on your trip!