The big deep

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As we headed for the bus station as the sun rose over the mosque my head was full of questions. Most pertaining to our destination of Semporna. Would we find a place to sleep? Would we find a place to take us snorkeling? Would we see a shark? More importantly I thought, would a shark see us? We headed out for our long hot trip to Semporna. As we set off down the dirt road on our way back the highway we passed several raised longhouses, one of which our driver stopped at to pick up his jacket. Why he needed a jacket in searing equatorial heat is beyond me. Maybe he was used to it and feeling a bit chilly. The three of us however were rapidly filling a swimming pool in his car. As we set off down the dirt road again we were moving steadily over each crater in the road until luck would have it and one of our tires blew. Fixing a flat in 110 degree weather is never ideal. I wonder if our guide was thinking that same thing. He jumped out and put up the sketchiest jack job I think I've ever seen. Joe and I jumped out to help and ended up just standing back and critiquing the job. "That jack's coming down." "Oh, it's gonna fly out of there at any minute."

Finally we arrived in Semporna without any other difficulties. I wasn't sure what to expect when we arrived but on the reputation of one of the best diving areas in the world I thought there would be some nice beaches. Overcrowded but nice, I thought. Instead there was no beach. Just a port where the diving boats heading out daily and a market with fresh food pulled from the ocean. We were lucky enough to find a boat to take us out snorkeling for roughly $30 a day. That included all the gear, lunch and 8 hours of pristine snorkeling. We took it easy our first night so that we could rise at 7:00 and make it to the boat on time. Off the coast of Semporna rest tiny little islands that are some of the best in the world for diving and snorkeling. Not a bad start to the morning I thought as we skirted along the surf to an island taken from a postcard. The water surrounding the islands was so crystal clear and it felt like looking through a window. Spots of turquoise water marked where the reef stood and our boat dotted around them heading to the small palm treed bit of sand on the horizon. As we pulled up to dock we couldn't really believe were we found our selves. People sit in offices, I thought, and think of places like this. And for only $30 a day we found ourselves with a million dollar view. The island was small enough that we could walk entirely around it in about 20 minutes. There were a few huts for the people that lived there, a handful of cocunuts and trees. White sand stretched out to meet emerald and blue waters. We slapped on our flippers and snorkel gear and spent the next few hours hovering above reefs that looked to cut us open if we ventured to shallow. As I looked at all the colorful fish swimming around me I felt that I was swimming in someone"s aquarium. As we became more comfortable with our gear we started to venture out farther and farther until we were at the edge of the reef. Below us was a wall of deep blue. "What's down there?" I kept thinking to myself. I've always thought I'd like to see a shark in it's natural environment. Now that I was in that environment though, I was starting to have some second thoughts. I explored the edge of the reef and diving below to see the sea life hiding in the reef and made sure to keep my head on a swivel to avoid any impending doom.

After a short lunch to replenish we took a little time to relax and take in our view. We got a little too relaxed I noticed when I woke up on the beach and noticed Jenny passed out next to me. "I'm not the only one tired then," I thought. Then I turned my gaze over to my other side and saw Joe. He'd passed out on his back with his aviators one. Limbs were sprawled this way and that and I thought he was doing his best starfish impression. Except starfish don't sleep with there mouth wide open. Joe does. That's how you can tell the two apart. I giggled for bit at this drunkard to my right then turned my sites back to water. After a while my beach mates started to stir and we were back in the water for round two. Getting more daring and heading out a bit farther from the reef. Drunk on sun and adventure.

We headed back to Semporna speeding towards the port and feeling a bit dried out and thirsty for Tiger beer. We decided to book the next day of snorkeling before heading to dinner. As we ate our meal we started to notice how red we were. Jenny for one is English and due to her red hair does not do well in the sun. I'd taken my girlfriend out snorkeling and come back with a carbon copy of the American flag. Red and white stripes crossed her body. Joe just looked plain sick. Beat red, dried out eyes, sandy hair, and watery eyes. "You don't look to good man." "I think I'm going to be sick." "Maybe it has something to do with your hour power nap in afternoon sun." He didn't make it much farther than that. He headed back to the room to pass out and Jenny and I stayed and had dinner. Joe was definitely in bad shape but we were also in pain. Neither of us could move without cringing from movement of our clothes across our sunburnt bodies. We spent the rest of the night moving as little as possible and sitting on the second story balcony enjoying a few cans of Tiger and watching the sea.

Our second day was to be a painful one. This time we decided to triple the amount of sun block. We slathered up and headed to the boat. Today we were not going to snorkel off the island. Today we were going to stop the boat on top off a reef and snorkel off of it. As I grabbed my gear and got ready to jump in I heard a thrashing in the water behind me. I looked back to see what it was and just saw a bit of white water in the sea of blue and thought "Thrasher shark!" I decided to wait ten minutes and see if there was anymore activity. As I got ready for the second time I heard the thrashing again behind me. I looked and sure enough didn't see anything except the white water. Maybe I'll just hang out and read for a bit. Always best to stay out of the sun. It wasn't till Joe came back to the boat that I found out the source of my fear. The thrashing behind the boat and cause for my hesitation was none other than a sea turtle coming up for air. I decided then that it was time to stop being a Sally and jump into the water.

Once off the boat I started to settle back into the water. The sights below and the color of the fish darting from reef to reef. I did my best to chase them and become one of there school but they were too fast for me. After a good while in the water I popped my head up to get bearings of my surroundings and noticed that the boat had drifted away from the reef. All I saw was the end of the reef and what looked like miles of dark blue water to get back to the boat. I wasn't looking forward to this. I didn't realize that I didn't like dark blue water but there is an incredibly eerie feeling when your on the surface of the water and you cannot see what is underneath you. And those flashes of Discovery Channel Shark Week footage going through my head wasn't helping. I decided to see if I could set some sort of record for fastest swimmer. I figured my odds were good, I don't have much body hair so the only thing slowing me was the beard but I decided to go with it. I motored over to the boat careful to keep any splashing to a minimum.

Our boat eventually docked up off of an island and we headed ashore and took a rest. Carful this time to find a nice gathering of trees to keep us shaded. We were all pretty determined not to have a repeat of the previous day. We lounged on the beach and once again took in the view while we ate our lunch. I just kept thinking how lucky I was and how many people would give anything to be where I was and seeing what I was seeing. Just a week removed from Seoul and I found myself floating in the bluest water I'd ever seen and sitting on a beach I'd only seen on tour brochures.

We headed back out on the boat for our final few hours of snorkeling. I decided after my easy morning to spend the bulk of the afternoon underwater. I'd applied sunblock liberally every half hour and now it was time to get back in the sun and water. No point in coming all the way to this amazing spot and letting your mind get the best of you. Once back in the water and amongst the fish I found it easy to relax and really take in what I was seeing. I dived down to see what creatures lay beneath the coral and came out on top of a ray. I decided to follow him for a bit and watched him from above. It wasn't a shark but I thought that gliding atop the ray was a good way to end my trip.

We spent that night cooling down with a couple of beers and reflecting on the trip. We were beat red, dirty, sandy, smelly, in good amounts of pain but none of that could wipe the smiles from our faces.

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Photos

Joe
In only a few hours he would be found asleep on his back in the sun.

Relaxation
Not a bad place to spend the day

Day at the office
Many of the islands inhabitants make their living with selling fish at the markets.

Island
One of the islands we docked at for the day