Blogs from Sipadan, Sabah, Malaysia, Asia - page 5

Sibuan - An amazing and idyllic little island 45 minutes from Semporna, mainland Borneo. Sibuan had a population of approximately 5 bamboo huts, no electricity and very friendly and interested locals. we took a boat ride and waded to the shore from the boat. we quickly strapped on our masks and snorkel and went out for a swim. the marine life was amazing with crystal clear waters and many parrot fish, lion fish butterfly fish and the clown fish (AKA Nemo) and puffer fish in the pictures. we also saw giant starfish but had unfortunately used up all the battery life in Suzie's new camera practicing earlier on (we were also a bit nervous taking a digital camera ( needs no case) underwater for the first time). We got to spend the whole day on the ... read more

After a cheap Air Asia flight from Manila, we found ourselves in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo. Borneo has always conjured up romantisized images in my mind of pristine jungle-clad mountains full of snakes and spiders, leeches and monkeys, and maybe even a few headhunters. Borneo just sounds primitive! Well, all of that is true (apart from the headhunters!) but there is also another side. We are in the part of Borneo that belongs to Malaysia, which is one of the richest countries in SE Asia. Arriving in Kota Kinabalu (known locally simply as KK) we were surprized by how modern and "civilized" the city was and we finally found phones that worked! After six weeks in the Philippines unable to call our bank to sort out the ATM fiasco, we finally managed this chore, and in Borneo ... read more

Semporna is a smelly dirty town on the east coast of Borneo with absolutely nothing to offer. In fact many embassies advise against traveling to the region, probably because it's so smelly. So why did we come?.. We came on the recommendation of an expat yank we met in the Philippines who told us of an island 40mins east of here that has some very good diving. As he had been living, traveling and diving Asia for some years we took his word for it and came. We spent a few days diving/snorkeling the aforementioned island, Sipidan and some other islands closeby, and the marine life was indeed great. We saw loads of cool marine life including: Green sea turtles, White tip sharks, grey reef sharks, and sea snakes. The tourist kidnapping of 2001, was a ... read more

Now the fun begins! I found the Scuba Junkies through my last hostel, and they had the brilliant insight to open a hostel, attached to a bar and restaurant, across the street from their dive shop! I arrived in the Scuba Junkie Triangle at about 6pm, and have to admit, I only left the triangle once in the first 72 hours! So even though the hostel was my cheapest ever - about $4/night - they still made sure I spent every other dime with them as well! I signed up to finish my open water dive course the next day, and my course instructor found me in the bar that night to talk about the skills I would have to complete and go over the rest of the theory. His name is Steve and he's an ... read more

I have now ruined all other dives, I will do. Sipadan this is a Island off of the west coast of Borneo. Known throughout the diving world as one of the top 5 dive sights in the world. 3 dives there and you see more then most divers see in a live time. Dive 1: Swimming among the giants. more then 20 huge Sea Turtles. Reef Sharks, Black Tipped Sharks in every direction. A school of 1000+ Giant Barracuda (1.5-2m each) circling us. Plus all the other stuff fish and coral everywhere, every colour in the rainbow. Dive 2: Like swimming in the best aquarium you have ever seen. Also with Turtles and Sharks. Dive 3: I would describe it as. Think of the most amazing underwater place you could imagine with all the colours you ... read more