Monday, 17 May 2010
Well this is the day we have been waiting for – 4 dives on Sipadan island. We were up and ready, although Scott has been hit by a stomach bug which is spreading like wildfire through the divers, but nothing is going to stop him getting to Sipadan. The weather was grey and stormy, but at least it is warm. We headed off on the 45 minute boat ride to Sipadan Island. The plan for the day is to do a dive, followed by the surface interval on the beach at Sipadan, then another dive etc.
First Dive: South Point. This was a great intro to Sipadan and I got to see the thing I came for – clown fish in anemone (Scott photographed and videos), so I was one very happy diver. The dive was down to approx 25 metres, but I tend to stay a bit shallower than the others to conserve my air longer, which is a great perspective, just looking down into the deep blue ocean and seeing everyone below me. The visibility wasn’t too bad, but I was slightly disappointed as I thought you would just be able to see for miles with no particles etc. It was interesting though to see that the area is regenerating after all the tour/dive operators were forced to move from the island and you can only day trip there now, and no more than 120 divers can be in the area on each day, however, there are issues even with that number.
Second Dive: White Tip Avenue. My first dive without Scott on the trip as he took the boat back to Mabul and I stayed on. So I buddied up with Leanah our Dive Master – more like I stuck to her like glue, no way I was going missing. This was a lovely dive, lots to see again more corals and fish that you can imagine ever seeing in one place, of course I am now in charge of the camera, so undoubtedly the battery goes flat as I forgot to check it, however, managed to get a few shots in first though.
Third Dive: Barracuda Point. This was drift diving to the extreme, the current was going so fast it was hard to even take photos as you need to try and hold onto something before being whisked away.
We did see a huge Barracuda school and also sharks again. Still not seeing the fascination with them, but they didn’t seem to bother about us.
There wasn’t as much colourful corals, but it was a major experience just doing the dive.
Fourth Dive: Hanging Garden. This has to be the highlight of the day. It was a shallow dive (15 metres), but I hung around the 10m mark as there were so many things to see.
This is a drop off of about 600 metres, so you have a wall of corals etc and then beautiful blue nothingness.
Loads of turtles and sharks were just two of the highlights then a million different types of corals and fish.
It was obviously that good I filled up a 2gb memory card and there is no way they can do it justice.
This dive was worth the whole trip. A couple on the dive boat said it was way better than anything that can be seen in the Dead Sea.
Back at Mabul, Scott is at least not feeling worse, so that is a good sign. Although a few people have had a tummy bug, so may just be a change in something. Typical, staying in a western resort is always our undoing, maybe we should move into the local village next door – definitely no luxuries there.
- Nemo Found
