DIVING TRIP TO SIPADAN, MABUL AND KAPALAI ISLAND

DIVE AT SIPADAN, MABUL & KAPALAI

Assalamualaikum wbt,

Diving has always been a pleasure to me. It's been a while since my last dive at Redang Island last June 2009. This time we plan to dive at Sipadan Island. As described by Jacques Cousteau, a well-known oceanographer, Sipadan is an untouched piece of art, and it is the only oceanic island of Malaysia. It is located in Semporna, Sabah.

For this trip, we did quite a late planning and booking...i.e. three month before the actual date. After searching on the internet, we finally agreed to choose Billabong Scuba for its reasonably low price. Later on, from our conversation with those who had frequented there, they told us Billabong is the cheapest operator so far...so I think we made a wise decision.

Our flight is from LCCT to Tawau using Air Asia. There's only four of us in this trip i.e. Azmir, Fadh, Achap and myself. Below are the chronological events of our trip to Sipadan.

20/1/2010

7.20am - Flight to Tawau from LCCT. We spent the night at LCCT in order not to miss the flight. Thanks to Hazimin and Mansur who were willing to send us to LCCT from Cyberjaya. Flight to Tawau took around 2hrs and 45minute.

10.00am - Arrived at Tawau airport. Took a van to Semporna for RM20 per person. However, for comfort, we advise you to arrange with your dive centre to arrange the transport from airport to Semporna during your arival and Semporna to Tawau for a little bit higher charge. Semporna is about 1 hour drive from Tawau.

11.30am - Arrived at Semporna and went straight to Billabong. At first, we planned to stay at Semporna for one night before going to Mabul Island the next day. After seeing there is nothing much we can do at Semporna Town we changed our mind and decided to go straight to Mabul.

At Billabong office, Semporna

1.00pm - Took a boat to Mabul Island. The boat was speeding like crazy...luckily we were safe. Mabul Island is about one hour boat ride from Semporna Jetty.

From Semporna to Mabul Island by a speedy boat

2.00pm - Arrive at the Billabong homestay at Mabul Island. After we got our room, we took some rest and we went snorkeling around the island. For your info, there's no electric supply during daytime at the homestay...so it's hard to sleep in the room during daytime.

Billabong Homestay at Mabul Island

Sipadan Island from Mabul Island

21/1/2010

3 dives today at Kapalai (1) & Mabul (2). Mabul and Kapalai is just nearby. Famous for muck-diving. If you enjoy observing little and tiny creatures underwater, Mabul and Kapalai are suitable for you. However, we saw a lot of turtles.

Preparing for dive

22/1/2010

All divers need to register here (Jetty) before diving at Sipadan..Drop-off point is just a few metre from this jetty

3 Dives at Sipadan Island. Sipadan is 45min-1hr boat ride from Mabul Island. We were very excited for the dive. Our first dive site was Barracuda Point. During our first descent, we were welcome by a school of jacks. At first, the visibility was not very clear. For me, Barracuda point is very beautiful with a lot of turtles and white tip sharks. There were plenty of colourful fishes down there as if you are diving inside an aquarium. I rated this dive site 5-star. However, we didn't see any barracudas here.

Taking rest at Sipadan Island after each dive

The other two dives were wall dives at Southpoint and Whitetip Avenue. However the current was quite strong and the visibility was not very good. Since the current is quite strong here, it's very important to have a good buoyancy in order to dive in Sipadan.

We only had the chance to see school of barracudas during our third dive. There were thousands of them. As I was very much engrossed looking at the barracudas, I didn't realise that all my friends and divemaster had left me. I only realised when I look at my back and didn't see anybody. I was left alone and slowly swim but still enjoying the view of the barracudas which were just infront of my eyes. After swimming for about 30 meter. I finally decided to ascend. After the ascent, I saw all of the had boarded the boat about 100 meter from my ascent point.

23/1/2010

Last day dive at Sipadan Island

Dive sites at Sipadan Island...we managed to dive at 6 different sites

Another 3 dives at Sipadan i.e. Midreef, Drop-off point and Hanging Garden.

The best dive is at Drop-off point where we ascend at a point where it is over 600m deep. Drop-off point was awarded the "Best Beach Dive" in the world. During this dive, we passed through the mouth of Turtle Tomb cave where we could see a school of jacks at the ceiling of the cave.

During the ascent of our third (last) dive, we were again entertained with a school of jacks as if they were bidding us farewell.

Conclusion.

As a whole, I amvery satisfied with my dives in Sipadan. Undoubtedly, Sipadan is bestowed with bounties of diversified multi-coloured underwater marine creatures which should be preserved for our next generation. Here, turtles and white-tip shark can be found in abundance. For me, I really enjoyed the dive experience here especially the 'lost' incident and the view of school of jacks and barracudas infront of my eyes. Hope to dive again in Sipadan.