Sipadan was great
Sipadan Island is rated one of the top places to dive in the world, and I just have to agree with that.
In a span of five days, I saw a whole lot of amazing things, and there’s still more left to see. Among the highlights were the eye of the barracuda, the bumphead parrotfish herd, the mandarinfish, weird critters, dozens of turtles, octopus, and the drop-off scenery.
Plus, the accommodation was really not bad. We stayed at the Seaventures oil rig, and the rooms are all air-conditioned, smallish, but enough for the duration we were there. The food was good, there was ample place to relax and hang out, and they even have a house reef where you can spot a resident frog fish, pygmy seahorses, eels, hermit crabs, scorpionfish, lionfish, harlequin ghost pipefish, and more.
Nearby, Mabul Island has its own set of interesting creatures, despite the bland scenery. Basically the ground is sandy and littered with rocks and dead corals and man-made reefs like discarded tyres and old sunken boats… hence the term, “muck diving”. But as I looked harder, I managed to spot eels, crabs, tube worms, nudibranch, and other assorted interestingness amongst the foliage.
I gathered about 2 gigs of photos and videos with my FX01. The best of it, I posted on my Flickr page.
Categorized as discoveries/travel
How much did you splurge on this trip? I’ve always been interested in Sipadan…
Gallivanter - I spent about RM2.5k on the dives and accomodation. That’s 3 consecutive days of diving - an average of 3 to 4 dives a day. 3 days, 4 nights.
They give you one free, if you can gather a group of ten. We had 11 in our group.
AirAsia flies to Tawau for a fee (you can time your visits to get the best air flight deal). Seaventures will provide a small bus to get you from the Tawau airport to Semporna, where you’ll take a boat to Mabul.
We took the option to stay one night in Semporna, but you don’t have to. The place we stayed in Semporna was called Dragon Inn. I can’t remember how much it cost per night.
On board the Seaventures rig, they serve beer and coke. RM4 for a can of coke, and I can’t remember how much the beer costs. This is in addition to the accomdation fee. However, coffee and tea and water are free flow, all around the clock. They provide breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner in the package.
wow…nice pic….make it is pretty costly for diving