Having said that... diving Sipadan was not easy. Let us rephrase, diving Sipadan on a tight budget was not easy. With money to spend, it is easy to find 'floating' resorts on private islands all around Sipadan Island, but as a backpacker, however, we had to station ourselves in the small town of Semporna, a 45 minute boat ride from Sipadan. The town itself was small with dirty water and no beaches. Also, the vacationer with money would plan the trip months in advance, whereas the backpacker mentality of 'figure it out as you go' almost got us in a lot of trouble here. After a plane ride and hours of bus travel, we got to Semporna, immediately went to a dive shop, and were told that the 'waitlist' to dive Sipadan currently extends into late August. Ouch.
Without losing all hope, however, we checked with a bunch of dive shops all over town until we found one company, Borneo Speedy Divers, that informed us that they had just had two divers cancel for July 27th (a two-day wait). The only stipulation: because the other two divers were already registered with the national park to dive that day, we had to assume their identities and use their names for the day, which wouldn't have been too bad if their names weren't Jergen Scheider of Germany, and Grincia Alesia of Italy. We couldn't help but burst out laughing every time we were addressed. However, with a little bit of acting, we pulled it off and we were able to dive Sipadan.
After all the hype, the travel to get there, the expense of the trip, and the excruciatingly boring 2-day wait in Semporna our expectations were impossibly high. However, the three dives at Sipadan not only met or expectations, but highly exceeded them. Not only was the experience one of the best we have had in Asia, we both agree it was one of the best experiences we have ever had. From the breathtaking landscapes to the abundance of exotic marine life, nothing about Sipadan dissapointed. So without further introduction, here are the pictures!
(Side note: Though these pictures are great, they do not do the experience justice. Sipadan is a place everyone should experience for themselves.)
Sipadan Island is located off of the South Eastern corner of Malaysian Borneo
The island itself barely protrudes from the Celebes Sea, however, the island is just the tip of a 1,800 foot volcanic pinnacle that rises from the ocean floor. Though the island used to house a resort, it is now a national park that allows just 120 visitors per day.
The ride out to Sipadan was full of anticipation -- our expectations we extremely high!
National Park Headquarters. This is where we had to sign in and identify ourselves as Jergen and Grincia.
We dove Turtle Patch, Barracuda Point, and Drop Off
Jergen shows off his scuba skills
A puffer fish
Up close and personal with the Puffer
'Ciao!' - Grincia Alesia
An Anemone Fish guards his home
Another giant Anemone and its inhabitants
Sea Feathers
Hi Grincia!
A Sea Turtle swims above the reef
Jergen greets a sleeping turle
The beautiful reef
Jergen lets everyone know that he is 'Okay' (a hand placed on the head is the international dive sign for 'okay' above water)
Turtles above, turtles below. So many turtles we couldn't keep track!
Yet another turtle friend!
A turtle and a reef shark silhouetted above
Barracuda Point was appropriately named - there were schools with hundreds, if not thousands, of giant barracuda
Barracuda Point -- awesome.
The Grey Reef Sharks were obviously not afraid of us. These six-foot-long monsters swam right along side us.
We found Nemo!
The beautiful, though extremely poisonous, Lion Fish
A school of Jack Fish at the entrance to Turtle Tomb Cave, during the 'Drop Off' dive site.
Jessica/Grincia at the entrance to Turtle Tomb Cave.
Soft Coral
This shows the scale of things pretty well; 75 ft under water, with only 1,725 ft below us...
Most of our dive group.
So many sleepy turtles.
Smile, turtle!
A school of Batfish above.
Apparently turtles don't just swim and sleep, they walk as well.
Preston after Drop Off, Sipadan in the background.
Hi! Did you take all these pictures yourself or are they taken by the people at Borneo Speedy Dive (BSD)? And do you have scuba diving lessons before you dived here? I'm thinking about learning to dive with BSD and your blog has been very helpful. Thank you! =)
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