It was a long awaited trip to the land below the wind. A diving trip to one of the best diving spots in Asia, Sipadan Island. For the record, before leaving for Mabul and Sipadan Island, I had accounted for 10 dives, which were not impressive at all. Prior to departure I was motivated in the sense that I had been warned that those with Open Water Diver license are not allowed to dive in Mabul and Sipadan Island. Such motivation is certainly a fallacy for I had awesome time diving in the Celebes Sea at the east coast of Sabah.
It all began with RM50 advance booking made at Malaysia International Dive Expo 2014 (MIDE2014). Together with my sister, we chose our departure date to match with my work and her studies and exams. A month before departure, we had made full payment of MIDE price for 5D4N Borneo Divers Resort, Mabul for RM2070 each. The price can be considered cheap if compared to normal price for 5D4N.
We were picked up from our small Tawau Guesthouse and sent to Semporna for our onwards transfer to Borneo Divers Resort, Mabul. We reached Semporna at about 8.30am. Although it was still early, I could feel the prickly heat of the tropical sun on my skin. After registration, we went for a quick breakfast before departing to Mabul Island. The boat was loaded with groceries. Apart from us, there was another passenger who was also a local. The journey from Semporna to Mabul took about 40-45 minutes depending on the current.
Day 1 – Arrival at Borneo Divers Mabul Resort
When seen on arrival, Mabul Island is a stand alone island at the southeastern cost of Sabah lined with resorts and patches of sea gypsy villages. The turquoise waters is idyllic and beautiful. Each resort has its own private jetty. As our boat moored by the jetty, we were greeted by the dive master which was assigned to us for the day. His name was Scott. We were asked to disembark and our luggages would be taken care of. We were brought to the jetty area for which we were briefed about house reef diving, place for equipment rental and camera room which could be used to charge our room during surface interval.
After filing the discharge of liability form, we were briefed by Scott. Everything about Borneo Divers Mabul Resort do’s and dont’s.
We were then taken to the lobby to collect our room keys and for resort briefing. By the time we left to our room to rest, our luggages were already waiting for us at the doorstep. Borneo Divers Resort Mabul really understood the true meaning of hospitality. What awaited us in the room really surprised us as the services were above and beyond our expectation.
Octopus styled towel was placed on the bed. We lazy around to kill the time before our orientation dive at the house reef. Slightly after 12pm, we went for lunch. Little did we know, we were about to get a princess treatment when food began to be served on our table. A huge home made burger served first. Then, plates of rice and various dishes including crabs and chicken. Not long after, we were greeted by the manager who apologized profusely for they did not prepare a buffet lunch as we were the only guests arriving on that day. The rest were out diving off Sipadan. We even had to ask the waitress to stop serving us the food. On top of all, the food was really good.
Orientation Dives – Dive #1 Mabul Island’s Paradise & Dive #2 Paradise 2
Changing tank for second orientation dive.
I was very nervous for the orientation dives. We dived at Paradise and Paradise 2. But we did okay and had our first experience of muck diving. It was muddy and the visibility was not good. The current was strong too.
After the orientation dives, we walked around Mabul Island. Found the best spot for sunset at Uncle Chang.
During the dinner, rumours had it that we might be able to dive in Sipadan for 3 consecutive days given an additional sum of money ie RM140 per day. Which means, we need to top up RM140 per day on top of what we had paid for 1 day dive in Mabul and 1 day dive in Kapalai. The perk of coming during off season. It’s not that bad really.
Day 2 – Sipadan Island
Equipped with our Go Pro Hero and Panasonic Lumic camera, the ride from BDMR to Sipadan Island took less than 30 minutes. Everyone that wishes to dive in Sipadan must obtain a permit through their respective resorts. Because the permits are limited, on normal occasion, for 5 days 4 nights trip, there would be one confirmed trip to Sipadan. We registered ourselves and off we go for our first dive in Sipadan Island, the famous Barracuda Point. Registration means filing our names and signing the form.
Our resorts are allocated with 4 dives per day with each dive takes about 40 – 50 minutes. For every surface interval between 45-60 minutes, we were taken to the Sipadan Island main area.
It’s Sipadan Island!
I was nervous. We hadn’t seen Mabul, we were already diving at Sipadan Island. My nose bled for every dive. After some time, I get used to it I didn’t care anymore. According to the dive masters, the nose bleed was normal as long as I didn’t suffer massive headache.
We were unfortunate for we didn’t get to see much of underwater creatures on our few dives at Barracuda Point. Barracuda Point is the ultimate diving spot in Sipadan Island where one could encounter big sharks, bump head parrot fishes and giant barracuda swirl.
Sipadan Dive #1 – South Point, Sipadan Island | 17.11.2014 | Max Depth : 25m | Visibility : 10m | Dive time : 45 mins
That was how close we were with the sharks. I was obsessed with sharks because this was the first time I saw big sharks and they swam around me.
Sipadan Dive #2 – Barracuda Point, Sipadan Island | 17.11.2014 | Max Depth : 25m | Visibility : 15m | Dive time : 43 mins
Sipadan Dive #3 – Mid Reef, Sipadan Island | 17.11.2014 | Max Depth : 18.2m | Visibility : 15m | Dive time : 45 mins
Sipadan Dive #4 – Barracuda Point, Sipadan Island | 17.11.2014 | Max Depth : 25m | Visibility : 15m | Dive time : 43 mins
To be continued in 5D4N Borneo Divers Mabul Resort – Part 2 which covers Sipadan Dive Day 2 & 3 and overall review of Borneo Divers Mabul Resort.