Diver's paradise, looks like this. This is a small island called Siamil that we took a break at between dives. It amazed me that all the little islands (including Sipadan) had military presence. It wasn't till after we got back that I heard about the 20 divers that were taken hostage from Sipadan in 2000. I would have still gone even if I had heard that before. This amazing place is worth the small risk.
I never thought it would be possible to think that you were seeing too many turtles, but on this trip, you kind of get numb to them after you see your first three before you ever put on your mask and hit the water. Amazing and they were "very" friendly. At one point, I was wondering if they ever ran into divers and if it hurt. LOL.
A close up of those neck wrinkles - wonderful!
The trees and beach on Sipadan Island. Diving Sipadan is controlled. In the three days we dove, only one was on Sipadan. Permits are required and one day in a three day stay is about the norm. We took full advantage and made four dives before 2:00 pm. The boat left the dive shop at 5:30 am. The early hour was made easier by an incredible sunrise complete with the full moon setting. Quite a visual feast for tired (but excited) eyes.
Beautiful white tip shark. It was pretty overwhelming with the amount of things you had to look at. If you looked somewhere for more than a minute you missed something else over your shoulder. I found that for the first 10 minutes I didn't know what to look at first. I remember the first thing I saw when I went under were two big, beautiful lion fishes. Incredible.
The military changing guards at Sipadan. Sipadan is very close to the Philippines and supposedly they are protecting the islands from illegal immigrants.
My first school of Chevron Barracuda. I can't tell you how wonderful that is to see. I could have stayed there and watched them longer if the current wasn't so strong.
Another shark swimming along the "drop off" looking for tasty morsels!
Another Cuddle Fish. I love them. They look like they are smiling and they "hover" through the water.
Sunrise the last day of our trip. It was beautiful and the dive boat seemed to have the perfect spot to enjoy the view.
Sipadan Island in the background. Notice how
calm the water is. It was honestly like a pond. It was so fun to come up to such tranquil water. No fighting the current and waves, just casually swim over and climb aboard.
This HUGE turtle cruised right over the top of me. I felt like a plane was flying overhead. The sun was blocked out and I looked up and WOW!
The only thing wrong with the Kapalai Resort (all on stilts) that we stayed at was there was no air-conditioning in the rooms. There was a fan and you could open all the windows, but it was still really hot. As the days went by we got used to it, but there were a lot of nights of tossing and turning first.
Reef shark cruising Sipadan.
Check out the moon setting in the midst of the pink cloud from sunrise. It was amazing.
Chevron barracuda schooling.
Fred, the resident house reef barracuda. Van saw him when we were doing our safety stop after our house reef dive. We were hanging onto a rope. I had him hang onto me and I got as close as I dared. His teeth were sharp and pointy. He was magnificent! I saw him several other times from the walkways between the dive shop and the over water bungalows.
A napping turtle with cleaner fish giving him the once over.
Another Cuddle Fish. It actually reminds me of Sesame Street's Snufalufagas (spelling?).
The water was the clearest I have seen since coming to Malaysia. It was gin clear! Reminded me of really clear mountain lakes or streams in the US.
The Drop Off Sipadan. It was pretty incredible to swim out over the edge of the reef and see down about 500 meters through deep, deep blue water. Sipadan is a sea mount and the island drops off straight down to depths of 700 meters. It gave you kind of a free falling feeling to sail out over the edge.
The full moon rises over the water each night were so romantic. Van and I took a stroll to the end of the pier to check it out one night. We had the whole place to ourselves. It was lovely.
Van, taking a breather after the sunset dive on the house reef. It was our fourth dive that day, so there was plenty to be taking a breather about.
View of the dive shop as we came up from the sunset dive.
These Many-Spotted Sweetlips were congregated underneath the dock by the Dive Shop. They were the most amazing fish. Their mouths were huge.
This anenome had "glowing" ends. The photo doesn't do it justice.
A local fishing boat on the island of Siamil.
We had a really nice time. Probably the best diving I have had since we became certified one year ago. It was a little better than the Maldives (and I thought the Maldives was fantastic). I would highly recommend Sipadan to anyone. Although the Kapalai Resort was nice, I might consider a liveaboard next time. I hear that the liveaboards can get you onto Sipadan more frequently than the resorts. Not sure if this is true, but it would be worth it if you could dive Sipadan more. This was "THE BEST" dive trip we have had so far. Wondrous!
