This is my second visit to Sipadan. I first went there in Sep 2017. This time we decided to try the Turtle Tomb's cavern diving in Sipadan. We managed to find a scuba instructor that does the cavern certification course in Sipadan. This time I flew from Senai to Tawau instead of changing plane in Kota Kinabalu. There was a Air Asia shuttle bus that pick up passengers from JB custom building on hourly basis to Senai Airport, but you need to prebook and pay a small fee for the service. The bus company uncle that work there called the driver and make sure he come and pick me up. I ended up as the only passenger on board that bus. Reached Senai Airport and took the flight to Tawau.
Once arrived at Tawau, I took a taxi straight to Semporna and attend the theory course. Jerry was our cavern certification instructor (Austrian) and he explained the cavern theory to us before teaching us how to tie rope in a cave. It was during that time that the rescue of the 11 thai young soccer players in Chiang Rai was taking place so doing the cavern course helped us relate to the rescue effort on going in Thailand.
The next day, we went to practise our rope tying skill on the corals. While we were busy unraveling the rope, a school of bumphead parrotfish swam past us. After that Jerry made us do drills in the cave. We have to practise laying rope and retrieve the rope, take out our mask and get out of the cave by feeling the ropes without torch lights, as well as air sharing emergency drill. At one point, we have to take off our mask, swim out and wear back our masks, in the dark. All these drills were supposed to train us to take care of ourselves and our buddies inside the cavern.
During lunch time, I bumped into Afat, my previous dive guide in Sipadan in my last trip. He was leading a group of customers.
Once we have passed the drills, we did the real cavern diving. Jerry has planted some lights inside the cavern so that we can see the turtle shells inside the cavern. Some were still intact, some disintegrated. There was even a marlin skeleton inside. At one point, we were asked to turn off our torch lights. We kept quiet and enjoyed the little fish dancing in front of us, visible through the little light came in via the cavern opening. The little fish were so colourful, and somehow that scene left a deep impression on us.
We have finally been certified for cavern diving. I requested for another more in depth cavern diving experience, by going in deeper into the cave. After we confirmed the extra payment needed, Jerry went to prepare the logistics for the next day dive. The seafood dinner that I had this evening, caused me food poisoning. It was hard to do scuba diving when you have only half the energy left and had no appetite for food. Nonetheless we proceed to do the more in-depth cavern diving. This time round, Jerry planted some air tanks in the cave itself, since we will go in for a longer duration. I had to carry a spare tank with me when I go in, and a change of tank will happen half way through the dive, to switch to a new air tank. It was my first time carrying two tanks, i was nervous. During the confusion, i dropped my camera, and all the pictures that my dive guide Aman took for me for the past few days during our fun dives were all gone. A big mistake on my part, i didnt backup the pictures.
We went into the cavern as per the last few dives and saw more turtle shells. Supposedly, one can dive all the way in and exit from the other outlet of the cave, but only for trained personnel. We were contended with just diving within the boundary of our safety zone.
We were lucky to be able to secure 3 day of Sipadan permits out of 6 days of diving, to complete the Sipadan cavern diving course. The dive guides Andy, Aman have been of great help. Jerry was amazing, strict but effective. He is the only one doing the course in Sipadan. Turtle's Tomb is really a very unique dive site.
The pictures below were taken by my friends. I will be back to take the pictures that I lost to the sea this time!
Theory session:
We had seafood here, unfortunately I was down with food poisoning there after.
Group picture on Sipadan Island.
Inside Turtle's Tomb:
Thank you for reading, please feel free to read my other diving blogs by clicking on the link: www.lamtravels.blogspot.com.
Sipadan has been a diving destination that I have always wanted to go. Finally got the chance. The logistics to get there can be quite tedious though.
It turned out that my suspicion was correct. The AA flight from Singapore to Kk will carry on to Tawau after stopover at kk. If only i bought the kk-tawau ticket and continue with the same plane after immigration, assuming no check-in baggage, i would be able to reach Tawau one day earlier and started diving one day earlier. AA nowadays very strict with cabin baggage limit.
Most of the shops in Kk are closed as it is Hari Raya Haji (public holiday) tomorrow. I managed to find a chinese restaurant that is still open at night. Had my dinner there before sleep.
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The next morning i went to look around the market, most shops are closed. Hard to get chinese newspapers, sold out fast. Even harder to get a cab to the airport. Most drivers went to the mosque at noon time. My flight to Tawau was on time. Only snacks were served.
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The guy at Scuba Junkie motel (opposite Scuba Junkie Semporna office) told me the aircond in my room was spoilt. The next bad news was i forgot to insert memory card into my underwater camera. Most of the shops in Semporna were closed, i was lucky to be able to buy a 16G memory card in a small camera shop that was still open, and at reasonable price.
One thing i noticed about Semporna - drivers here do not honk despite the bad jam due to festive preparation and narrow roads. Everybody just drive patiently and wait for their turn to alight/pick up passengers along the street. I am very impressed by the patience by the people here. Occasionally if I happened to bump into people and i apologised to them, they just smiled instead of return a stern stare. I would say Sabah as a whole is the Eden garden in Malaysia. The hospitality, kindness and friendliness displayed are the best I have seen so far.
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Passing showers the next morning when we were gathering at the office. Then the sun come out by the time we went to board the speedboat. We took the speed boat over to Mabul. The marine police at Semporna came late this morning so all the boats were waiting at the police office before registration could start.
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We reached Mabul slightly later than usual. Police office was next to us.
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Seadventure converted an old oil rig into a diving resort.
Scuba Junkie
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I was supposed to do drift diving module today but not much current at the dive sites so couldnt really do it properly. The night dive was ok. Food was so so. Lower bunk was reserved for me so that makes things a lot easier. 8 people to one bunk. All private rooms are full. The staff were friendly, partly also because i can speak Malay. Sunset was beautiful. There was an angmo lady practising jetty jump there.
The next morning we went for Sipadan. One of the ladies cannot equalise too well, she opted for snorkeling that day. The weather couldnt be more discouraging. We went for our first dive in choppy sea and shower. I forgot to bring my booties for fins. The shower didn't even last one dive, it started to get sunny when we finished our first dive. First dive point was South Point, then Barracuda Point, then Dropoff and finally Hanging Garden.
When we were having lunch, there was a monitor lizard looking for food nearby. Bump head fish were swimming nearby so we went to do a snorkeling to see them upclose. Afat and Arif were very good dive masters. I am so glad i brought my camera along. Lotsa photo taking opportunities. Escom army can be seen patrolling the island.
Afat told us that he ever brought many documentary shows diving team do scuba diving in Sipadan and Mabul. Some come with expensive camera sets and refused to dive unless Afat can guarantee them sighting of animals they want to film. Afat laughed at such request but still try to fulfill them anyway by going into the water first.
We had a very fun Sipadan diving group that day. We took group picture together. I got to know the Danish couple, the Taiwanese that works in KL, my two very funny dive instructors. Sadly Afat is leaving end of Sept.
Going Sipadan
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First dive in the rain, buddy check.
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Backroll entry.
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Second dive was near Turtles' Tomb. We were not allowed to dive inside that dive site, so we can only take a look near the entrance. At that time, I didnt know that I would actually returned to Sipadan to dive Turtle's Tomb the year after. Please feel free to click on the following link to see my dive in Turtle's Tomb in 2018: https://lamsipadan.blogspot.com/2018/07/Sipadan2.html
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Sipadan Island on a sunny morning
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We went to the island to rest before the third dive. A group of bumphead parrot fish came. Everyone went to snorkel to see them.
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After that we went for our third dive.
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Group picture:
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4th dive:
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Videos taken during the dives:
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The Danish couple shared with me the pictures they took while visiting Orangutan sanctuary and the rainforest discovery centre while we were doing our dive log book. So interesting! They also went to Kinabatangan River to take the river cruise, saw many hornbills.
While we were drinking that night, suddenly there was annoucement of turtle hatchlings release program on the beach. We all rushed out to see the release.
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The next day we went to dive at North Kepalai, my dive instructor today was Meghan. Foolish me forgot to charge my camera battery, so didnt take any pictures in the first 2 dives, only at the last one after i charged the battery during lunch time. We saw many interesting creatures. I was diving with a couple from London. I promised to share the pictures i took on my last dive with them.
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Divers from the UK
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Took the 430pm boat back to Semporna. Supposed to meet the Taiwan lady for dinner together but since we took different boats and she is not staying in Scuba Junkie motel we were separated from one another. The boat stopped a few times to clear the rubbish from its motor.
Finally got a room that has air condition. Good sleep.
The next day i went to have roti canai as breakfast, yummy! Shared the van with the Poland divers to Tawau Airport. They were sharing with me interesting dive resort they stay in while they were in Maldives last year.
There are simply many dive sites around Mabul and in Sipada. I will definitely come back again.
My reflections on this trip:
1. According to other divers, you will have more chance to dive in Sipadan if you stay with Seadventure as they have more permits. Each resort is allocated a certain number of Sipadan permits. If the resort you go to has more permits then you can dive more than once in Sipadan, if the is enough permits.
2. Mabul is not really a place for drift diving specialty course. Should do in Indonesia. Deep diving specialty is ok.
3. Rooms run out faster than dorms in Scuba Junkie. One dorm cater to 8 people, no aircond. Windows are opened but that invites mosquitoes.
4. A good and fun dive master makes your dive much more enjoyable. I was blessed with very good dive instructors for both days.
5. Night dive in Mabul is really so so. Sadly no night dive in Sipadan allowed.
6. All dive entries are backrolled.
7. Bring your own gear if you can, the gears on rental are sometimes problematic. Bring snorkle for Sipadan trip cos you can go snorkle during lunch time and we saw bumpheads. No free dive allowed during lunch time though.
8. Always follow your dive instructors instructions. It is for your own safety.
9. Book Sipadan permits really early, and choose a resort that are nearer to Sipadan, and have more Sipadan permits.
10. If you are going alone like me, be prepared for single supplement, unless it is a dorm bed in Scuba Junkie.
11. Sabah has lots of eco tourism to offer, dont just go there for diving. Even one month seems too short!
12. AirAsia now has Johor Bahru to Tawau flights 4 times a week, do consider.
13. Flights within Sabah can be quite expensive. KL-Tawau flight price can be almost the same if not more than KL-Tawau flight.
14. Risk of abduction? Escomm is there to patrol. Security has been beefed up.
15. Dont worry too much about the weather.
16. Will i go again? Of course!
Thank you for visitng this blog, feel free to visit my other travel blogs by clicking the link below:
This is my second visit to Sipadan. I first went there in Sep 2017. This time we decided to try the Turtle Tomb's cavern diving in Sipadan. We managed to find a scuba instructor that does the cavern certification course in Sipadan. This time I flew from Senai to Tawau instead of changing plane in Kota Kinabalu. There was a Air Asia shuttle bus that pick up passengers from JB custom building on hourly basis to Senai Airport, but you need to prebook and pay a small fee for the service. The bus company uncle that work there called the driver and make sure he come and pick me up. I ended up as the only passenger on board that bus. Reached Senai Airport and took the flight to Tawau. 
