Sandakan, Semporna, and Diving Sipadan

Having only qualified a few weeks ago, me and Will are pretty lucky to have dived at Sipadan. Relaying tales to fellow divers of turtles, sharks, and endless coral, we end up getting choruses of 'What! But you've only just qualified!.

Google a picture of Sipadan, a tiny island on the east coast of Borneo that is widely regarded as one of the best places in the world to dive. Reef sharks, white tips, turtles, corals, hundreds of different varieties of fish, everywhere at a visibility of 30 metres. A 600 metre shelf that drops down endlessly. Water so clear you can see as you would on land. Nothing else will compare.

We stayed off the coast of Semporna in a place called Singamata, basically a hotel built on stilts in the bluest of seas. It had an 'aquarium' in the middle next to the restaurant that you could dive in, with huge wrasses and lots of other fish. Our balcony opened onto the sea; Will showed off his backflips into the ocean, everyone was very impressed. For around five pounds a day we stayed in a dorm room, with meals included. Meals consisted of noodles, fish, and rice. For four days. Never thought I could suck the meat out of a fish head, but there we go, thats what a longing for western food does to one. Will struggled, had to get a boat to the mainland to get a steak.

After a few days sunning and generally not doing a lot, we booked our diving at Sipadan. Did three dives there, each one unbelievable. The currents were really strong on our first dive, so I was swimming hard, using lots of air, trying to stay neutrally buoyant. Had a problem with my bcd and couldnt get all the air out of it, so swam over to Will and pointed to my deflate button. However he misunderstood, inflated my jacket, and I shot up a few metres to the surface. Feelings of embarassment were quickly overtaken by panic- 'If I get the Bens and die, I will bloody kill Will' I muttered to myself as I spluttered to the surface. The next two dives were relatively trouble free, and were the best dives I could imagine. Managed to make our air last for a long time- Will had a safety stop and used all his air and had to borrow mine, which was a bit silly.

Anyway, stayed in Semporna for a week, then did a mammoth two night journey from the east coast of Borneo to the east coast of Malaysia, one night on a coach, one night on a train. In third class...

We have met some amazing people travelling so far, some more fun than others (a few posh spazzes)... which has made the experience just awesome.

We are now at the Perhentian Islands on the east coast of Malaysia- stayed here for a few days doing more dives, and are heading back to Thailand tomorrow...