Sipadan, Malaysia

Today was the big dive excursion to Sipadan!

Heather had a 2nd day of snorkeling with Big John's and I was off to Sipadan.

Big John's had booked me through BUMS (Borneo Unlimited Marine Sports) which was conveniently located behind our hotel. There were 6 of us diving, plus a divemaster and a 2nd dive guide.

It was about an hour boat ride to Sipadan. We registered at the office on the island, and then we were off.

Our first dive was from Barracuda Point. We saw lots of green turtles, a couple barracudas and some sharks.

In between dives we went ashore where they have shelters set up, and had our snacks and coffee that the dive shop provided.

The 2nd dive we tracked down the schools of barracuda before jumping in. It was amazing, about 1000 barracuda, each about 6'-8' long, swimming in a tornado pattern. Just after we got back on board, the captain spotted some bumphead parrotfish and so we jumped back in and snorkeled over to see them. That covered of two of the three main attractions of Sipadan!

The 3rd big thing to see is the schools of jacks. For our 3rs dive, again the captain searched out the schools before we dived in. The schools were big, about the size of a house, with a couple thousand jacks (each about 2'-3' long). They swam in slow formation, winding back and forth. I swam slowly right up to the school and then was in the middle! It was pretty cool. We stayed with the school for almost 30 minutes, most of the dive. There were turtles and sharks about too but the main attraction on this dive was the jacks.

We headed back to Semporna after the last dive, a great day of diving. We were lucky to have seen all three attractions! There's also hammerheads at Sipadan but not at this time of year. I'll have to see them elsewhere.

We went out for dinner at a different restaurant, a Chinese one that was pretty good. At least with Chinese food it's easy to get our greens. We had a beer for only the 2nd time on this trip, I had finished diving so could have a drink.

We had a fresh coconut on the way home, I think it was freshly picked because it was still warm, and slightly fizzy.