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Sunday 7th October
We had an early start this morning, Jad the taxi driver picked us up at 6.30 and we got the 7am bus to Semporna. It was a very comfortable 2 tier bus and we sat amongst the locals whilst I discretely put my hands in my ear as the woman in the next aisle to me cleared her throat constantly and emptying the contents into a bag, whilst 2 seats in front the guy was constantly being sick and when he left the bus he left his sick bags hanging on the seat for someone else to pick up, YUK!
We watched 3 films on this journey and they were all 18 rated,,with sex violence and swearing, the two young kids hanging off the back of the seats behind us were glued to the films and didn't seem to mind!
We arrived in the dirty town of Semporna and got a taxi to our hotel. The driver wanted 25 ringgits (£5.00) and I thought that was a lot as I was sure our hotel was only about 5 mins from the bus station, how far is the Sipiden Inn I asked, oh about 30 minutes away. I mentioned to Lee that I thought it was a lot but as we looked around there wasnt many people or taxis about so if he walked away we would have been stranded we asked if he would take 20 and he said ok. We got in what looked like an unlicensed taxi and drove off to our hotel which took no more than 5 minutes, despite him driving through a housing estate. We checked into our hotel and 2 other couples that got off the bus came in and they had experienced the same thing only one of them was charged 30 myr. The reception behind the desk said the taxi should have only been 10, so we had all been conned.
The hotel was clean and basic as was our room. We freshened up and went for a walk and something to eat. We then needed to get some cash so we went for a walk to find an ATM. We got a map and followed the directions and walked through a local area of market stalls selling fruit and veg, to soap and toothpaste. It seemed as though it was the Muslim women who did the work whilst the men stood or sat around chatting in the heat, we also passed a run down building which was a busy snooker hall, and men were queuing outside in the heat to get a game. We was fascinated as we noticed young lads using wheel barrows and darting around the markets with their barrows full fruit, bottles of water, or even full of fish. It looked like the local Fishermen had just arrived with their catches of the day and we watched in fascination as they were scrubbing up the fish from the taps in the street and were shouting out their haggling skills to sell their fish. Sadly as we standing here watching we was interrupted a few times by young boys only aged about between 7 - 8 begging. I always want to give them something but Lee always get annoyed at me to say no as if you give to one they will be around you, so I just had to walk away and not think about it. We turned the corner and there in front of us was the bus station, it was only a 5 minute walk to the hotel and it looked like the taxi driver tried to take us a long way around to justify his 20 ringgits, never mind we had got over that. We found an ATM and again felt a bit intimidated when we saw some guards sitting outside the bank.
Semporna literally means "perfect". The town with its feet in the sea. You wouldn't believe that when you saw the town but it is the departure point to the world's best dive sites and Island Resorts of Sipaden, Mabul, and Mataking. . All of the islands around Semporna are protected and the Dive resorts that were once situated on Sipaden are now closed to preserve the Island. The islands are now regulated and only so many dives are allowed in one day, and Dive shops have to have licences and it has been know for unlicensed diving to go on in the Islands.
We popped into the Sipaden Dive Shop next to our hotel and enquired about snorkelling on Sipaden, but that island was booked so we was recommended Mataking Island so we booked it and looked forward to our trip the next day.
Monday 8th October
Up early and ready to go snorkelling. We sat on a seat outside the hotel and watched people walk past with their heavy bags for diving whilst we sat there with Lee's yellow dry bag and our snorkels in it. Everybody seemed to know what they were doing and we just sat and watched in anticipation. We was introduced to the Dive leader whose name we can't remember and he did the same as the taxi driver Jad, he couldn't pronounce my name so I was called "Bill" again for the day.
We walked to the jetty and headed off the to Island as we passed the water villages and saw little boats floating in the sea, some had bed sheets attached to use as a sail, they were always ready to give you a big wave. It was about a 45 minute ride out to Kumai Reef and as everyone got their dive equipment on and jumped into the water Lee and I popped our snorkel and mask on and used the ladder to get into water (hope your picturing this!). We had the most amazing time snorkelling it was clear crystal water and the visibility was amazing. There wasn't so much fish this time but more live coral than we had seen before. We saw what looked like a pot with a purple jumper over it and as you got close the coral started moving and little orange and black fished popped out, it was amazing. We snorkelled for a while and there was a clear sandy patch by the boat when I looked down and saw a sea snake heading towards us, I pointed it out to Lee and at this point it started chasing Lee it was so funny watching Lee trying to swim away from this snake. When we got on the boat the divers asked did we have a good time, we told him about the sea snake and was told that they are extremely dangerous and if they bite you can die within 20 minutes without an anti-venom. Oh s***, but although they are poisonous they are non-aggressive and would only bite if the felt extremely threatened. We left Kumai Reef and headed for a Mantabuan Island where we sat and had lunch and enjoyed the most beautiful outlook whilst sitting on the sand and watching the the sun glisten on the water. (See photos).
Back on the boat and off for some more snorkelling. We felt a bit out of place when we first got on the boat because they were all experienced divers and they had all the gear with big dive watches and 'f*** off' cameras, but as the day progressed we chatted to these Divers and they were lovely and so interested in the fact we were travellers and not holiday makers.
The second reef we got to was not as impressive as Kumai Reef but it was explained that at lot of reef around that part of Sulawesi Sea has been ruined by illegal fishing using dynamite to bring the fish to the surface, an easy and lazy way of fishing, filling the water with large amounts of fish with the minimum of effort.
We had the most wonderful day and met some lovely people but decided that we would not book another trip as we didn't think we could match what exerienced today and didn't want to be disappointed so we decided to get the bus out the next morning and head to Tawau where we could get a cheap flight back Kota Kinabalu.
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liz Haha can picture it well snorkels & ladder, hope you secured your life jackets correctly