March 3 - 7, 2013 - Semporna Dive Rig, Borneo

Mar 3 - 7, 2013 - Semporna Dive Rig, Coast of Borneo

March 3:

That morning we STILL had not received a confirmation from the rig that we had a reservation and would be picked up that morning. I made another phone call and finally got through to them.  After much discussion and a bit of confusion we were to be picked up by a driver at 10:30.  We still had an hour to grab breakfast and hit the ATM for cash.  Just as we were walking out the door to do said things the van pulled up to take us to the dive shop.  It was only 9:30.  Apparently, we were all more confused than I thought.  No big deal though, our bags are already packed and ready to go.  We loaded up and headed to the dive shop....thank goodness they take a credit card because we did get to make the run to the ATM.

At the dive shop we paid for our 3 day and 2 nights.  This included a private room with hot water all our meals, high tea, all the coffee and juice we could drink, 3 dives a day on full days, 2 dives on partial days and unlimited dives at the house reef just below the rig!  We went from the shop to the dock were we were boated out to the rig via 45 minute boat ride. We even got stopped by the Malaysian coast guard in the middle of the ocean to check papers and make sure we werent the bad guys.  The rig was within eyesight of 2 islands that we we would also visit to dive, Mabul and Kapalai.

The rig had welcome drinks waiting for us, yellow kool-aid-ish stuff.  We signed paper worked check certifications and checked into our bunk.  We had a buffet lunch then prepped for our first dive.  We geared our tanks and loaded up on the boat.  Every time we get on or off the boat we have to take the lift down or up to rig level or water level.  Our first dive was at Mabul Island, just a 2 minute boat ride away from the rig.  It was so nice to be back in the water.  We saw turtles. Lots and lots of HUGE turtles.  Awesome!  We we back to the rig for surface interval then suited back up for a dive at the house reef, just under the rig.  We wore all our gear onto the lift and once at water level stepped into the water.  The rig had 6 piers holding it up and they had placed
artificial reefs around in the area so that corals and fish would start to live there.  We swam around each pier and some of the artificial reef.  Saw an eel!  After that we did dinner and had a few beers with the other divers on the rig.

March 4:
We did 3 dives at Kapalai and Mabul Islands.  We rented an underwater camera for the day.  See the plethora of photos below.

March 5:

The Malaysian Park Department only allows 120 divers at Sipadan Island a day.  In order to get a permit we had to stay once more day.  Not in the original plan but definitely worth it.  Because of all the fighting and unrest going on we had an 8am departure rather than a 6am departure.  Thats even better.  All 3 Sipadan dives are wall dives.  So its a slope covered in coral and fish and goes down to 600m.  Of course as an open water diver I can only go to 18m.  There is plenty to see at this level.

As soon as we jumped in for our first dive we saw 6 sharks below us.  We snuck down to 26m to get a better look.   3 white tip sharks and 3 grey tip sharks.  The grey tips were pretty large and our dive master after told us that they are capable of attacking divers.

On the second dive we saw a hammerhead shark! I think that was definitely the highlight for the whole day.   Our divemaster was sure something was going on because of the sharks weird behaviour.  They rarely are seen together like they were and a hammerhead near the reef is just as rare.  Her suspicion was on sonar or the like due to the unrest.

All 3 dives at Sipadan were amazing.  The visibility was great and there were plenty of fishes and colorful coral.

March 6-7:
2 dives today. Again at Mabul and Kapalai islands.  Saw a blue spotted ray and a few more reef sharks.

We left the rig at 2pm and were transferred to Tawau.  We stayed here a night and took a flight back to KK.  You have to wait 24 hours after diving before you can fly.

Of course we made friends!

We also met a couple of guys from San Antonio! Great guys (they are from Texas) and its Margaritas and enchiladas next time we come through SA, TX. 

What I have learned:  Stonefish are some of the most poisonous fish in the world!  Stick clear of there spines.