To be honest this part of the trip had nothing to so with backpacking, this was vacation with capital V at the paradise island of Mabul. So I had paid out for a fancy waterbungalow on stilts. The main reason for this thou was that a stay here guaranted a 1 day trip to the main attraction of the area, the island of Sipadan. This island has been decleared a marine park and as such only allows 120 divers per day to protect it, which means people are booking permits several months in advance. Traveling all this way to not get to dive at Sipadan was meaningless so this was the way to do it.
Golfcar ride from the jetty to the resort built completely on stilts
View from the terrace
Mabul is a tiny island inhabited by a small local society of fishermen and particularly the Bajou people, better known as sea gypsies. This people were originally living at sea exclusively and only returning to land when in need of fresh water and to bury their dead. These days most have taken to land, but are often not Malaysian citizens, meaning they have little right and no access to public services such as schools and medical. To get to the dive center you had to walk straight through the Bajou village, where you were greeted by a horde of smiling children and friendly adults. The dive center we used had started a charity school for the kids there and also organized their waste disposal so they wouldn't throw their trash in the sea. They also arranged for protection of turtle nests so all in all the people at Scuba Junkie had their values in order and provided a friendly service and good diving experiences!
Main street through the Bajou village
Scuba Junkie Jetty next to the village
Turtle nest protected habitat
Another inhabitant on the island was a large lizard which I quickly named Steve. Steve would be laying on the rocks licking sunshine in the morning or cruising on the beach in the evening sun scaring the tourists away.
Enough about the island and more about the diving. Your typical day would consist of breakfast, then walking to the jetty where you gathered your mask, wetsuit, weight belt and fins before jumping on the boat for your first dive. Then you would have a surface interval of about an hour before going out again to your second dive before lunch. Afternoon would be the third dive of the day and from there you could take the rest of the day off and lay on the beach. Dives would be around Mabul island itself, known for it excellent makro marine life. That is tiny little things like shrimps, or sea snails known as nudibranches. In addition there were so many turtles around that they seemed to sneak into every picture I took.
In addition we had dives around Kapalai island, which isn't really and island but a resort build on stilt on a sand barge.
But the star of the show was always going to be Sipadan island, known for it's world class diving and so finally the day came where our number was drawn and we set out for 3 dives.
And it truly lived up to the expectations! Its hard to describe in words so I will let the pictures do most of the talking. Of the 3 dives I found Barracuda point to be the most impressive. Your floating along in the current, initially not really that impressed and then the sea just explodes around you with activity. Huge stools of large fish create living walls in the water towering up over you and reef sharks are circling in the distance.
It was an amazing experience and the most intense diving I have tried! So I was quite happy when we sailed back to Mabul for our last night before starting the long trip home, it had definitely been worth it!
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