Scuba Dive Advisor – Page 3 – Scuba Dive Advisor

Sipadan Island : South Point

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On the Southernmost tip of Sipadan Island you will find the aptly named site, South Point. Exposed to the prevailing currents, this is an excellent dive where you have the greatest possibility of observing schools of hammerhead sharks. Given the fact that the schools of hammerheads are normally found in stronger currents at depths in the 40 meter (130 foot) range, you will be most comfortable here if you have two things:

Advanced Open Water Certification
Experience diving with current

Not to say that newer divers shouldn’t dive this site, but if you do, you should have a great sense of adventure and stick close to your Dive Master as depths descend straight down to 600+ meters and currents can be strong. The reason that you want to stick close to your Dive Master and buddy at South Point is because most times at this site, if you are lucky enough to see the hammerheads, (Lana and Tim have not seen them in 5 trips to Sipadan) they are close to 40 meters (130 Feet) and that’s after you swim far enough into the blue that the wall behind you nearly disappears.

So, if you are after excitement, then ditch the Nitrox. This is a dive you do not want to be restricted by depth limits if you see big creatures beyond your Nitrox Maximum Operating Depth. If you typically dive Nitrox, it is good to know when planning your trip that the first two dives of the day at Sipadan are usually deep and air may give you more flexibility. Given the depths that most groups usually descend to at South Point, it is commonly your first and deepest dive of the day in hopes of seeing the schooling hammerheads and other “big stuff” like grey reef sharks, thresher sharks, eagle rays, tuna, barracuda and jacks, to name a few. If your timing and the currents are just right, South Point becomes a happy hunting ground where you can observe many of the larger pelagics.

As we back-rolled and dropped down during our three times at South Point, the sharks were definitely there. Albeit, they were smaller white tips and some medium-sized grey reefs, but they were present in large numbers. We did spot one eagle ray gracefully swimming by and the SDA Team all agreed it felt like we gave ourselves concussions by the end of the dive. This was a result of flinging our hands to our heads as we signaled the shark sign so many times. Shark! Hopefully on one of our future trips to Sipadan, we will time it right and see the majestic schools of hammerheads that Sipadan is famous for.

As with most of the dive sites at Sipadan, entry and exit at South Point are normally planned near the shallow reefs where massive schools of smaller reef fish dart in and out of the corals. You are almost guaranteed to see at least one turtle in the shallows and many times they are accompanied by giant trevally, white tips, and many other larger fish. On any of your entries or safety stops over the shallow reefs, it is normal to see many varieties of boxfish, trigger fish, surgeon fish (aka tangs), grouper and eels among the endless list you will see. We have never been to a place where you see so many varieties of hard to find fish in huge numbers as Sipadan and South Point is certainly no exception.

Speaking of “safety stops,” we have a funny story to share from one of our dives at South Point: While the SDA Team were enjoying the peaceful reef scenery on our safety stop at South Point, Tim tapped his tank to get everyone’s attention, pointing to a fish asking what kind it was. Using underwater hand signals, Lana motioned the signal for a trigger fish but then shrugged in uncertainty. Everyone watched as Tim agreed but Tim needed confirmation (this trigger was huge) and called Eljer, our dive master. Before Tim even knew what was happening, Eljer had latched onto his arm and fin kicked 15 meters towards this massive titan triggerfish. Little did any of us know (except Eljer, who was buckled over with laughter) that the titan trigger fish was nesting and did not take kindly to Tim’s invasion. The protective trigger wasted no time in squaring off against Tim. As for Eljer? He’s gone. Buddies and dive mates? All were laughing hysterically. Why? Tim was dancing around, spinning in circles as this infuriated fish charged at him over and over while Tim used his pointer to keep the fish at bay and avoid being bitten. This dance went on for about 30 seconds and the battle finally ended when Tim retreated to the surface. The trigger won this battle with a couple last nips at Tim’s fins and then returned to its young. If you ever encounter the titan trigger, which is a beautiful fish to observe, be cognizant of its nesting “cone” extending up to the surface and maintain your distance. They may be quite aggressive and have been known to injure unsuspecting divers.

South Point is a dive site that can present many surprises throughout the dive. Be sure to ask your dive master if hammerheads have been sighted as you plan your dives each day. If the hammerheads have been spotted, then mark down South Point. It is one dive site you must put on your list and get ready for a thrilling ride!

Happy diving!
Dan, Esther, Lana and Tim

Sipadan Island : Turtle Patch

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The very name Sipadan tends to conjure up excitement in a divers imagination as the once only spoken tales from the Celebes Sea begin to be shared in cyber-space. Most readers, including the SDA Team until recently, did not know that Sipadan is Malay for “turtle.” Sipadan’s namesake comes as no surprise as this tiny oceanic island is home to more green and hawksbill turtles that call its’ reefs home than any other dive location we’ve ever visited.

Sipadan has many impressive stories of conservation underwater, but the turtle sanctuary is not only underwater. The local military and a team of biologists have made huge efforts to create a small turtle hatchery that raises turtles from eggs to just large enough to set free in the waters of Turtle Beach. These biologists provide a safe land environment for the turtles to hatch and gain strength in an isolated beach location, secure from the opportunistic monitor lizards above ground, curious divers on the island, as well as the oceanic predators who will snap up any opportunity for an easy meal. This inaccessible area, turtle beach, extends straight out towards the reef along the east wall and has aptly provided the name for this next dive site, Turtle Patch.

A favorite place for Sipidan’s resident turtles to lounge about, the underwater topography at turtle patch boasts incredible crevices and large coral heads which are home to the turtles’ food source of algae and sponges. The top reef is prominently covered with staghorn and acropora corals, but patches of fox, cabbage and colt coral also attract the turtles in massive numbers. Looking at this picture of a green sea turtle resting on a bed of colt coral and several pieces of crushed staghorn and acropora coral, it becomes evident that the turtles crush more coral than some of the less coordinated divers who descend into the water with poor buoyancy. There are literally hundreds of places for these turtles to rest along this dive site and even the white tips venture up to this area to lounge about.

Another curious fact is that the turtles are not trying to eat the coral but they use their serrated beaks to clean the algae, sea grass (green turtles) and sponges (hawksbill turtles) off the coral. This is what provides them with their nutrition and it also helps sustain Sipidan’s pristine reef system.

Turtle Patch is not just a playground for the turtles, it is also a wall dive along the Eastern side of the island, shared by larger pelagics that venture into this southern part of the reef. Watch closely into the deep blue and you’re likely to spot large grey reef sharks or eagle rays gracefully cruising the island’s perimeter. One of Lana’s dive log entries from this site exclaims, “Sharks, Sharks, Sharks! Greys and White tips everywhere!” Are you looking for some excitement? Lana surely recommends this dive site. But venture back up to the shallows to see the islands greatest concentration of turtles.

Like other Sipadan wall dives, the safety stop rests perfectly on the top reef. The way that all of the Sipadan dives end is convenient as you nearly always finish a dive with a safety stop perfectly on the top reef. As you take care of your three-minute stop you can relax and watch as thousands of tiny anthias and other reef fish fill a huge Christmas tree coral formation. Before you know it, your three-minute stop turns into ten or fifteen minutes of off-gassing nitrogen and it’s time to hop back on the boat.

Turtle Patch is a great morning deep dive or an afternoon shallow dive. The current is typically mild and it is a good dive to consider if you haven’t graduated past your open water certification. If you are in question about a certain dive or the conditions that exist it’s always best to consult the dive masters and boat captains. They are experts at reading the currents and assessing if something may be too strong for your skill level.

Until next post,

Dan, Esther, Tim and Lana wishing you happy dives!

Sipadan Island : Mid Reef

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If you only have one day to dive Sipadan, Mid Reef would be a great addition to your list of top four dive sites to explore. Mid Reef is an East facing dive site best enjoyed in the morning or early afternoon when the sun illuminates the reef to display its amazing colors. Before you even enter the water, the morning view from the boat presents a beautiful photo opportunity of the tiny island of Sipadan. So, for those of you who have not made the giant stride into purchasing an Ikelite housing for your DSLR, bring your dry bag as you will have some of the best photo ops of Sipadan Island, fit for a postcard. The morning sun bounces perfectly off the island’s natural palm trees enabling you to capture many great pics.

Reviewing our dive log entries, Mid Reef has consistently offered the second best opportunity to spot schooling barracuda at either the start of our dive or at the end during our safety stop. So, if the barracuda have been playing shy at Barracuda Point, mention this feedback to your dive master to see what they think.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy-PR5MNum0]

Mid Reef may boast an unimaginative name for a dive site but it is far from being that way under water. As its name suggests, it is sandwiched in the middle of the East facing wall between White Tip Avenue and Turtle Patch, generally at the crossroads of your best opportunity to spot the island’s greatest concentration of turtles and white tip sharks. Aside from Turtle Patch, you will most likely see more turtles at Mid Reef than any other site due to its close proximity to Turtle Beach where the young turtles from Sipadan’s hatchery are released. An adrenaline filled dive, similar to White Tip Avenue, drop down to your desired depth and float along with the mild current as the fish life fills your view with huge batfish usually in schools of 10 or more, beautiful black and orange juvenile batfish and loads of nudibranch.

Just like other East facing wall dives, there are great opportunities to view enormous sea fans and gorgonians along with massive barrel sponges. Now that you have been drifting along for a few minutes, flip over and look up toward the surface. What the SDA Team enjoys about this dive is that the diversity of coral gives the dive site, Hanging Gardens, a run for the money on appearance from the depths to the surface. Numerous shapes of massive corals excite the mind and make for a stunning view. Look beyond the corals. It is common for schools of fusiliers, sergeant majors and niger triggers, together with turtles, chromis, anthias and all sorts of other reef fish swimming in harmony above you.

Our experience with Mid Reef has generally provided us with a leisurely mild current allowing us to reach a neutral buoyancy at our desired depth and then follow the wall without even a fin kick. However, Sipadan is an oceanic island and that mild current can quickly gain a couple of knots and present challenges. So be aware and always dive with your buddy. Mid Reef is a 360 degree experience, which will distract you, with beauty at every angle.

All we can say is: Get out there and dive Sipadan!

Dan, Esther, Lana and Tim

Sipadan Island : White Tip Avenue

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With a backward roll into the water, you quickly discover that White Tip Avenue will be another exciting Sipadan wall dive as a school of adult batfish confidently greet you near the surface. As you descend a few meters and give a few fin kicks to the wall, White Tip Avenue offers a unique sight of huge canyon like crevices on the fringe of the shallow top reef where you can float over and take a look down into the beautiful formations as you prepare for your descent.

Even though White Tip Avenue is a wall dive, you will find many rocky slopes and ledges where white tip sharks are regularly seen as they rest outside the current preparing to hunt for their next meal. The typical dive depth for White Tip Avenue ranges from 18 to 30 meters, sometimes up to 40 meters if there are reports that larger pelagics have been sighted at depths. But, keep in mind that with all sites at Sipadan, depths plunge well below the 40-meter recreational diving limits to depths exceeding 600+ meters. So, keep your eye on your computer and dive the plan because it is easy to lose yourself in the beauty of the dive.

As you drift along with the current, you will quickly notice that you are not the only large creatures enjoying this dive site. White Tip Avenue is no exception to regular sightings of the large pelagics divers flock to Sipandan to observe. The list includes white tip and grey reef sharks, turtles, Napoleon wrasse, bumphead wrasse and the graceful spotted eagle ray. Look back towards the wall and massive gorgonian sea fans are waving in the current, a unique feature to this site. In the coral formations surrounding the sea fans, you’re likely to see an awkward looking boxfish, the always elusive eels, and camouflaged clams that make their residence here. Continuing on with the current you are likely the resident schools of barracuda and jacks that continuously make their way around the island. White Tip Avenue is one of the places you will see large schools of jacks and barracuda from time to time, which never ceases to excite as we are driven to observe them and join with them in the towering tornadoes the schools create.

As we reach our safety stop, like many of the other dive sites, the top reef is a filled with beautiful scenery of small fish darting in and out of the hard corals. Inside these corals you’ll see parrotfish, anthias, chromis, as well as anemones with clown fish curiously peeking out at you providing an entertaining show. Juvenile batfish remain shy among the coral, while damselfish move about at dizzying speeds.

White Tip Avenue is usually a mild current dive that allows the diver to reach neutral buoyancy at their desired depth and then follow the wall without even a fin kick. However, skillfully using your fin like a rudder to maneuver within a comfortable distance from the wall will allow you to see the beautiful black coral while looking out into the blue to capture frequent glimpses of the pacing sharks. As with most of the sites at Sipadan, experience with current is a plus as you are likely to experience at least a mild current. White Tip Avenue is an East facing dive site that is best in the morning or early afternoon when the sun is illuminating the reef to display its amazing colors.

Until next post! –Dan, Esther, Lana and Tim

Sipadan Island : Coral Gardens

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Coral Gardens is a beautiful dive site located on the Northern tip of Sipadan’s East wall. Facing East, this dive site is best experienced in the morning with the sun illuminating the entire reef and showcasing the abundant fish and invertebrate life. This site begins as you descend upon a top reef filled with huge, multi-colored, tabling acropora coral which is teeming with tiny reef fish swimming in and out of their hard coral homes. At this depth, you are also likely to see giant trevally, jackfish, barracuda and an occasional white tip or grey reef shark. The colors of the fish and coral at three to five meters are so mesmerizing that you may not feel like heading for the wall. How can it possibly get any better than this? Spend a few minutes here and then head for the wall to find out for yourself.

Once you crest the wall and begin your descent, you will not be disappointed. We floated down to 25 or 30 meters and began to drift along in the mild current. We saw some of the larger turtles Sipadan has to offer and looking out into the blue, a few white tip and grey reef sharks increased the excitement of an already stellar dive. With a couple of switchbacks along the way as we followed the currents, we observed some of the other critters you are likely to see at Coral Gardens including moray eels, the occasional frogfish, and loads of colorful grouper.

Given that this dive is especially susceptible to changing currents in the morning, it is important that you stay near your Dive Master. The current at Coral Gardens can change more than once in your dive pushing you in either direction toward Barracuda Point or White Tip Avenue. Knowing this, it is imperative to be aware of your surroundings at all times, remain close to your dive buddy, and further, this makes Coral Gardens a recommended dive for Advanced Divers.

Our 40-minute multi-level dive goes by quickly and in no time we are back on the top reef for our safety stop while we enjoy the playful fish and amazing corals. Because of the pristine coral life on its top reef, Coral Gardens invites many of the fish species that make Sipadan home, allowing you to see most of the fish (small and large) Sipadan has to offer, all concentrated in one dive site.

If you have only one day to dive at Sipadan, Coral Gardens is definitely one site to add to your list of the four you are allotted for the day.

Until our next post! Dan, Esther, Lana and Tim wishing you happy adventures.

Sipadan Island : Barracuda Point

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After experiencing all of the dive sites of Sipadan has to offer (and truth be told, there will always be a million and one variations of the same dive based on depth, current and dive plan), the Scuba Dive Advisor team unanimously agreed that Barracuda Point is our favorite dive site on Sipadan. This is only pure conjecture, but we believe that Jacques Cousteau must have been speaking of Barracuda Point when he coined this now-famous phrase, “I have seen other places like Sipadan, 45 years ago, but now no more. Now we have found an untouched piece of art.” There are so many different topographies and species at different parts of the Barracuda Point dive that it feels as if you have four or five dives in one. Barracuda Point is so much a favorite that we dove it three times on this trip, and Tim and Lana, to date, have been at this site TEN times!

After our back roll into the water, we found our normal entry point on the fringe of a shallow reef teeming with coral and fish life. During two of our dives on sunny days, we were greeted by schools of bumphead wrasse numbering in the 30 to 50 range, the smallest of them being 40 to 50kg. When the water is calm, you can actually spot the schools of wrasse from far away and make your entry right beside them. The bumpheads are peaceful to watch, as they munch away on the corals at the top of the reef, as if they are oblivious to your presence and will allow you to get very close.

After five or ten minutes observing the bumpheads, it was off to the wall. Swimming over the shallow reef it is an amazing feeling to reach the edge of the 500+ meter drop off and float out into the blue like a bird. It was at this point during most of our dives at Barracuda Point that we saw the huge schools of jackfish Sipadan is famous for. Swimming under the thousands of schooling jacks, it is as if a cloud rolled in and blocked out the sun. But as you look up through the school, you can see the sun shimmering off of their shiny bodies. The jacks are inviting and let you swim up into the middle of the tornado it appears they have created, and like an infantry in unison, they march around you, never touching you. Many times, the opportunistic giant trevally are mixed right in the middle of the school of jacks. This made for amazing viewing and photos.

Onward we drift (this dive is amazing with current) in a Northeasterly direction as the current sweeps you past amazing walls of soft corals, hard corals and gorgonians that are amazing to see. As you are drifting by keep an eye out in the blue, as sharks are pacing down in the depths and you feel like you are on an adventure ride. As we start to come up the wall, we get to the point of the dive where we typically saw schooling barracuda (for which this site is aptly named) and sharks. This is a great time to find a small rock to get a finger-hold, or use a reef hook, so you can pause for a moment and watch as the white-tip and grey reef sharks come up from the deep to swim in the current. Because of this current, the sea life and activity that you can see at Barracuda Point is abundant and the chance of seeing pelagics is often better than other sites. Keep an eye on your computer because a lot of the big stuff is deep and with all the action, it is easy to go into deco-mode if you get lost in the action that is unfolding before your eyes.

Let go of your finger-hold and begin to ascend to the top of the reef and you enter into another dive all together. Once you crest the top of the reef, you find yourself in a channel where you effortlessly drift over resting green sea turtles and loads of white tip sharks lounging on the bottom. As you drift through this channel, you will quite frequently see giant schools of barracuda hovering in the current, an amazing sight to take in. At the end of the canyon, you will find yourself on a slope near the start of another wall dive. Generally, we found the current on top of the slope to be mild to non-existent at about 5-10 meters in depth, which is a great place to begin your safety stop. Take in all of the sights with hundreds of fish, diverse coral formations dotted anemones and resident clown fish that are always entertaining to observe.

Barracuda point is filled with excitement, diversity and best summarizes Sipadan diving with each dive presenting a new adventure. With depths reaching up to 30m (99 ft), this is best enjoyed by Advanced Open Water divers and those with experience in current. If you have both of these, then add Barracuda Point to your Top 10 list and experience the joy we have burned in our memory!

Take the Plunge! Dan, Esther, Lana and Tim

Borneo Divers : What\’s the Big Deal About Sipadan Diving? {Part 3 of 3}

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“Top 10” lists. All of us are guilty of creating them. From restaurants we want to eat at to books we need to read. Scuba diving is no different. What we judge or perceive to be the best of the best, as far as dive sites are concerned, will differ from diver to diver. These “Top 10” lists are very personal and seldom will it occur that any two lists will be the same, but certain dive locations evoke a powerful feeling and excite our imagination, thus, making the list for most people. These dive sites bring our community together in fellowship to experience nature at its finest.

Punctuating out of sea floor in the middle of the Celebes Sea, Sipadan is just one of these places many of us dream about. It has garnered favor in the dive community for many years. Seldom do we find a dive zone that has a little of everything for all divers, but Sipadan is a special place that offers as much diversity in topography as it does in sea life. Looking for pelagics? Macro? Turtles? Stunning coral reefs? You will find it all here.

Although Borneo Divers has been the pioneer of Sipadan diving since 1983, it is the colorful Jacques Cousteau, who echoed the words in his film, Borneo: The Ghost of the Sea Turtle (1989): “I have seen other places like Sipadan, 45 years ago, but now no more. Now we have found an untouched piece of art.” Jacques Cousteau said it, the world listened, and divers around the globe have been coming in droves to experience the beauty of Sipadan for more than 20 years! From that moment on, Sipadan escalated to become one of “the” places to dive in the world and tales from Borneo surged exciting more divers to come and many more to dream.

So what is the big deal about diving at Sipadan? The near perfect eco-system with colorful hard and soft corals circle the island providing a playground for smaller reef fish like chromis and anthias numbering in the thousands. You will also see larger species such as the parrotfish, Napolean wrasse and bumphead wrasse that find their nutrition in the coral. Massive bubble, sebae and carpet anemones cover the reef for curious clown fish to hide out. But for many, the excitement comes from the bigger stuff like schooling jacks and barracuda, massive trevallies, sharks, eagle rays, and many other pelagics that come in to feast on a smorgasbord of opportunity. Oh yeah, for anyone who loves turtles, you will be guaranteed at least one (more like 20 to 30) green and hawksbill turtles on every dive! The diversity of Sipadan is absolutely amazing.

While diving in this region is top-notch, it is not limited to Sipadan. Hundreds of amazing dive sites ranging from smaller wall drifts on the South shore of Mabul, to muck dives around neighboring islands, to white sand slopes, all covered in a kaleidoscope of colorful corals, reef fish and other little critters. Yes! And to our delight, we found that there are still areas near Sipadan and Mabul that have not yet been explored and others that are unnamed. How exciting is that?

In the posts to come, we will navigate our way around the various dive sites at Sipadan and then proceed on to neighboring Mabul, Kapalai, Sibuan and Mantabuan. Of course, we were unable to dive all of these sites on this trip, so we will revert back to solid logbook entries by Lana (because Tim is terrible at keeping his logbook up to date) to share what was seen.

Have you been scuba diving around Sipadan? How did you like it? Share your experiences below!

Happy Diving! –Dan, Esther, Tim & Lana

Borneo Divers : An Exceptional Dive Operation {Part 2 of 3}

Leave a Comment / Scuba Dive Operators / By Scuba Dive Advisor

In six years of diving, the Scuba Dive Advisor team has researched and visited many amazing places throughout the world, but none offer quite the diversity Sipadan and Mabul Islands boast together with their neighboring white sand utopias. A dive operation must be sound to reign in such diversity and tackle the abundance of life around these islands and we believe we found that in Borneo Divers.

In our previous post, we shared our experience with the Borneo Divers Mabul Resort and provided you with a glimpse into our experience with their hotel operation, which left us with mixed feelings. If you have not read it already, read Part 1 of 3 as a prelude to this review. However, the dive operation at Borneo Divers is the anchor to their success. Let’s face it, diving is what we are here for and the performance of a solid dive operation will enhance your enjoyment.

First, if you think you can simply “show up” and dive Sipadan, you will be greatly disappointed! In 2004, the Malaysian government changed the landscape of diving at Sipadan when they evicted all of the dive resorts from the island to preserve Sipadan and imposed hours of visiting the island between 6AM to 4PM; with no possibility for night dives. As diver demand for the region has increased, the Malaysian government discovered this was not enough and in order to preserve this underwater marvel and turtle sanctuary, it imposed a limitation of 120 permits per day with resorts receiving a specific daily distribution.

Therefore, if you want to increase your chances to dive Sipadan to more than once every six to seven days, go to a resort that has a stronger permit to guest ratio. Borneo Divers can host up to 80 divers per night and as a pioneer in Sipadan diving, they boast the largest number of daily permits to dive Sipadan at 14. This may sound limiting, but other resorts accommodating well over 80 people have the same number of daily permits and the backpacker outfits have very few, if any, permits allocated to them. With this equation in mind, Borneo Divers was our best bet and a driving factor in deciding who to dive with. However, this is not enough to make sure you are guaranteed one or two days of diving at Sipadan. Arrangements should be made well ahead of time with Borneo Divers so your passport information is submitted to Sabah Tourism to secure a permit at Sipadan and they can help put your desired package together.

The impressive jetty is constructed and designed out of ironwood and is a relatively recent addition to Borneo Divers in the past 3 years. It is the hub of all diving activity with a complete dive center on one half of the jetty and for the leisure diver, it conveniently has a bar set up, which is stocked with chilled Tiger beer! This is a great place to watch other divers take in an afternoon, sunset and/or night dive while you lose track of time enjoying yourself in the ocean breeze as the sun sets to close out another day of diving.

The dive center seems simple but it was definitely designed with the avid diver in mind. Foremost, it accommodates a locker room set up with bins matched to your room number, a hanging rack for your wetsuit and ample room to move within. Next to the locker room is a camera station for charging your equipment and there is the equipment rental and repair center for obtaining necessary gear during your stay. While the rental equipment is not necessarily new, it appears to be well maintained and functional. On the decking, Borneo Divers has 5 large cleaning tanks set up to clean your various gear and cameras with ample space to move about and place your equipment in your dedicated bin. Four showers provide fresh water to quickly rinse off the salt and this area spills out onto the benches and tiered decking with tank slots ready to accommodate house reef dives at any time of day. The diving set up is slick and if I could, I’d probably sleep on the jetty, too!

Borneo Divers has cleverly pieced together a successful dive station but the equipment staff are the backbone to making all of this work. Steven, and his team, together with Amin and Jimmy excel at this better than anyone else we have ever seen. It starts with their commitment to knowing our names, our locker, our equipment and even our weight preference! Nothing seems impossible for them. Their anticipation of our needs is almost bewildering as it brings us back to an era of service we thought has long since passed.

Amin, especially, deserves specific recognition. His dedication to his job and the well being of his customers is inspiring. In fact, we would boldly say that he is probably one of the best service professionals we have ever seen worldwide and he may be equally worth the trip to diving Sipadan! He is truly the soul of the dive operation as his passion is seen in organizing the equipment for each dive boat and taking care of each dive individual. You are not a number at Borneo Divers and that makes this vacation that much more magical.

The day starts with minimal effort required by the guest. Following breakfast, all you need to do is gather your camera, put on your wetsuit and then do a quick inventory check on the boat, which are ready for you at 8AM. They really have made diving quite easy. The boats are well equipped to provide shade from the elements, utilize space to accommodate 32 tanks, is kept super clean by the boat captain and powered by two 150hp engines, which get you to your dive location quickly. Your gear is set up for the first dive with your fins, booties, masks and weights (when applicable) lined up on the floor of the boat.

As the boat leaves the jetty, the dive operation transitions to the skill of the Dive Master and Boat Captain. An experienced Dive Master knows where all the great critters are, but even more important, knows how to keep you safe. Borneo Divers expertly provides you with the best of both worlds, many of whom have 18+ years experience diving any condition Sipadan offers. The boat captains play an important role in not only taking you safely to each dive site but following your bubbles throughout the dive and ensuring they are ready and in position to pick you up at the conclusion of every dive.

Dive profiles are generally multi-level at Sipadan and our Dive Master, Eljer, is specific in his briefing to discuss the duration, depth, current and the underwater life we may see on the dive. Buddy diving is paramount and all divers are encourage to observe their depth to remain above the Dive Master or follow your computer. Hand signals are reviewed prior to each dive just as a pilot reviews a checklist. While sounding mechanical, the dive briefing cements Borneo Divers’ commitment to safety and we always dive the plan. Following each dive briefing, our Scuba Dive Advisor team gets everyone excited by clapping as an acknowledgement for a great briefing. We are here to have fun, right?

Eljer is just the perfect Dive Master for us! Aside from being full of life and encouraging an atmosphere of fun, he adapts to our group and understands that we are varied in the way we dive. He is quick to recognize skill, provide tips that can help improve diving ability, find a dive site that is best suited for photography, find the pelagic and macro critters and sometimes, just have fun underwater.

Eljer knows that I (Tim) enjoy adverse situations and he rises to the occasion to test my threshold which allows me to become a better diver. Over the past 5 years, he has done the following things to me:

Taken off my mask.
Danced a tango with me underwater.
Turned off my air at my safety stop.
Rode my tank like a cowboy… many times at varying depths!
Released the air from his octopus to my under-carriage. An unusual sensation.
Placed a feather-star on my butt while wearing board shorts.
Pulled me into the nesting cone for a Titan Triggerfish which decided to fight back.

All of these evoke many laughs out of the group (and especially myself), and they may not be suited for every diver, but they are perfect for me and Eljer knows it! I like an adventure and this keeps me coming back for more. Eljer and our group share a similar sense of humor and a zest for having fun.

Once we come up from our dive, the boat captain and Dive Master are helping us stow our gear and create a path for an easy dismount. While we are busy sharing the in the exhilaration of our dive, the boat captain and Dive Master are already changing our tanks for the next dive. This often goes unnoticed but is an incredible convenience which allows for more recreational time. The small things like re-clipping our fins and attaching Lana‘s tank banger (almost to the exact spot) for the next dive are incredible.

When diving at Sipadan, the surface intervals take place on Sipadan Island in the “rest house” and restroom facilities are available. Make sure you do not wander far as the island is protected by the military and divers are limited to specific areas. Ask your dive guide first before you explore. On every surface interval, coffee and tea is always available together with cookies, sandwiches and fruits. After our 2nd dive, lunch is ready and a hot selection of 4-6 dishes is offered. We burn a lot of calories diving, right?

At the conclusion of our dive day, Amin and Jimmy are smiling and awaiting our boat arrival as we steer into the envelope of the Borneo Divers’ jetty. They encourage safety as they help us get off the boat, organize our gear for cleaning or set up for afternoon and/or evening dives, and ask about our dive day. A perfect end to a perfect day.

The dive team at Borneo Divers is top notch and you will have an absolute blast with them throughout your entire trip. They certainly are dialed in to what is important to divers. With such a successful dive operation, all four of us left Borneo Divers satisfied with such an incredible dive trip. Diving should always be this easy!

Long story short, if you are looking for world class diving and the chance to see unspoiled reefs with diverse selections of dive sites, fish, and coral life, the Sipadan and Mabul area in the Celebes Sea is a great choice. If you choose to make your next holiday in Sipadan, you will not be disappointed. Most travel books recommend planning your trip to the Borneo area from July through November, the months boasting the most sunshine and slightly warmer than average temperatures. For our trip we chose the first two weeks of March to avoid crowds and increase our chances of diving Sipadan more than two days out of nine and this plan worked well for us with four days at Sipadan. However, Tim, Lana and other travelers have shared with us that they have been to Mabul and Sipadan in the December to March months and have had wonderful weather as well. Unfortunately there are no guarantees for perfect weather no matter when you choose to go, as none of us can control Mother Nature.

Terima Kasih! –Dan, Esther, Lana & Tim

Borneo Divers Mabul Resort {Part 1 of 3}

Leave a Comment / Lodging / By Scuba Dive Advisor

Most scuba divers would agree travel is the part of our sport that makes it so interesting. Very few sports take us to the corners of the world most people have never even heard of, let alone, have the chance to see, in a lifetime. We tend to search out the road less traveled, the reef less seen and the places on the planet that are so biologically diverse and filled with beauty that it is hard to put into words. While it is by no means undiscovered, for us North Americans one of those places is Sipadan, an island located off the east coast of Sabah, and a seemingly “fabled” destination in diving circles.

Hours of internet research in 2006 steered Lana and Tim to read about Borneo Divers as a pioneer in Sipadan diving and an easy selection for anyone looking to visit on a moderate budget. Leading up to this 2012 trip, Lana and Tim had been to Borneo Divers on four previous occasions and their enthusiasm for the dive operation is what spurred their selection once again. In this first part, though, we will endeavor to peel the onion back on the resort operation to see what is working and what needs to improve.

While many online tour operators can assist you in booking your dive holiday, we communicated directly with the Borneo Divers headquarters in the Sabah capital of Kota Kinabalu. Lana and Tim have always booked directly with their office staff and this time would be no different. Communication is always punctual and thorough from Borneo Diver’s booking staff Ursula and Nora and with their expertise we always rest assured our dive holiday will be seamless.

We started our journey from Kota Kinabalu, where the Borneo Divers team arranged a prompt and complimentary shuttle pick up from our hotel to the airport. Checking in for the 45 minute flight was easy enough and the excitement brewed as we soared into the sky enroute to Tawau. Tawau Airport is the access point for Mabul and Sipadan Islands, which is served by Malaysia Airlines and Air Asia via Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu. Unrelated to the rest of the story but valuable information for planning a dive trip, we selected Malaysia Airlines to fly into Tawau as they provided us with the ability to check our scuba gear to our final destination from our originating carrier and take advantage of less restrictive North American baggage allowances. This provided both convenience and cost savings. Malaysia Air’s predominantly 737 fleet offers comfortable seating and the cargo hold should accommodate your scuba gear without any delay. (Note: With the exception of North American allowances, Malaysia Airlines normal baggage restriction is to 20kg / 44lb).

At the Tawau Airport, baggage claim is easy and the Borneo Divers crew eagerly awaits your arrival with your name visible on their sign. Hop in their van and you are off for a one hour ride to the Port of Semporna before you make a quick transfer to a smooth and relaxing 45 minute boat ride (weather dependent) to the resort on Mabul Island.

Upon arrival to Borneo Divers Resort, the reception on the resort jetty is always warm and inviting as staff members personally greet you and from that moment on, they make a commitment to remembering your name for the balance of your stay. A cool drink is placed in your hand and relaxation sets in immediately as the porters handle your luggage by delivering it to your dive locker and/or your room, as you choose. The transfers, porters and reception are truly 5 stars as we are settle in for the fun filled relaxing week ahead.

Once the initial euphoria wears off, a briefing of the resort was conducted by our dive master, Eljer, followed by a walking tour to quickly showcase the facilities. There are two arrival times for Borneo Divers. If you arrive in the late morning, there is enough time to set up your gear in your assigned locker, grab a quick bite to eat and then take on your first of two afternoon guided dives. The second arrival time varies based on guest arrival times, but generally, does not allow sufficient time to dive that day, however it does allow enough time to prepare your gear and get excited about the diving ahead.

Borneo Diver’s Mabul Island Staff is all about getting you in the water as much as possible while you are on your holiday. If you are ready to dive, they are ready to guide and the beautiful thing is that you can see almost anything you want while you are with the experienced local dive staff on the island (more on that in our next blog post).

As we settled in our rooms, the four of us agreed it is evident that some of the chalets are a little tired from excessive diver wear, but the staff is attentive in keeping the rooms clean and the grounds surrounding the rooms well-manicured. Inside, the chalets may be Spartan with limited amenities, but they are definitely comfortable with A/C and fans to keep you cool. Despite a water supply that can be slow to move through the system, electric water heaters provide ample warmth for a nice hot shower. The bathrooms could use a little sprucing up but, generally, everything is clean and comfortable.

According to Lana and Tim, attention to the restaurant and bars seems to have been forgotten in the past couple years. While the resort now sports four bars across the property, (jetty bar, beach bar, pool bar and lounge bar), the pool bar was never staffed (in fact the fridge was removed) and the jetty bar closed far too early to enjoy the late afternoon trade winds and sunset in a sand-fly and mosquito free zone! The beach bar seemed to be the best appointed bar and provided a comfortable atmosphere with music, waves, cool ocean breeze and some sand flies. The lobby bar was adequate but it seemed more utilitarian than inviting, with inexperienced (albeit smiling) serving staff and a limited selection to choose from. With just a little training and a better focus, Borneo Divers has a potential to be “The Place” to hang out on the island of Mabul.

Pool at Borneo Divers — Pool Bar was Non-Operational

The restaurant is mostly buffet style. The serving staff was friendly and served with a smile, but the food quality seemed to frustrate our Western palates. We need to preface this by mentioning our love for Malay, Indochinese and Thai food. But each meal seemed to have whitebait or anchovy in 50% of the dishes and when fish would be served, it seemed like the chicken dish and vegetables would be complemented with whitebait. It sometimes seemed like we were left with only white rice and fruits to choose from. We initially thought this was to appeal to one of the larger groups visiting from Taiwan (which would make sense), but the meals persisted (breakfast, lunch and dinner) to have a whitebait taste long after they had departed. Some of the more enjoyable meal choices we experienced during previous visits to Borneo Diver’s Mabul like an “egg station” and “pancake station” for morning breakfasts were not offered on this visit leaving us with bountiful, but somewhat uninspired meal selections.

However, we must mention that WE HESITATED TO SAY ANYTHING DURING OUR ENTIRE STAY! Had any one of us said something, we are certain the staff would have accommodated our dietary needs and requests without question. Case in point, we did make one special request on day two of our stay for afternoon French Fries and chili sauce following our dives and without further requests this became a daily offering.

Aside from the rest of our experience, the food and beverage component turned out to be such a gap in our resort experience that Tim reached out to the Borneo Divers office upon our return. We could have cowardly posted this blog, but we felt it was necessary to give them the opportunity to respond to our concerns. What did we receive? Prompt (multiple replies in less than 24 hours), courteous, attentive and apologetic, with a fierce determination to improve, and a guarantee of quality the next time we return. While the email response is too long to share, the Borneo Divers Team successfully incorporated the LAST principle: Listen, Apologize, Solve and Thank! Quite encouraging!

Scuba Dive Advisor with our Divemaster, Eljer at the Beach Bar

With all of the pros and cons mentioned above, and based solely on the resort experience, we were generally pleased with our last visit to Borneo Diver’s. But, based solely on the hotel operation, only three out of the four us would return to Borneo Divers. However, before you rush to your own conclusions, follow our blog post next week when we complete our review of Borneo Divers by focusing on the dive operation. You will not want to miss that!

Terima Kasih! –Dan, Esther, Tim & Lana

Two & a Half Days of Travel is Normal, right?

Leave a Comment / Airlines, Airports / By Scuba Dive Advisor

When Lana and I plan our vacation, it is definitely unique compared to most other travelers. The pre-plan has us engaged in our travel from the get-go and our brains are forced to be “on” at all times during our travel. Rather than working from a purely static itinerary, we need to keep all of our options open to roll with our flight logistics. You see, for the past 18 years, I have been working for a major US airline carrier and we elect to take advantage of the flight benefits and fly standby to get to our destinations. And oddly, we feel this game gets more fun as each year passes by.

I have two things going for me which allows me to keep a positive perspective on this type of travel:

I love games, and even more so, I love to WIN! I mean I REALLY love to win.
I have the most understanding wife in the world who accepts this is our lifestyle. First class to Sydney? Perfect. Need to fly in middle seats on coach through 3 continents just to get across the country? No problem. Your travel companion makes the journey exciting.

On our most recent trip to Malaysia, our partners from Long Beach, CA, Dan and Esther, redeemed a bucket load of points to fly first class on American non-stop to Tokyo for an intended sushi stop and then continued onto Kuala Lumpur on Oneworld partner, Japan Airlines. From KL, they caught a short connection to Kota Kinabalu to meet up with us. Their plan sounds easy, right? Definitely! It is almost a sure thing with fewer logistical hurdles. So what do we do that is different?

Well, I have this ritual of leaving my travel planning until the week prior to departure, and then start to evaluate flight availability together with comfort, logistical simplicity and next to no cost. I then have to plan on which airlines I could be connecting to and buy airline discounted tickets at the last minute.

So, how is all of this information relevant to you? For the million plus travel industry folk, this will be humorous and informative on how to tailor a plan to work for you. For our non-travel industry readers, this will present you with planning tips and hopefully, you find this to be an entertaining read.

What were the possibilities we looked into and how did they appear? Let’s start with a basic understanding of city codes. This may (or may not) help to translate this, but let’s give it a go. YYC (Calgary) is our origin and BKI (Kota Kinabalu) is our destination. Let’s first look at the airport city codes:

City Code	City	City Code	City
BKI	Kota Kinabalu	NRT	Tokyo Narita
BKK	Bangkok	ORD	Chicago
HKG	Hong Kong	PVG	Shanghai
IAH	Houston	SEA	Seattle
ICN	Seoul Incheon	SFO	San Francisco
KIX	Osaka Kansai	SIN	Singapore
KUL	Kuala Lumpur	TPE	Taipei
LAX	Los Angeles	YYC	Calgary

So what routes were we looking at? I had no simple way to share the number of possibilities, but the glance of the graph below will shed some perspective on what goes through the mind of a standby traveler when they are trying to get from point A to point B!

So which route did we select? And how did we arrive at that selection? I’m getting to that. We planned to travel on February 28th in the morning because of pressing flight loads, but I was tired on the Monday night after coming home late from running errands. Oh yeah… the fact that we did our Nitrox course that same night did not help with our planning.

When I got home, I decided we needed to sleep in and consider leaving after 1pm on the Tuesday. A significant shift from our intended departure which meant we would be unable to meet up with friends in Tokyo for dinner on the 3rd. I woke up refreshed at 9AM and realized that I had more to do. “Honey… We could be leaving at 330pm.” “No problem. Just let me know when we need to go.” Well, I still had not packed and thought (at 1pm) it may be a smart idea to start doing this so we took some baby steps and packed our dive gear first. The plan to be ready by 330pm had come and gone and we now appeared to be looking at the 7pm bank of flights and then overnight before our big international “push” the next day.

As you may have guessed, we already sacrificed a few routings but we still had some good opportunities. Truly, we were packed up and ready to leave the house at 4pm. We arrived at the airport with ample time to spare but I still needed to have my “other airline” standby tickets issued by a ticket agent and the time involved to issue 14 different tickets carried us well beyond 6pm (past the cutoff for the last flight of the day). Our first dry run is officially over. Now we can drive home and start fresh in the morning. Like I said, I have a very patient and understanding wife. In fact, we find it difficult to fly any other way than standby.

So what did we decide to do in the morning? Due to full flight loads on my airline, we looked to Alaska / Horizon Airlines as a flight option to Seattle. This turned out to be a brilliant decision because we met a fantastic lady from United Airlines, Lora, who steered us in the direction of going downtown to check out the Seattle Aquarium as an easy sight to take in on a layover. When we returned back to the airport, we collected all of our items and proceeded to the gate and received “comfy class” seats on our flight to Tokyo and opted to catch a connection to Taipei.

I must say that where you have the option to purchase or redeem miles for a more comfortable class of service, definitely do so! The ability to lie flat and get a solid sleep really helps to reduce any jetlag fatigue and is an investment into your trip. This would have been a seamless plan, but next morning, the flight on Malaysia Airlines was delayed 6 hours due to low visibility flying into Taipei the night before. While this was a minor inconvenience, we proceeded to board our flight at 1.30PM and we arrived in Kota Kinabalu with plenty of time to grab dinner and check in for the night.

Despite the minor hiccup in our travel itinerary, this route still proved to be the most direct with maximum benefit of class of service and to top it off, our luggage arrived with no delay. Something to keep in mind, if you feel your connection time is too tight, ask for a little more time when you are booking your flights. There is no worse feeling, when traveling, than being separated from your baggage. So there you have it. The world of standby travel.

Is it for everyone? Definitely not. Always remember, you’re on vacation!

Happy travels! Tim and Lana