Alex Mustard — Updates from Sabah
FiNS Magazine contributor Alex Mustard, who writes our Talking Megapixels column, is currently visiting Sabah. Here’s an update direct via satellite internet from Alex:
17 May: From Sipadan-Kapalai Dive Resort:
I am now at the final resort of my stay in Sabah. Kapalai Dive Resort is more expensive than the other resorts I’ve stayed at, but the accommodation, built entirely on stilts, is in a class of its own. It’s elegant and luxurious, and the resort is designed with a real passion for conserving the environment. The dive school is very well run; there is a Scubazoo video pro on site, and the house reef is a must for critter lovers. Mandarinfish are plentiful almost directly below the entry steps, and I had a magical encounter with a blue-ring octopus on the reef just below part of the resort.
During my stay at Kapalai I was lucky enough have a chance to dive with FiNS Magazine Associate Editors (and prolific author-photography team) Andrea and Antonella Ferrari. Since the couple are authors of the bestseller Macrolife: A Guide To Malaysia Underwater, I couldn’t have wished for better-educated diving guides! And I was privileged to hear stories from their extensive experience exploring this region and observing the wonderful wildlife.
Andrea and Antonella’s new book Reef Life due out later in the year sounds fantastic. It covers, as Andrea puts it “everything that wasn’t in Macrolife” and continues the previous book’s style of accurately researched and observed marine biology presented in an accessible and engaging style.
As my diving in Sabah draws to a close, one word seems to summarise the diving here — variety. Not only is there fantastic variety of life, but also, the three islands of Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai offer a diverse range of diving experiences. Any one of the three islands would be worth travelling a long distance to visit. But to have all three accessible from just one resort makes Sabah truly special.
12 May: From Borneo Divers:
Since my last blog entry, I’ve moved to Borneo Divers on Mabul Island and am still loving the fabulous diving in this part of Sabah. Sipadan is still producing the goods with turtles, sharks and schooling fish filling my vision wherever I look. It’s like diving into a wonderland at times, where all your wishes come true.
Borneo Divers established the first resort on Sipadan, and as a result have a wealth of experience in these waters. All this knowledge has been poured into their new resort of bungalows on the Mabul beach. You’ll be happy to read that I’m being well looked after! The rooms are very nice, and the food really hits the spot after hours underwater during the day. The days of losing weight on dive trips is certainly a thing of the past!
The big topic of discussion here is the plan to bring in a quota for the number of divers allowed on Sipadan each day. I spoke to Haris, manager of the dive centre here, who’s of the opinion that it’s not the numbers that matter, but how divers behave. Education is key. He also suggested it might make sense for resorts to split their divers into morning and afternoon shifts. A few days ago I was diving on Sipadan in the afternoon, and there was nobody else there — just me and my guide. Quite a contrast to the many divers there in the morning.
Haris also suggested that, instead of a quota, maybe it’d be better to close Sipadan completely during part of the year to give the reefs a break. Haris has more than 15 years of experience guiding dives in these waters — his opinion is worth listening to. I think he has a point.
9 May: From Seaventures Dive Rig:
This place is amazing! This morning I headed out to Sipadan — wow. I haven’t been here since 1999, and I think that there is more life there now and the corals look healthier than when I was last here. All the Sipadan Signatures are about — schools of barracuda, jacks, bumphead parrotfish, green turtles everywhere — and healthy corals seething with clouds of fish, in all colours and of all sizes. But it’s a big mistake to think that the natural wonders of Sipadan is all that’s on offer in this part of Sabah. The critter diving around Mabul, Kapalai and the Seaventures Dive Rig is well worth the journey.
This week I am staying at Seaventures. The house reef is a great dive. We even saw pygmy seahorses on our checkout dive! In fact there are currently six pygmies directly below the platform. The dive centre is very efficient and friendly with many highly experienced dive guides working under the super-helpful Ian Edwards. These guys do everything they can to make sure you see the best of Sabah!
Diving on the house reef will quickly spoil you as the entry and exit is just a few steps from the dive centre — where you are lowered on a lift into the ocean. You’ll feel just like James Bond. And at the end of the dive you just swim onto the platform and are winched up out of the water. No steps. No ladders. Of course the real attraction are all the critters you will see here.