Diving in SWV is like no other diving adventure that I've experience before (albeit I haven't been on THAT many). As mentioned before, the Sipadan Water Village is like a well oiled machine... everything works perfectly and on schedule. The dive staff sure know their job!

Now, even though we stayed in Mabul, we made boat trips to Sipadan on a daily basis. We also went out to Kapalai, a nearby island as well as under Sea Ventures, the oil rig in front of the resort. Diving here is quite spectacular. Now, after experiencing Sangalaki, I've been spoilt. You can read about my diving adventures at Sangalaki here. Experienced divers who have been to Sangalaki all agree that it is better than Sipadan and most of the other well known dive spots. But I wasn't disappointed with Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai. The diving there is different and is better than some other places I've been too.

Aerial shot of Sipadan Source: http://www.impressions.com.my/sipadan/main.htm

I saw heaps of things which I've never seen before AND I dived in places where you just couldn't see the bottom!! Now THAT was scary. Sipadan is reputed to be amongst the top 10 dive sites in the world. Depending on the literature, some say that it is in the top 5. The reason why this is so is because it is located right in the heart of the Indo-pacific basin, the richest marine habitat in the world. Then, it is on the summit of an underwater mountain that rises almost 700m vertically. Basically, Sipadan is an underwater mountain, with the peak being the island. This makes for EXCITING diving. From the aerial shot here, you can see the coral reef surrounding the island... past the reef, you are out into the deep blue abyss which is rather scary. The currents here are strong at times and the divers joked about getting swept away to neighbouring Indonesia and even the Philippines.

However, the strong current made for some good diving as this is when you see the shoals of circling barracudas. The depth of the water also made is possible for us to see HAMMERHEAD SHARKS!! I actually saw one!! Before the trip, I vowed not to return till I'd seen a HAMMERHEAD SHARK! We at South Point, just floating around in nothing-ness waiting for the hammerheads to come out... stayed there for about 10 minutes but no hammerheads. We then started making our way back into the reef and lo and behold, I spotted one... hehehe... signaled like mad to the BF but he didn't see it! I saw a HAMMERHEAD!! I have to gloat here... .

Saw my first ever crocodile fish on this trip too!! Right on the house reef in front of the resort. Here are some pictures of the interesting things we saw:

Crocodile Fish My first time ever seeing one and there were HEAPS around the area!! Unless you know what you are looking for, they can be quite hard to spot as they camouflage themselves pretty well. Cute little smiley creatures . Source: PufferGal Cam	Turtles There were so many turtles in the area that at the end of the trip, we were literally sick of them. Some of the turtles were quite huge... in fact, the BF floated on top of one to measure the size and it was as big as him!! Very tame turtles too. Source: PufferGal Cam
White Tip Reef Sharks We spotted a fair number and they were surprisingly quite tame (and not hungry I presume ) as they let us get fairly up close to take pictures. Source: PufferGal Cam
Cuttle Fish Couldn't believe that this one wasn't scared of humans. It was the size of my head!! Source: PufferGal Cam	View from where my head rested at night... VERY pretty. Source: PufferGal Cam

Whilst on a boat trip out to Sipadan, I encountered my first and (hopefully) last case of Decompression Sickness, not me mind you but another diver. Basically, a few boats went out to Sipadan from Mabul, we all went in for our 2nd dive of the day. After yet another splendid dive, we were all taking our sweet time in getting out of the water. Then some one started shouting for us to hurry up. All 3 dive boats out that day came together, and tied themselves to each other. Then we found out why... a diver, an experienced instructor no less managed to get DCS, one of the ways a diver can die. He came out of the water with numbness in his hands and had to be fed oxygen (thank gawd they had the kit on board) and then it was off to Sipadan, where there is a decompression chamber. As he didn't have dive insurance, he was mumbling that he didn't want the treatment. I find out later that his treatment, lasting no more than 4 hours cost him US$3000. I can't believe that this treatment is so expensive. During our dive briefing, we were told to be careful as the nearest (working) decompression chamber was in Labuan, a fair distance away. You basically had to be airlifted out of the resort to get there (thereby increasing the cost of the treatment). This diver was lucky in that the dive masters on the boat took a chance with the Sipadan chamber... they had thought it wasn't operational but the operators there got it working. Even without the emergency transport, that is a lot of money to pay!!

Then, when things calmed down and news that he (the diver) was safe, people started talking. It isn't any surprise to hear that most diving deaths / incidents are due to the diver's stupidity and / or "machoness". Apparently, it is the MALE dive masters / instructors who are the ones that end up in the chamber. It sure was scary seeing him lifted out of the boat and rushed into the chamber. Thankfully, the lad was alright... sitting at dinner with the rest of his clan. He won't be diving anytime soon though.

So, after spending four nights in Sipadan Water Village with in excess of 50 divers, we left for the mainland and headed back to Semporna, to board yet another boat, this time off to Mataking which is north of Sipadan. Leaving the resort was a little sobering as we had a good time and the place is VERY pretty... most of the staff members came to send off the guests. Most of us left at the same time... 6 boats left all in all I think. The staff lined up and shook all of our hands one by one, telling us to visit again soon. Very "Fantasy Island-ish".

Mataking

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