So many turtles we lost count

(May 29 – June 2)

We spent one night back in Kota Kinabalu and then flew down to the other side of Sabah to a town called Tawau. As soon as we arrived we got a taxi to take us to Semporna on the SE coast. A further 50 minute boat ride and we arrived at our homestay on Mabul Island. (A homestay differs from a hotel or hostel in that they are usually quite small, the price includes three meals a day, and you get to hang out with some local people as opposed to a bunch of tourists.) Our homestay on Mabul was called Spheredivers. http://www.spheredivers.com/ It was a great place built on stilts over the water. It looked out over the Celebes Sea and we could watch a variety of marine life on the small reef off the dining area. Our hosts were Stanley (a certified scuba instructor) and Azhar (a dive master). We were also ‘assigned’ a snorkelling buddy whose name was Ali.

This part of Borneo is world famous for its diving sites – the most famous being Sipidan which is rated as one of the top five dive sites in the world. Diving on the reef is by permit only - a conservation measure introduced 6 years ago when the government made all the hotel operators move off the island. With the help of Azhar we were able to get a permit to go snorkelling on the third day after our arrival.

Meanwhile we were able to spend some time snorkelled at the reefs closer to Mabul, with Ali along to point out some interesting species of fish and coral. We began at an island called Kapalai. The second I put my face down into the water I was stunned. I have never seen such an abundance of fish in such clear clear water. The tide was out so we were in fairly shallow water – maybe 3 to 4 feet. For an hour and a half we swam around repeatedly spotting new species of fish, coral, sponges and other invertebrates. Several green sea turtles swam nearby as well as a white-tip shark. Barney and Ali were ‘attacked’ by an aggressively territorial trigger fish. They have large nasty teeth for a fish that’s only about 30 cm long that they used to bit off chunks of coral. All the superlatives I can think of sound trite and don’t do justice to our experience. Whew!

Back at Spheredivers, we watched some of the local fishermen bring their catch to the fish buyer next door. These fishermen usually go out to sea in their relatively small boats for three days at a time. They do all of their fishing with hand lines. The catches included yellow-fin tuna and marlin. The tuna were huge with round smooth bodies and traces of yellow on their tails and thread-like fins. Surprisingly they were only likely to fetch about $65 each at the fish market in Semporna. Not much for an endangered species!

That night Azhar took lead us along the boardwalk and onto the island to check out a local wedding. It looked like the entire population of the island had turned out for the event. Many of Mabul’s residents are illegal immigrants from the Philippines – only an hour to the north by boat. Azhar told us that the wedding was following Filipino traditions, including the custom of the bride and groom changing their clothes seven times during the festivities.

The next day we took the boat out to the reef off Mabul. We saw many species we hadn’t seen the day before - in the same incredible density and in the same clear clear water. Another snorkelling experience that left us both trilled and in awe. That night we were kept awake for hours by the karaoke croaks from a nearby bar. The evening’s favourites seemed to be “Take Me Home County Road”, “Valarie” and assorted Tom Jones.

We headed out for Sipidan early in the morning of our third day in a boat with five divers. Ali had located an underwater camera for us to rent, like the one we’d rented in Cairns. Sipidan lived up to all the hype and more - the clearest water, 60 genera of coral, a stunning diversity of anemones, tube worms, sponges and other invertebrates. All the fish were oversized and brilliant in colour. There were turtles everywhere – so many that we lost count. I was able to swim along side of one for several minutes, touching its shell and feeling the wake of its forelegs sweeping past me. We got to snorkel at four different sites around the island. All were spectacular. I can’t imagine I will ever see anything better.

We got out snorkelling twice more – once back to Kapalai (with the underwater camera) and later to another reef off Mabul. Ali had another run in with a trigger fish at Kapalai. This time his fin was bitten!

The food at Spheredivers was great. Fresh fish every night. Our last night we got to try out some trigger fish, its nasty teeth fixed in a snarl as we stripped off the blackened skin. Ali thought it was just revenge for the repeated attacks he’d dealt with over the previous few days. The sunset that night provided a fitting good-bye display of pinks and oranges against the Celebes Sea. Quite the place.

Pictures from Mabul, Kapalai and Sipidan

Mabul