Scuba Escape to Kapalai, Sabah!
With Malaysia gradually starting to open up and state borders open in the peninsula, divers around the country, including us here at Southeast Asia Diving, were making trips to the east coast before the monsoon hit. But, there was one location that everyone was hoping would open its borders soon, Sabah! Home to the legendary Pulau Sipadan and the macro paradises of Mabul & Kapalai, Sabah was one of the last states to allow travellers from within Malaysia in. But, as of 1st November that changed and we were able to travel back to the capital of Malaysian diving once again!
Aerial View of Sipadan Kapalai Dive Resort
Having just gotten back from the Perhentian Islands on the peninsula which we had booked as a warm up/refresher after quite some time out of the water, we were keen to get back to Sabah. The state borders were scheduled to open on 1st Nov, a couple of weeks after those on the mainland. After a few phone calls and emails everything was booked up, we were heading back to Sipadan Kapalai Resort on one of the first flights available. All that I had to do now was check all my diving and photography equipment, get it all packed and turn up at the airport. Simple, right?
Unfortunately not. Our flight was scheduled at 6am Monday morning, so on Sunday evening alarms were set for very early and bags packed, waiting to go. We duels woke up, somewhat groggy as it was so early and managed to book a grab to the airport. We walked into the terminal building at KLIA2 and were greeted by what looked like two different queues for check in to Tawau, but no, it was just one line, wrapped around on itself. We joined at the back, wondering how on earth we would ever manage to drop off bags in time to catch our flight. Luck seemed to be on our side when the stewards called us forward to drop off bags, we walked up to the counter and showed our passports, vaccination certificate and RTK test results. We thought we had everything in order, however the lady behind the desk started to shake her head frantically, upon which I enquired as to whether everything was ok - turns out it wasn’t. Late open Sunday, whilst we had gone to bed early, Sabah had decided to change the entry requirements for Non-Malaysians at very short notice, we now needed an approval letter which we didn’t have. In a state of utter disbelief we were turned away from the desk, offered the scant consolation that we were not the first foreigners that this had happened to today. Mind racing, we contacted the resort via email as it was still early to inform them that we may not be able to travel and made the journey back home.
A couple of strong cups of coffee later the resort contacted us to say that this new requirement was news to them and to send them all our details - they would head to the state government office to see if they could help. Quickly, we sent through all the requirements documentation and could do nothing but wait. Around 6pm that evening we got the good news that our request had been approved and we could travel the next day - I jumped into action and rebooked all of our flights, we were ready for round two! Luckily, the next day was somewhat less eventful, we made it thought bag drop, ecru it’s and immigration at Tawau without incident and by about midday we were at the resort, having lunch. Our check in dive was scheduled for 2.30pm so equipment was quickly sent down to the dive base ready for our first dive of the trip, albeit some 24 hours later than originally planned!
The beautiful , but deadly blue ringed octopus
It was a relief to finish our lunch, get ready and wonder down to the dive centre in a leisurely fashion and the chance to catch up with a few old friends as well. As this was our third trip to the resort in the last couple of years we had gotten to know the dive centre staff quite well. Looking up at the information board there we were extremely happy to see that we would be doing our check in dive with just the two of us with Glenn leading it - we have dived with Glenn many times before and always enjoyed his manner, pace and ability to find the rarest of creatures! This dive was no exception, we completed a loop around the house reef and were busy watching a juvenile harlequin sweetlips do its crazy little dance when I suddenly noticed Glenn get very animated and thrown his arms up in the air as if he had just scored the winning goal in the champions league final. A slowly swam over to see the reason for his excitement - a blue ringed octopus! I had been waiting for a long time to see one of these tiny, but lethal creatures. I was fortunate that I had my camera with me, and the right lens (50mm) to capture the moment. I began shooting away, being careful to keep my distance (The blue octopus is one of the most venomous creatures around with enough venom to kill 26 adults in a few minutes!) It seemed as if luck was finally smiling on us after our rather testing start to the trip!
We decided that we’d try an evening dive, just to try and find the beautiful Mandarinfish, Glenn had kindly marked the spot where they could be found coming out around sundown. We found the spot straight away, but although we caught glimpses of them, they were incredibly shy and we didn’t see them coming out of their hiding place in the corals, it was a real shame and although we tried again and again all week it was to no avail. This time, I think we were getting to the spot a bit too late and there were too many divers around so I think they were staying firmly hidden and I do not blame them!
The next day we had out first trip over to Sipadan which would involve an early morning. Previously we had been waking up at around 4.45am to get to the dive base around 5.15 ready for a 5.30am boat ride - this time, due to the MCO timings were kindly a little later and we had the luxury of a relative lie in until 6am with a 6.30 start! We arrived at the island at around 7am, registered and duels back rolled into the water Barracuda Point. We were greeted with a school of Chevron Barracuda but all the way through the dive something nagged in the back of mind mind, something was missing, not quite right. It wasn’t until later on that I realised what the issue was - there were hardly any sharks at all. On previous trips to Sipadan, one of the highlights has been the sheer number of sharks playing around in the current, especially Whitetip Reef Sharks. However, this time, although there were a number of Grey Reef Sharks, we only saw one Whitetip. It just didn’t seem right - upon surfacing I asked the guides why this was. It seems that due to rising sea temperatures that the Whitetip have been getting some sort of inflection, characterised by white spots on the skin, typically around the head, and unfortunately it seems as if they have died off in large numbers. I was sad and slightly shocked to hear this, such a shame. It really brings home hard the impact of global warming and the need to do something about it fast!
The famous school of Chevron Barracuda at Sipadan
The second dive was at South Point, previously we had always enjoyed playing around in the shallows with the resident school of Jacks, however this time they seemed to have moved out into the blue. While still a spectacular sight, I was a little disappointed not to be able to get a few pictures of them hanging out in the shallows with the abundant turtles looking on. Still it was a great dive! The final dive of the day was probably the best, we jumped into the water at the drop off and were greeted by a school of Bumphead parrotfish in the shallows (around 3m!). An opportunity like this doesn’t come around often, so I decided to try and get a few split shots of them with the Island above the surface and the bump heads below - I was pretty lucky to get a couple of shots that could be edited and be presentable. After that it was time to head back to the resort, clean up and go for a late lunch followed by lazing around in the sunshine and an evening dive to try and see the Mandarin fish again.
The next day we headed to Mabul and Kapalai, it was all about macro life today so with my macro camera set up all ready we headed out for a couple of dives around the neighbouring island of Mabul. One of my favourite all time dive sites is the one below the SeaVentures Dive Rig. It’s not the the prettiest dive site in the world, but it is full of life, nudibranchs, cuttlefish, crocodile fish and so much more! I managed to find a few nudibranch’s in and around the corals and junk there that were in a nice position to photograph and happily began to snap away.
A Nudibranch at the dive site beneath the SeaVentures Dive Rig
A split shot of Sipadan and its resident Bumphead Parrotfish
Our second trip to Sipadan again involved an early morning, I was a little worried about the weather as I had woken up in the night to what sounded like a howling storm outside and was anticipating a choppy sea and a bit of wind. However, to my relief it was another perfect morning with flat sea and no wind! The trip over to the island took no time at all and we were soon back in the water at Barracuda point watching the display put on for us by the resident Barracuda. We again headed to South Point on the second dive to look for the Jackfish - once again they were hanging ou tin the blue, but with a visitor - a Napoleon Wrasse was swimming in amongst them - I tired to capture of shot of this, but the large wrasse was just too far away for it to come out properly, better luck next time hopefully! The final dive was again at the Drop Off/barracua point searching for the bump heads, but alas no luck this time, but we still headed back to the resort happy with what we had seen after a great day of diving. We had the afternoon to relax in the sunshine so I took the opportunity to spend a little bit of time flying my drone around to get a few nice shots before heading back into the water in the search for that perfect Mandarinfish shot which was still eluding me!
A whip coral shrimp states into the camera lens!
The last day was spent with three dives at Mabul and Kapalai agin searching for macro photo opportunities - there were some great creatures on display for us today from Nudi’s to Shrimp. We even spent time looking for Jawfish which we found, but I found difficult to photograph as they half buried in the sand! The dives went by quickly and soon it was time to start the arduous task of washing and drying equipment before packing it away.
Kapalai never disappoints, the diving is always spectacular whether it is just around the resort, at Mabul looking for macro subjects or heading over to Sipadan for some spectacular wide angle subjects there is something here for everyone! I left with a heavy heart, but knowing I would be back again in a few weeks for a photo workshop in early December which was something to look forward to at least and alleviate the post holidays blues a little bit!