Michael & Yuhui – Our Life Journey

Dive #4 at White Tip Avenue, Sipadan

We’re heading to Sipadan! After the low key dives of the first day, all of us were eager to finally get to dive at Sipadan. Our dive master would still be Niger taking us to White Tip Avenue where the visibility was definitely a lot better than Day 1.

This white-tip shark swam about 2m away from me and I was holding my breath (first time up close to a shark does that to you) when I took a few quick snaps. Luckily this shot came out quite well.

The puffer fish below probably surprised me the most since i always thought it would be a diminutive creature and not the giant that you see below.
 

Zh enjoying the suspension in mid-water.

Dive #3 at House Reef, Kapalai Island

A quick break and we’re off to Kapalai Island’s house reef. There were some pretty nice sights like the clown fish in torch coral below. Vis was at 5m (becoming a common occurrence) and max depth around 20m.

Pipefish above is almost invisible and cuttlefish below also doing a good join blending in. So far I’m pretty happy with the G11 since it’s able to react fast enough for my needs.

Good end to the first day, the moon was full and lit up the night sky.

Dive #2 at Ribbon Valley 1, Mabul

After a rather hearty lunch at the resort restaurant, we had some time to laze about before our next dive. I managed to grab this panorama of the area (created using my netbook on Windows Live Photo Gallery). Personally think it really captures the beauty of the place and the wonderfully kept corals.

The sea water was ultra-clear with the sun illuminating the sea bed for perfect photo taking opportunities.

Dive #2 was also quite low on vis (5m) which was unfortunate since there was a great many sea creatures to spot. This beautiful orange plate (Thanks Julian for identifying) really stood out from it’s surrounding. If Niger hadn’t pointed out the incredibly well camouflaged frog fish, I would definitely have missed it!

Checkout Dive #1 at Paradise, Mabul

What a great way to start 2010, it was finally time to dive! Our first dive would be at Paradise, Mabul to get familiar with the basics for some of us who haven’t dived in awhile. After such a long absence, I actually had to get used to descending and took a couple of attempts before I managed to hit bottom. It’s definitely beneficial to dive regularly!

While the dive master, Niger, gave everyone the usual practice rounds of clearing masks, I decided to take the opportunity to test out the new Canon Powershot G11 with it’s underwater case which I just purchased specially for the trip (the Canon A90 was getting real old and a new upgraded was in order).

Caught sight of this curious sight where the fishes? hung around in a circle and just floated with the current.

Rather uneventful dive with murky visibility (approx 5m) even though the weather was perfect. The water was comfortable (would apply throughout the trip) and I had no issues in a 5mm full skinsuit.

Diving again at Sipadan

Looking back, it’s hard to believe it took me 2.5 years to get back into diving. The trip was planned on a suggestion from J and the destination, Sipadan. We (J, Zh and myself) would be staying at Sipadan Water Vaillage Resort, Mabul Island, Borneo booked through Gill Divers.

After a rather long bus ride from Tawau Airport to Semporna (About 1.5 hours), we hopped on a speedboat for Mabul Island where we would stay for the duration of the trip. Divers are actually not allowed to stay on Sipadan itself and there is also a limit on the visitors per day.

Stepping off the speedboat, you’re immediately greeted by the friendly staff at the resort and also the huge huts built right on the beach of Mabul.  A quick briefing on the dive times and usual indemnity form signing later, we were introduced to our lodgings which were pretty nice for a dive resort.

The three islands Mabul, Kapalai and Sipadan would be our playground for the upcoming week.

Off to Sipadan!

Posted via web from Michael’s view

Day 2 – Dive #12 at Liberty Wreck, Tulamben, Bali

After the first dive at Drop Off, we had a quick lunch at the resort and chatted a bit about where the others had dived. I was the newbie in the group with just 11 dives so far (the others were in their 20++ region). I was anticipating the next dive since it would be my first wreck dive, the USS Liberty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liberty_incident

http://www.divetheworldindonesia.com/bali-diving-sites-liberty-wreck.htm

The best conditions to dive at Liberty would be in the early morning where the visibility would be much better. Since we were doing an afternoon dive, Komang mentioned that it would definitely be cloudier. However, since we were here, it was worth a visit even if it wouldn’t be in its best glory

Finning around, we caught sight of some great looking corals and also some moray eels as it hid themselves in the sand. As we rounded the 120m long wreck, we were supposed to go underneath the ship and come out on the far side. Komang has also mentioned that at least 100 psi before attempting this since it could get a little tricky if one panicked. Well, I gazed at my gauge, it looked good, and I finned after him as he brought us in. The initial feeling was definitely weird (this being my first time) but you soon get used to the ship being so close and also notice quite a few varieties of coral and fishes swimming about.

Komang suddenly stopped and pointed, asking me to take a photo. Just 3 meters ahead, a grouper (not sure if it was a peacock grouper)! Not being prepared, I forgot that the conditions were a little too dark and the camera mode being on auto, a flash strayed and all I got was a photo with a smudge of the fish and a lot of backscatter (above, right). Lesson learnt, always be prepared and in the right mode!

Moving out of the belly, we finned about a little more, taking in the wonderful view of the corals growing off the wreck. Amazing how a disaster grows into such a beautiful sight underwater. The highlight of the trip was when Komang pointed out a sea fan (gorgonian) and gestured I should take a photo. Being almost in the low 50s, I couldn’t control my buoyancy enough to take a macro shot so had to hand it over to Komang. He took a couple of beautiful shots of a pygmy seahorse as it hung itself to the branches. Truly amazing what the underwater world offers in sights!

As we were heading up, Komang suddenly stopped and started scratching his upper body. Both Pam and I were curious what he was doing since it attracted a LOT of fishes around us. It was pretty funny the way he mimicked an ape and the fishes just swarmed around. We later asked him the reason and he said the fishes had been trained that when the action was performed, they thought there would be food! So even when his pockets were empty, they just played along

The afternoon ended sooner that I liked… Wish had more time and more dives to check out the sights but alas, it was time to head back to Kuta. Thanks to Bali Hai for the wonderful dives and Seraya Resort for having such a beautiful cozy place by the beach to enjoy some wonderful dives.

Day 2 – Dive #11 at Drop Off, Tulamben, Bali

Diving again after a long spell! My last dive was in 09/2005 was in Pulau Tioman for PADI AOW. That’s a long 1 1/2 years in between. Was a little nervous but as we headed out to “Drop Off”, I gradually got into it and was eagerly anticipating taking some photos with the newly purchase underwater housing for my Canon A80. Yh, being a non-swimmer, decided to try out snorkeling for the first time but she couldn’t quite get used to it so had to rest on the boat for the duration. Incidentally, she has said she will just go shopping next time I dive!

Immediately upon descending, my dive master, Komang from Seraya Resort, pointed out to our left. Barracuda! Just 2 meters away and this being my first time using the camera, I fumbled unsuccessfully to get a good shot. The visibility was surprisingly good considering the late hour (the photos don’t do justice) and we view some beautiful corals and various  fishes (too many to name!). We also caught sight of a reclusive octopus which I didn’t realize until I reviewed my photos. Had some problems with my mask (Mares Pure-Vision) fogging up constantly that kind of made it a little hard to see clearly. Also, was still getting used to getting my buoyancy controlled so a lot of photos were either out of focus or not framed nicely. Sure takes a lot of skill to handle a camera underwater!

Day 2 – Driving up to Tulamben

Climbed out of bed at around 5am! Not sure why but I was probably a little excited at getting to dive again after a long hiatus. After preparing the underwater camera (have to smear a layer of gel on the o-ring to keep a tight seal) and making sure everything was packed and ready to go, I roused Yh from her slumber. We had our breakfast at the lovely seaside cafe on Kuta Beach near the hotel lobby. There was even a great looking pool right next to the cafe but there wasn’t time to enjoy it.

At about 0745, our driver (Pucaksana) came to pick us up from the hotel lobby. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that my dive buddy was a lady from Germany, Pamela Bauer. Over the 2 hour+ journey to Tulamben, we drove to Denpasar, Sanur and along the eastern coast.

We also learnt that Pamela was actually a doctor who was currently taking her specialty in Gynecology in Frankfurt, Germany. Was quite interesting to hear about how she had traveled to various parts of the world practicing medicine as part of her training and also her wish to specialize in emergency medicine so she could travel for her job. She had also took her rescue diver course with Bali Hai diving (our dive operator for the day) whilst on a 3 week trip to Indonesia to attend a friend’s wedding.

The drive was pretty uneventful as we enjoyed the scenery of endless padi fields and the coast. I remarked that the main roads were very well maintained and that the drivers in Bali seemed very good since there was little in way of bad-driving. Also learnt from Pucak that he was in the hotel industry in Kuta before becoming a tour driver. His main concerns these days were that petrol prices were increasing, making it hard to sustain the business. Just days before we came, a petrol tanker had been late in its delivery to Bali (from Singapore) and had caused a bit of a shortage issue.

The last part of the journey went through some mountainous roads that were a little bit too windy for Yh and Pam and both didn’t feel too great. Luckily, we were soon turning into Seraya Resort and the sight of Tulamben beach was worth the bus journey.

As we got prepared to head out to our first dive at Drop Off, we also met another couple from England who had been staying at the resort. The lucky folks had been diving for the past week and even had been to the Gili Islands.

Travel Notes:
Aqua Mineral Water 1.5 L Bottle = RP $3000
1 x Day Diving + 1 x Snorkel = US $145