‘An exhilarating macro heaven in the Celebes Sea’ – Diving at Kapalai
Long Day!
4:45am Wake up
5:00am Taxi to Kota Kinabalu airport
6:10am Flight to Tawau
7:00am Bus from Tawau to Semporna
8:30am Boat from Semporna out to Kapalai Reef
10:00am Arrive at Sipidan Island – oops, they were supposed to take me to Kapalai. Grrr.
10:15am Back on the boat to Kapalai
10:30am Arrive at Kapalai Reef
11:00am First dive in Borneo!!
3:00pm Second Dive!
6:00pm Third Dive!
7:00pm Dinner
8:30pm Resting. Ahhh, after a GREAT day.
This is the beauty of spontaneous travelling, see I only booked this 4 day/3 night dive package at one of the world?s top dives sites just yesterday, and less than 24 hours later I?m here.
I actually went into a dive shop in KK just to get some ideas about where to dive in Malaysian Borneo and in the end I decided to book straightaway. I have absolutely no regrets.
The place where I’m staying is a 5-star resort and it’s amazing! How do I explain Kapalai Reef? It’s actually just a sandbar in the middle of the Celebes Sea about an hour’s boat-ride from the mainland of Borneo. There is just one resort here built water-village style, with a bunch of stilts right on top of the reef. There are only 15 huts here for accommodation, one restaurant, and the dive center. Each bungalow is built right on top of the water, so I can sit on my balcony and watch the fish swim by. The hut itself is definitely 5-star, all wood with high ceilings and shutters to open up the hut all around. I have a private deck too that looks out to the water with no view of any other huts, just my own private view of the sea.
Check it out for yourself at their website:
The place:
http://sipadan-kapalai.com/kapalai_facilities.html
The diving:
http://sipadan-kapalai.com/kapalai_diving.html
You’re probably thinking, how can a budget traveler afford THAT? Well, ok, about 2 years ago a bunch of radicals came over from the Philippines (only 4 hours away by boat) and kidnapped a bunch of tourists/divers from Sipidan Island. All that didn’t go over well in the tourist industry, and ever since the prices here have plummeted in an effort to bring people back. They’ve since beefed up security, on Kapalai alone there are 18 full-time military staff, armed with machine guns that walk around all day and night guarding the place. They seem to play a lot of chess with the divemasters too. Must admit it’s weird being in such a secluded paradise and seeing a guy with a machine gun walk by. Anyway I got a very good deal on a full package including all diving, food, and accommodation.
So far the dives have not been disappointing at all. This area is recognized as one of the world’s best ‘muck diving’ sites, one of the richest single destinations for exotic small marine life in the world (straight from the brochure that was). Just today I’ve seen octopus, cuttlefish, squid, moray eels, snake eels, scorpionfish, lionfish, frogfish, ghost pipefish, gobies, fingered dragonet, juvenille sweetlips, tube worms, crocodile fish, nudibrancs, and even mating mandarin fish!
I think I made the right decision to come here!
The restaurant and bungalows at Kapalai Resort
My hut, the Kingfisher
The view from my balcony!
Add comment September 14th, 2002