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Gayana Eco Resort

Gayana Eco Resort, the crib of the giant clams

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Based on the following clues, do you know where is the place? 🙂
1) Only 20 minutes away from the bustling Kota Kinabalu city;
2) Meeting point of coral reefs, lush rainforest & mangrove;
3) The only place where you can see all 7 Giant Clams species of Malaysia;
4) 5-star island resort.

Well, the title has given out the answer. Yes, it’s Gayana Eco Resort on Gaya Island (Pulau Gaya), we have island resort so near to Kota Kinabalu (KK). That’s why KK earns the fame as Nature Resort City of Malaysia.

Below is the location of Gayana Eco Resort on Google map:

View My Sabah Map in a larger map

Over the years, Gayana Eco Resort has been improving on infrastructure and amenities. To me, their biggest achievement of all is not better accommodation, but their commitment on marine conservation. In my recent visit to Gayana, I’m happy to see their efforts bear fruit.


To go to Gayana Eco Resort is fast and easy, just drop by their office at Jesselton Point to register.


Above: Jesselton Point terminal


Then take a boat to the island and you will be on Gaya Island in 20 minutes.


There is no tourist who is not crazy about our turquoise sea. What’s more important are the “dark spots” under the water, which are easily mistaken by tourists as “rubbish”. These are corals, the nursery of marine life.

Marine Ecology Research Center (MERC)

Marine Ecology Research Center (MERC) is managed by Gayana Eco Resort. Their Giant Clam Propagation Programme won them the Most Innovative Tourist Attraction Eco-Tourism Conservation Award 2008-2009 awarded by Ministry of Tourism Malaysia.


Above: the building of Marine Ecology Research Center (MERC). The old MERC was used to be a small and poorly-maintained exhibition hall at other side. After the new management took over a few years ago, they build a bigger and well-equipped marine building, which consists of high standard auditorium, display room, lab, etc.


One of their staffs, Melissa, was giving us a short presentation of MERC conservation projects and environmental education in 30-seat auditorium. The most interesting information is the giant clam can grow more than 1-Meter wide, weight 200 Kg and live more than 100 years!


After the presentation, the staffs showed us the marine sanctuary outside the room. It’s an enclosed sea area with endangered game fishes in it.


There is a sea turtle too. Sometimes the villagers sent the sick sea turtles here and MERC will treat them. The turtles will be released back to the ocean once they are fully recovered.


Next we visited their Display Room. No camera flash is allowed inside, so please pardon my dark & blur photos blow.


The Display Room houses some large and well-lit aquarium tanks that show different ecology (e.g. sea grass) and interesting marine life such as “nemo”, seahorses and puffer fishes.


Above: can you spot the stone fish? Step on it and you will experience agonizing pain for a few days.


The aquarium allows you to look at the marine creatures up-close. Both kid and adult will love it.


In Gayana, you can see all 7 giant clam species of Malaysia. Currently they have 2,000 giant clams in their nursery. Their Giant Clam Propagation Programme was started in year 2007. After 3 years of breeding and nurturing of giant clams in the protected nursery, MERC will release 500 baby giant clams into the ocean, that includes two locally extinct species, Tridacna gigas and Tridacna derasa!


Under this Giant Clam programme, more than 10,000 giant clams larger than 1 CM have been transferred from the hatchery to the nursery area. Giant clam is important to marine ecology b’coz it filters harmful waste nutrients from the sea water, release clean water and produce oxygen for the environment. However, giant clams are highly-endangered due to overfishing.


Above: the shell of the largest giant clam species, Tridacna gigas. In fact, it can grow larger than this (up to 4.6 feet).


Above: the juvenile giant clams that are ready to be released into the sea.


Above: the Touch Tank of MERC. You can touch anything in the tank.


There are sea cucumbers, starfishes, etc. in the Touch Tank. A great way to learn sea creatures by touching.


Above: a beautiful hermit crab in touch tank.


You also can participate in their Coral Reef Restoration Programme. If you “adopt” a coral, you will be given a broken coral fragment to plant it in cement-base plate. The fragments are from corals damaged by strong wave and human activities, and they can’t survive on their own.


Then your coral will be labelled and placed into the Coral Stabilization Tank for at least 2 weeks. It’ll be transferred to the reef nearby if it’s healthy. The sponsors will also receive periodic update and photos of their “babies” corals. As of now, Gayana has planted over 2,500 corals with a survival rate of nearly 90%.

You can Click Here to learn more about the conservation projects of MERC.

Gayana Eco Resort

After the conservation activities, we took a tour around the island resort.


Gayana Eco Resort has over 20 water bungalows with beautiful sea view, great for honey moon trip.


Above: The “infinite” swimming pool of Gayana Eco Resort.


Above: Having lunch at Alu-Alu Seafood Restaurant of Gayana. It’s the first restaurant to remove shark fin from its menu.


If you would like to visit Gayana Eco Resort, you may visit their web site at gayana-eco-resort.com for more info.

More Photos

You may check out my photo album if you want to see more nice pictures:

Photos taken in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

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Islands of Semporna

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Half of the popular attractions of Malaysia are sea and islands. Besides the tropical weather, white sandy beaches and crystal clear seawater, the islands of Sabah are rich in marine biodiversity. The sea of Semporna lies inside the Coral Triangle, “The Amazon of the Seas” that covers six countries, and Malaysia (North and East of Sabah) is one of them.

With an area equal in size to half of the United States, Coral Triangle is home to 75% of coral species, more than half of the world’s reefs, 3,000 species of reef fish, and seven species of marine turtle. In year 2014 there were about 65,139 tourists came to dive in Sabah. You can bet most of them dive in one of the recommended islands below:

Pom Pom Island

Pom Pom is 45 minutes by boat from Semporna. This island has almost everything what a tourist expects for a dream holiday on island. The chalets are built with traditional local methods which make them blend nicely with the ambiance of the island.

What I really like about Pom-Pom is its environmental-friendly approaches to operate the resort. For example, they have a turtle hatchery to protect the turtle eggs, a reverse osmosis re-cycling rainwater system to cut down pollution from importing of water, and the waste water and residual waste is re-cycled and used for irrigation and fertilization for their gardens.

As tourists are getting more conservation-conscious, green resort like Pom Pom should Resort should be a role model for other island resorts to follow.

>> Click Here to read more about Pom-Pom

Mataking Island

Mataking is well-known as a romance island, even for newlyweds from Italy. In fact Mataking is a 2-in-1 island, with 20 acres of land divided between two islands, namely Mataking Kecil and Mataking Besar. During low tide, you can walk to other island on long stretch of sandy beach that connects two islands.

For divers, you can post a letter in “Underwater Post Office”, the first of its kind in Malaysia. The mailbox is on Mataking 1, an old 40-foot wooden cargo ship sank by Mataking in March 2006, to create an artificial reef.

For non-divers, you may laze on the beach or try activities such as Jamu Spa, batik painting and kayaking. You also can join night trekking to see fireflies, turtles and the rare coconut crab.

>> Click Here to read more about Mataking

Kapalai Island

Kapalai is a magic island, as the island will “disappear” during high tide. Kapalai was once a beautiful island 200 years ago, but due to land erosion, now what remains is a narrow sandy bar only visible during low tide. This makes its wooden accommodation looks like a floating resort.

The chalets are built on high wooden stilts on the sand and connected by boardwalk. At night you can see marine lives such as lionfish, sting ray and even turtle swim under the walkways. There is an opening on the deck of the restaurant. You can see schools of fish passing under the viewing hole.

On Kapalai, you feel like you are living in the middle of the ocean, not just an island.

>> Click Here to read more about Kapalai

Mabul Island

Mabul is one of the best muck-diving sites in the world. When I saw Mabul, I was amazed by abundant of corals growing so near to the shore. This is quite impossible when the island has over 2,000 of residents. Thanks to the tour operators who engage the local community on conservation, the marine ecology of this island is recovering from its history of fish bombing.

Just drop off from the end of the jetty for a dive or snorkeling, you would see variety of macro life such as flamboyant cuttlefish, blue-ringed octopus, spike-fin gobies and frogfish. Mabul is near to Sipadan, an ideal stop-over for divers who want to dive in Sipadan. The resorts and dive operators on Mabul have been trying to involve the locals in beach and underwater clean-ups, coral transplanting and environmental education. One of them even pays the villagers to collect the garbage, which otherwise would end up in the sea. For some guest houses, I hope they could be more eco-friendly, for example, I don’t feel comfortable to see my bath water goes directly into the sea.

>> Click Here to read more about Mabul Island

Sipadan Island

As one of the top 10 dive sites in the world, Sipadan doesn’t need more introduction. Sipadan is the only oceanic island of Malaysia. This mushroom-shape island was formed by living corals growing on top of an extinct undersea volcano, which rises 600 Meters from the ocean floor.

There a total of 12 dive sites in Sipadan, and the most recommended dive sites are the Barracuda Point, South Point, Hanging Garden and Turtle Cavern. Most divers can spot many green and hawksbill turtles, sharks and school of large fishes in a single dive.

However, please save Sipadan (best) for the last. I feel uneasy when divers, who just earn their cert, say, “Now I want to go to Sipadan!” The water current in Sipadan is a bit strong. We don’t want those clumsy new divers, who cannot control their buoyancy totally, kick and crush the fragile corals by accident. And please stop chasing and touching the sea turtles!

That’s a right decision that the government asked all the dive resorts moved out of Sipadan in year 2004, to preserve the island’s pristine state. The number of divers allowed to dive in Sipadan is also limited to 120 persons a day. Although the tourism ministry is constantly pressured by the tour operators to increase the daily quota, I am glad that government’s determination to protect the marine ecosystem doesn’t change.

>> Click Here to read more about Sipadan Island

Tun Sakaran Marine Park

In photo exhibition of Sabah, if you see those beautiful photos of primitive stilt houses over turquoise sea water, usually with a kid paddling a boat in foreground, very likely they are taken in the islands of Tun Sakaran Marine Park (TSMP).


Above: viewing from Semporna town, Tun Sakaran Marine Park looks like a “Sleeping Old Man”.

Also known as the Semporna Islands Park, TSMP consists of eight islands (i.e. Bohey Dulang, Bodgaya, Sebangkat, Selakan, Mantabuan, Sibuan, Maiga, Church Reef and Kapikan Reef) and is the largest marine park of Sabah. With a size of 350 sq KM, it also has the largest concentration of coral reefs in Malaysia.

Even though this park is not as popular as Sipadan, TSMP has more biodiversity in terms of species and habitats. Total species recorded in TSMP includes 544 species of coral reef fish, 255 species of hard coral, 70 species soft coral, 140 species sponge, 265 species mollusc and 109 species echinoderms. I think it is better to keep the Park as pristine as it is, rather than promoting it as a dive paradise.

>> Click Here to read more about Semporna Islands Park

How to get there?

Semporna is a small town and doesn’t have any airport. To go there, you need to take a flight (by Malaysia Airlines or AirAsia) from Kota Kinabalu City, capital of Sabah, (or from Kuala Lumpur of Peninsular Malaysia) to fly to Tawau airport. You can hire a taxi from Tawau Airport to go to Semporna, which takes about an hour. It costs about RM200-RM250 (≈US$50-US$62) per taxi, which is a standard sedan that can take 4 passengers (but may end up only can take 1 or 2 people, if you have diving equipment and lot of big luggages). Taxi is always available in Tawau Airport, because the taxi drivers keep track of the arrival of flights.

The best arrangement is to book the accommodation or tour in advance, and request the resort / dive operator to fetch you at Tawau Airport. They would charge a fee of RM50-RM60 per head (≈US$12.50-US$15) and normally pick you up by van (more space).

Do not go to Tawau city and take a taxi to Semporna from there, it’s a waste of traveling time (take nearly 2 hours).

Photos taken in Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Pom-Pom Island – looking for bom-bom girls

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Pom-Pom Island is a relatively new destination compared to other islands such as Sipadan and Mabul in Semporna, Sabah. Few people know that Tun Sakaran Marine Park (TSMP), also known as Semporna Islands Park, is the most reachable from Pom-Pom. In fact, TSMP is currently the biggest marine park of Malaysia and has richer marine ecology and biodiversity than Sipadan in terms of macro lives, many new species wait to be named and discovered.


Pom-Pom Island is 45-minute by boat from jetty of Semporna town. There are two accommodations on Pom-Pom. I was going to Pom-Pom Island Resort, the one which operates in environment-friendly manner. Without any fishing village and island residents, tourists enjoy more privacy on Pom-Pom. Don’t confuse Pom-Pom with another island named Bum-Bum.



The white sandy beach and crystal clear sea are as spectacular as other islands in Celebes Sea. Under the hot tropical sun, everyone just can’t wait to jump into sea. We even saw lion fishes and many other fishes under the jetty. To say it in a tacky way, Pom-Pom looks like the picture in dream holiday ad. Visitors can swim, dive, snorkel and kayak around the island.


In case you wonder if Pom-Pom Island has many hot pom-pom girls…


Actually Pom-Pom gets its name from the “Pom-Pom” tree (photo above), which is abundant on the island.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Pom-Pom Island


We checked in at their activity hall and restaurant (photo above). Welcoming drink was served (but no dancing Pom-Pom girls). It’s very nice that they sent our heavy luggage to our chalet with mini-tractor. I’ve been hearing positive feedback about the excellent service of Pom-Pom. Basically they take care of everything, so you are worry-free. They can even pick you up at Tawau Airport.

Island Chalets




>> Click Here to see more photos of Pom-Pom Island

Of course the most luxurious chalet is the Water Villa built on the sea, and of course I can’t afford it. Anyway, I was busybody a bit and took a few photos of Water Villa (see 4 photos above).

I remember an incident that a hotel put me and my male colleague in a room with honeymoon setting. There is only a transparent glass between the room and bathroom, so I can see what my roommate doing in toilet. I am not that “open-minded”, so I requested the hotel to give us a “normal” room. Well, even if sharing room with wife, I don’t think it’s romantic to see her wiping her butt after doing number 1?


Though I stayed in Beach Villa (photo above), it’s already a 5-star lodging to me. Yes, the chalet has electricity, hot shower, light, fans and air-conditioning, and the room is spacious.


Pom-Pom is a small island that needs only 40 minutes to walk one round, but it’s big enough to have the soil to plant fruits such as Papaya and Dragon Fruit. After sunset, a large number of fruit bats (flying fox) will fly to this island to enjoy the fruits. The big bats are just everywhere after dusk. By the way, they have jogging and cycling tracks on the island.

I went for a bird-watching hunt around the island. The sighting of Barred Rail is reported on this island. This bird species is common in Philippines but it is only recently spotted and added to the list of birds found in Sabah. I was told that it likes to wander in the grass near the fruit garden, but too bad I didn’t see it. I saw other birds such as sunbirds and kingfisher.

You can find a sense of humor in many little things on the island..


Mr. Bean dustbin?


Kampung House? (Village House)

>> Click Here to see more photos of Pom-Pom Island


OMG, a Plate Warmer? This is the first plate warmer I see in Sabah. I love food to be served on warm plate. One thing that Sabah “kopitiam” (Malaysian coffee shop) always make me mildly pissed off is when they give me the plate and spoon that are still wet. I think it is kind of disgusting.


Pom-Pom Island Resort also invests on reverse osmosis (R.O.) plant to use rainwater. It is the only island in Sabah employs such green technology. They also plan to use wind energy in future.

Below is a 2.5-min video about Pom-Pom:

Click Here to watch bigger video.

BOHEY DULANG

From Pom-Pom, you can clearly see Bohey Dulang, one of the islands of Semporna Islands Park.


According to the legend, a notorious Sultan of South Philippines eyed on Arung Salamiah, a beautiful princess lived on Bum-Bum Island, so her parents hid her on Bohey Dulang island. She vanished few days later and people believe that she was hidden by the spirits on the island and turned into fairy. Locals say they could hear her singing and her dog barking during full moon, and even occasionally see her walking on the island.


The romantic story of Arung Salamiah was even played in Sabah Fest 2010.


We dropped by Bohey Dulang island on the first day, not to visit Salamiah, but to look at the giant clam nursery. I blogged about this giant clam nursery before. FYI, you may snorkel here because they release many giant clams in front of the giant clam nursery.


We also checked out the cultivation of abalone on the island. The species of our abalone is relatively smaller.

Our initial itinerary included a 30 to 45 minutes trekking up to the high point of Bohey Dulang (probably Salamiah stood on this hill before?), to get a bird eye view of Tun Sakaran Marine Park. Due to time constraint, we had to cancel the plan, too bad, next time then.

Mantabuan

Later Pom-Pom sent us to Mantabuan Island for snorkeling. Being one of the islands of bio-diversified Semporna Islands Park, we saw so much in only 8 Meters of depth! Luckily coral bleaching does not affect the cooler Celebes Sea of Semporna, so the corals are in great shape. In merely 1 hour of snorkeling, we saw stack horn, brain corals, blue corals, lettuce corals, thorns of stars, huge sea cucumbers, puffer fish, crocodile fishes and 3 Green and Hawsbill Turtles!!! I was told by my friends that they also spotted turtle when they snorkel near the jetty of Pom-Pom in next morning. A scuba diver also said that she found 13 turtles in the sea in front of the jetty.


Above: Mantabuan Island

The sea current was not strong and the visibility was about 9 Meters. To see more, you can join scuba diving to see the precious black corals in deeper water. It’s about RM365 (USD$110) for 2 boat dives, permit fee and rental of dive equipments. Pom-Pom Island Resort has a dive center.

Night Patrol

Another feature of Pom-Pom is the night patrol for sighting of turtle laying eggs. The staffs of Pom-Pom were trained as the wildlife warden, so they know the right steps and measures on conservation of sea turtles. The nesting records will be submitted to WWF and Sabah Wildlife Department. The guests were offered a night walk with the guides around 8pm.


No turtle nest found during my stay. I only saw a ghost crab on the beach. The luck was not with us that night.


If any turtle nests on Pom-Pom, for better survival rate, the staffs will collect the eggs and move them to a protected turtle hatchery next to the dive center. The eggs will hatch after 2 months and the baby turtles will be released back to the sea. The staff (Sally) told us the number of eggs of Green Turtles and Hawsbill Turtles are nearly equal. FYI, you can sponsor the nest.


Before we departed on second day, two turtles showed up near the jetty, as if they were saying goodbye to us.

To know more about Pom-Pom Island, you may visit their website at:
http://pompomisland.com
They also have an interesting and updated blog.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Pom-Pom Island

Photos taken in Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

The Green Connection

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The Green Connection Aquarium is an eco theme park which showcases the remarkable biodiversity of Sabah. At first I thought it was just another new mini-zoo, until I saw its first-class facilities that are not found elsewhere in Sabah. This park combines zoo, aquarium and science discovery centre into one great environmental education experience.


Click Here to see more photos of The Green Connection >>

A Walk into Sabah’s Biodiversity

Operated by conservationists, the Green Connection houses over 500 native species of animals from 9 major habitats. A friendly staff will guide you for an interpretation walk into different ecology zones: through limestone caves, dense jungle, muddy mangroves, magnificent reefs, coastlines and out into the open ocean.


Cave Zone: a cave-like environment for you to see some creepy cave dwellers such as scorpion and spider in the dark.


Rainforest Zone: information of status and threats of our Borneo jungle. A few big pythons wait to take photo with you.


River Zone: a collection of native freshwater lives such as blade fishes, terrapins, catfish and pig-nosed turtle. Say Hi to reptiles such as monitor lizard, crocodile and snake.


Coastal Zone: see feeding of turtle and stingray. There is a fish tank with a hollow in middle, where you can “pop” your head in and see yourself surrounded by corals and fishes. It is so fun!

The coral garden tanks show various hard and soft corals, sea anemone and giant clams in close distance, without making you wet. You will see highly venomous marine creatures such as sea snakes, stone fish and scorpion fishes.


Ocean Zone: the aquarium tank with 8-inch thick glass is the highlight as it is the largest in South East Asia. During feeding time, you will see cowtail stingray, black-tipped reef sharks, striped catfishes, guitar shark, blue-spotted ray and bat fishes in a frenzy for food.


Above: these bat fishes change color almost every minute.

An Outdoor Classroom

I remember one day I was in Sabah Museum, a boy complained to his parents, “I’m so bored. Can we leave now?” If you ask the children what impresses them in the zoo, they might answer that is the parrot that they touch earlier, not the charismatic animals such as lions and giraffe. Kids are more interested in Nemo than clown fishes. Kids see and learn the world differently.


Click Here to see more photos of The Green Connection >>

Therefore, that is why I think the Green Connection is more than a tourist attraction. It is a great outdoor classroom that stimulates learning because it encourages kids to see, touch, feel and smell things in fun way. For example, the Touch Pools allows them to touch starfishes, bamboo sharks and horse-shoe crabs. This should work very well because Malaysians have very itchy hands and want to touch everything.

The science and discovery centre with creative and interactive hands-on modules which are not only fun but an interesting demonstration of oceanography, biology, chemistry, physics, maths, technology & engineering concepts. Even adults find them fun. When you can make the children open their mouths to ask WHY and HOW, you know it’s great chance to educate them. My favourite is a 3D frog illusion projected by manipulation of reflection of light. The frog looks so real and solid but you cannot touch it.

Kids nowadays seldom get in touch with nature. I recall my childhood that is filled with memories of fishing, cycling, tree climbing and “loitering”. But when I look out the window, there are no children plays outside their house. Probably they are busy with computer, video game and TV? How do we expect the younger generation to conserve the environment if they do not love it? The Green Connection does an outstanding job to “connect” them to the nature and learn to love and protect it.

Click Here to see more photos of The Green Connection >>


Above: not everything is touchable. Like the stone fish above. A victim says, “the sting made my hand felt like inside the boiling water for 3 days. It’s so…. hurt.” Its venom can be fatal.

Contact & Info

The Green Connection is situated at 5 KM Tuaran Road, Likas (see Location Map). Just make a turn to the junction near Wisma Wanita, follow the sign and you will see it next to St. John Ambulance. The entrance fee is RM25 for adult and RM15 for children (2 to 16 years old). Please note that they have discount for Family and School groups.

Opening Hours: 9:30am-5:30pm every day (last entry 4:30pm)
Feeding Show: Weekdays: 11:30am & 4:00pm, Weekend & Holidays: 11:30am, 2:00pm & 4:00pm
Address (see Location Map): The Green Connection, Badan Sukarela Complex, Mile 2, Tuaran Road, Lorong Bunga Matahari 2, 88450 Likas, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
Website: aadcgreenconnection.com
E-mail: Enquiry@aadcgreenconnection.com
Facebook: Green-Connection-Aquatica-Aquarium-Discovery-Centre-Sdn-Bhd-OFFICIAL
Phone: +60 13-8978005, +60 88-263326


Click Here to see more photos of The Green Connection >>

Green Connection is quite big. I only show the photos of part of (not all) The Green Connection here, as a teaser. Personally I call it a must-visit place to family and recommend it to my friends. After they visit this place, they also become a fan and tell others about the exciting experience.

Photos taken in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah Malaysia

Tabawan the Pearl Island, Lahad Datu, Sabah

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(Note: the island resort is closed) Whenever divers come to Sabah, they will think about Semporna and Sipadan only, as if there is no good dive sites in other part of Sabah. FYI, Tabawan Island (Pulau Tabawan), which is also known as Pearl Island, is a new gem inside the Coral Triangle zone of Darvel Bay. For many decades, the pearl farm of Tabawan Island has vigilantly safeguarded the surrounding waters to keep thieves and trespassers away. Recently they start to allow divers to visit the island, and an accommodation, Tabawan Eco Dive Lodge, was built for the tourists.


Click Here to see more photos of Tabawan Island >>

The security of Tabawan is tight. There is a police base, equipped with radar, stations on the island. We even saw a patrol boat on duty. Since no outsiders can come near, the corals are spared from destructive fishing methods such as fish blasting (fish bombing) and cyanide (poison) fishing. The size of the sea fans and various other corals are so big, making Tabawan one of the most impressive scuba diving destinations in Sabah. This is really a good news to people of Kunak town, as they try to promote the tourism in Kunak, and they were lack of island attraction.


Click Here to see more photos of Tabawan Island >>

The tour operator told me that the name “Tabawan” was from Chinese words “大把湾”, which means “so many bays”. It is quite a close description of Tabawan coz this largest island off Kunak really has many bays, with calm water suitable for pearl farming. To go to Tabawan, you could book a diving trip with Sulawesi Sea Safari, which is a dive operator bases in Semporna. By boat, it takes about an hour to reach Tabawan Island from Semporna. For my trip last month, we departed from the jetty in Kunak, so it took only 20 minutes.

Click Here to see more photos of Tabawan Island >>

Because Tabawan Island is located inside the Darvel Bay and surrounded by many islands, the sea is very gentle and suitable for diving all year round, unlike other remote islands which have rough sea and easily affected by bad weather. The boat ride was not very bumpy and the sea was so calm that it even reflected the cloud like a mirror. The sea water is very clean too, another critical requirement for pearl farming. But the sea is dark blue color and look really deep, kind of scaring me a bit.


Click Here to see more photos of Tabawan Island >>

You will see dozens of “bagang” on the way. Bagang is a traditional fishing structure used by the local fishermen (usually Bugis people) to trap the fishes (mainly the small Bilis fishes). They will lower the fishing net into the sea in the evening, use light to attract fishes gathering over the net, then lift the net for the fish caught. I also saw Bagang in the sea near Pitas, they share the same concept but the design look a bit different.


Click Here to see more photos of Tabawan Island >>

Very soon I reached Tabawan Island and saw their pearl farm on the sea. The pearl farm is actually some wooden frame structures float in deeper water, and you could see pearl oyster cages hanging from this structure. The pearl farm is run by a Japanese company, and they have an office on the island. I was told that they will move the pearl farm to other place as this site is less suitable for pearl farming now. But no worry, they may keep the farm around as an attraction. I cannot imagine if government builds the coal power plant near Darvel Bay, as the coal power plant will release water, which contains harmful metals such as mercury, into the sea and pollute the Coral Triangle.

Please join our Facebook anti-coal plant group to oppose coal plant. If the government insists to build coal plant, I will penalise the Barisan Nasional politicians with my vote in next election because long year of ruling has made them arrogant and deaf to the voices of rakyat (citizens). You really think that a new coal plant can solve all the black-out problems? Don’t be so naive.


Click Here to see more photos of Tabawan Island >>

Tabawan Eco Dive Lodge is the only accommodation on the island. Currently they are expanding but a few lodges are already ready to host the tourists. The facilities are quite basic at the moment but they already have a dive center on the island. They will also install air-conditioning in some rooms. The lodge is good enough for a group of 10 to 20 divers. Day trip package, with 2 dives and lunch, is also available. This island has no other resident, so the island forest is mostly intact and we even saw a wild boar hanging around the lodge.


Click Here to see more photos of Tabawan Island >>

We did two dives in House Reef (26 Meters deep) and Turtle Station (15 Meters) around Tabawan. I didn’t dive in Sea Fan Garden and the operator is still trying to discover more dive sites around the island. The visibility was about 5 Meters. This time I rented a camera with underwater housing so you could see the pictures of the dives. Well, I am not so familiar with the setting of this Olympus compact camera and it affected my buoyancy so it was a bit of struggle to take photos under the sea. Ok, after hearing all these excuses, you could expect the quality isn’t good. Anyway, it is better than nothing.


Click Here to see more photos of Tabawan Island >>

Personally I think Tabawan is one of the best place to see coral groups because they are huge, rich in variety and high in density. Many grow bigger than a human. We saw sea fans, black corals (which is not black), table corals, blue corals, staghorn corals, plate corals, brain corals, barrel corals, etc. We didn’t see turtle and barracuda that live here and the fishes are not big. But it is rich of macro-life, we spotted filefish, dancer fishes, convict blenny fish ball, cuttlefish, nudibranch, striped catfish (dangerous!), giant clams, lobster, shrimp fishes, razor fishes, tubeworm, flatworm, starfish, etc. The underwater current was not strong so the dives were quite relaxing. We also dived under the pearl farm and saw the hanging pearl oyster cages.


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During the diving, Su, one of the divemasters, spotted a Crown-of-Thorns, a weird starfish with 15 thorny legs. He caught it and left it on the shore to perish. According to Su, crown-of-thorns eats corals so it is a pest to coral reef ecosystem. It is also very sly. Once caught, it will release a chemical to warn its kind. If you see many crown-of-thorns, you better organise the elimination with a few divers to catch them all in one go. If you catch only one, the rest will sense the danger and go hiding before you come back for them again. As nasty as it looks, its spines are poisonous. Sound like a sinister creature that deserves to be killed.


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After the dives, we dropped by the office of the pearl farm. The manager is a gentle Japanese and he is telling us how a pearl oyster is cultivated and harvested. Basically they insert a tiny round-shape “seed” into the oysters to induce them to produce pearls after many years. This is a high risk business that needs years of intensive care and monitoring. He also showed us the specimens of two pearl types, gold and white (creamy white actually). The white pearl is more valuable than the gold one, which is about 10% cheaper. You can tell the color of the pearl inside an oyster from its shell color, which is same as the color of the pearl.

The round pearl is for making jewellery and the irregular-shape pearl is the raw material to make cosmetic powder for smoothening skin. Wow, some pearls cost more than 2 months of my salary and I almost wanted to put them into my pocket while nobody watching. Haha.. just kidding. Someone (not the pearl manager) told me that pearl is like jade, which has “life”. A pearl “grows” over time. It would “die” if a pregnant woman touches it.


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So that’s all about my pearl adventure. If you want to go to Tabawan Island, you may contact Sulawesi Sea Safari to arrange the diving / snorkelling tour. They also have a lot of info and pictures in their web sites.


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Photos taken in Kunak, Sabah Malaysia

Mermaid Island – Mantanani

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I thought all the beautiful island in west coast of Sabah was gone until I met Mantanani Islands (Pulau Mantanani). Sapi and Manukan Islands? They are not even in top 10 most beautiful islands of Sabah (but they were, 30 years ago), and it is funny that most tourists flow to these islands. That would make them think that all islands of Sabah are dirty, polluted and lack of corals. Local divers also expresses their concern about the dwindling corals and fish species in Tunku Abdul Rahman Park. Due to increasing pollution and garbage from the shore (especially Gaya Island), very soon swimming in Sapi Manukan will be same as swimming in toilet bowl.


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Mantanani is fairly accessible (prior booking with travel agent is required). Just drive 1 hour to the jetty of Kampung Kuala Abai in Kota Belud, then take a boat to Mantanani. The boat ride takes 40 to 50 minutes depending on the sea condition. If the weather is bad, they might cancel the trip. Mantanani consists of 3 islands, namely, Mantanani Besar (the biggest) Island, Mantanani Kecil (Kechil) Island and Lingisan Island (smallest). Above is the map to Mantanani. In fact, these islands are so tiny that they are not appear in most Sabah map. I draw the map myself just for you to get an idea, the shape and scale are not accurate, so don’t use it in textbook ye.


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Above is the view of Kg Kuala Abai (Kuala Abai Village) fishing willage. To go to Mantanani, you need to arrange the tour with the island operator prior to the visit. I went 2-day-1-night with Mari Mari Dive Lodge (of Traverse Tours), the sole operator of Mantanani Kecil Island. On Mantanani Besar, there are a few operators such as Mantanani Resort.


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Lucky tourists would see dolphin in the boat ride. They usually follow behind the fishing boats. This is no guarantee and too bad I didn’t see any. Though it was a sunny day, the sea was so choppy that I felt the boat was riding on something rock solid and I got free shower from splashes. After 45 minutes, I arrived the jetty of Mari Mari Dive Lodge (MMDL). MMDL is built 400 Meters away from the shore of Mantanani Kecil. If not, tourists will have to walk extra 400 M from the island to jetty during low tide, which is too shallow for boat to enter. You can walk from MMDL to the island when it is low tide, but watch out for the venomous stonefishes and stingray that can hide really well in the sand. Better way is to snorkel to the island during high tide or ask the boatman to send you there. MMDL is a structure of 3 stilt houses joined together, i.e., a 4-room twin-bed accommodation, a dive lodge and a dining area.


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Manatanani is also known as “Mermaid Island”, due to the presence of an endangered sea cow “dugong / duyung”, which is occasionally found grazing on the sea grass around the island. Sighting is rare and the most recent sighting was reported last month. Taking beautiful photos of Mantanani is so easy, coz everything is like a picture, the blue sky, crystal clear sea and white sandy beach… The visibility of the water can reach 20 Meters, so clean that as if it is drinkable.


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Though very few Sabahans know about Mantanani, many tourists from Europe, Hong Kong, China, Japan and Korea had discovered this pristine island by words of mouth. You would be impressed if you see the photos. FYI, the dark patches under the sea are rocks and corals, in case you misunderstand they are something dirty.

The photo above is Lingisan Island, which is named after frigate birds that fly around there in the evening. Lingisan is very small and nobody lives on it. The big island behind it is Mantanani Besar. Personally I call it “flower pot” island coz of its round shape and dense vegetation on top. I was so curious what was inside its cave.


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Before I came, I was not too excited about this trip coz I heard about the fish bombing activity in Mantanani, thinking that it was a degraded island. However, what I saw in snorkelling and diving was a huge number of corals like an underwater garden. Since the setup of a police base on Mantanani Besar, the fish bombing is greatly reduced. Some fishing boats like to come here to fish. There are over 15 dive sites in Mantanani, more adventurous divers can try out muck diving and wreck diving. You would see turtles, bumphead parrot fish, big stingray, giant clam, moray and eagle eel, nudibranch, finger corals and many other marine life.

The underwater current is quite strong under the sea. Instead of fighting it, divers can use the current as an “escalator”, go with the flow to “glide” above the corals. In one of the dives, my dive group was swept to 1.5 KM away within an hour! The boat man took nearly an hour to locate us. Honestly, I was quite pissed, but forgot it soon.


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Besides the sandy beach, Mantanani Kecil has a nice view behind. You can walk to a small cliff behind the island and enjoy a bird view of its rocky shore (see photo above). The sea under the cliff looks deep and rough, so it is meant for watching only. There are only a few MMDL workers live on Mantanani Kecil, and they look after the power generators and water supply on this island. All communication is cut off on Mantanani Kecil, so no need to worry about phone call from your office. Kayaking is allowed if the sea is calm.


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Mantanani Besar is a few KM away from Mantanani Kecil and mainly resided by local fishermen. The people there are very friendly and I saw some youngsters were playing volley ball in the evening. I visited there briefly to buy something, as there is no shop on Mantanani Kecil and Lingisan. Sadly, Mantanani Besar didn’t give me a good impression coz I saw rubbish everywhere on the beach. There were many cows wandering along the beach but too bad they were not the sea cow that I was looking for.


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After the shopping, I toured around the islands and checked out the other side of Mantanani Besar. It is a rocky shore with interesting mushroom rock formation, probably the collaborative work of wind and water over years. I climbed onto the rock and walked around. The surface was slippery, rough and sharp, so I moved carefully with naked feet. Do visit this when you come to Mantanani.


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Lingisan Island is the one I most eager to check out because of its big cave. A closer look reveals that it is not a deep cave and its bottom only submerges a few feet under the water during high tide. The staff told us that only swiftlets and bats live inside, and the owner comes to collect edible bird nest from the cave sometimes. It is a small but very unique island.


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Sunset was approaching and we returned to MMDL. Everything was painted with gold color. Jesus light came out at north, later I had to call it a day. Most tourists only opt for day trip so most of them had left around 3:30pm. Unlike honeymoon couple who can make baby at night, I got nothing to do. But hey, this is a holiday, so I shouldn’t do anything right? Living in city for too long, I was not used to leaving my brain stops thinking for a moment.


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Whole day of water sports already made me so tired. Surprisingly, Mantanani is supplied with 24-hour of pleasing sea breeze, so I don’t feel warm even in hot afternoon. I even slept a while on the veranda, just to enjoy the gentle wind, sound of ocean and freedom. The next morning I waked up very early to take sunrise photos and was rewarded by magnificent view of Mt. Kinabalu.


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Hopefully government will gazette Mantanani as a National Park, so we could preserve its beauty and marine ecology for future generations to enjoy. There aren’t many pristine islands left in Sabah west coast.

However, with weak enforcement of Sabah government, who recently denied the presence of illegal coral mining that destroyed tons of coral reef in Tawau and release of effluents into Segaliud River by oil palm mills nearby, I am not so optimistic about our conservation.

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Mantanani Besar Island

Photos taken off Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo