Tag Archives: snorkelling

sea walking

Sea Walking at the Largest Pontoon of South East Asia (Borneo Reef World)

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Have you ever imagined walking under the sea without gill? Well, it is not a dream, you don’t even need to know how to swim or have special skill such as scuba diving. I had tried sea walking last week at Borneo Reef World, the largest reef activity pontoon in Southeast Asia (second largest on the world). This pontoon is a floating platform on the sea off Sapi Island of Kota Kinabalu (KK), Sabah, Malaysia.


Pic: sea walking allows you to have fun underwater without getting your hair wet.


Pic: Borneo Reef World is only 15 minutes by boat from KK city. You can see Sapi Island at the left and Gaya Island at the right (See location map).

There are a few fun stuffs to check out on this pontoon. Let’s start with their Underwater Observatory.

Underwater Observatory

Just follow the staircase that leads to the bottom of the deck and you would be greeted by hundreds of reef fishes living in Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park.


The Underwater Observatory is a 20-Meter air-conditioned walkway about 4 Meters under the sea.


The glass windows turn the Underwater Observatory into a natural aquarium.


So who is in the “fish tank”? Fishes or people?

Sea Walking

Sea Walking (or Helmet Diving) is the highlight of my tour. Though I am a scuba diver, I wonder if the feeling is the same in sea walking.


Pic: Briefing before the sea walking. This activity is so safe that even non-swimmers can join. A few staffs will follow you into the water and watch your every steps. The sea walking is carried out 5-Meter underwater for 20 minutes (Fee: RM150 ? USD50).


Basically, they just put a helmet over your head, and a long (yellow) pipe, which provides oxygen, is connected to this helmet. When you walk deeper into the sea, you will feel a bit of discomfort in your eardrum in the beginning, due to increased water pressure. Just pause once in a while, equalize (as instructed in briefing) and let your ears adapt, and you shall be fine to proceed. Scuba divers can dive more than 20 Meters deep without problem, so 5-Meter is… nothing. Just go slow and don’t be panic.


Walking with this helmet under the sea was like having an adventure in outer space and Abyss. The feeling is funny in the water with dry head. Don’t worry, the helmet won’t float away.


There were schools of fishes swimming around me, so close that I could almost touch them. It was very quiet under the ocean. All I heard was the bubbling from my helmet. We couldn’t hear one another talking too.


Hey, someone shit on her helmet!


Just kidding, it is a sea cucumber.


This sea cucumber turned long in lady’s hand. Don’t know why..


To keep our eyes and hands busy, the staffs brought us some coral and sea cucumber for a touch & feel experience.

You may watch the 90-sec Sea Walking video below:

Click Here for wider video

Snorkeling

The snorkeling mask, fins and life jacket are provided onboard, so you can snorkel in the sea near Sapi and Gaya islands.


Pic: the platform for snorkellers.


Pic: group photo with a floating dead body, just joking.


The corals there are in ok condition and I saw many colorful fishes. The day was cloudy so the visibility was poor underwater that day, otherwise I would have gotten better photos.

If you really love watersport, you may join their Discovery Scuba Diving, which requires no open diver license.

The Pontoon

The reef activity pontoon of Borneo Reef World is 880 Square Meters in size and 37.35 Meters in length. It can accommodate up to 500 people onboard. Personally, I think it’s the most suitable for a group of 100 people to have a private party. The pontoon has 3 levels, i.e., underwater observatory, lower deck and upper deck.


Pic: the lower deck is the dining and main activity area. I had salad, rice, noodle, fish, prawns, tropical fruit, etc. as lunch here. Btw, there is free flow of coffee.


Pic: the upper deck area is wide

The pontoon is stable (in case you are prone to seasick) and built with high marine grade rust-proof aluminium. There are already some pontoons operate in Great Barrier Reef of Australia. I’m happy that Sabah has the largest pontoon in South East Asia.

To see more of its surrounding, you may watch the 2.5-minute video of walking tour on this pontoon:

Click Here for wider video

How to Get There

Borneo Reef World has operated since Jun 2012 and now open for public. You can book the tour with Dynamic Holiday Cruise (License: KPL/LN 4117), the owner and operator of the reef pontoon. Below is their contact info:

Tel: +60 88-241908 (Office), +60 16-8325179 (Mobile)
Address: Suite2-4, Second Floor, Kompleks Asia City, Jalan Asia City, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
Website: http://www.borneoreefworld.com.my
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Borneo-Reef-World/
E-mail: enquiry@borneoreefworld.com.my


Pic: jetty of Sabah Parks (behind Wisma Merdeka building in KK). See Location Map

They depart from Sabah Parks jetty on Fri, Sat and Sun.
Boarding Time: 9:00 AM / 11:30 AM
Return Time: 2:30 PM / 4.30 PM

The standard rate is RM295 (?USD89) for adult (above 12 years old). Child who is 4-12 years old gets 50% off (Fees include: Jetty Fee (RM7.00), PA Insurance (RM3.00) and Fuel Surcharge (RM30.00)). Please contact them for updated fees.

The day tour package includes:

  • Buffet lunch
  • Return boat transfer
  • Life jacket, mask, snorkel & fins

Please bring sun block lotion, towel, hats and cloth for changing.

More Photos

Below are 48 more photos for your enjoyment:

www.flickr.com

Photos taken in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Snake Island of Pulau Tiga Park

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My day 2 in Pulau Tiga is as exciting as first day. Today I’m going to Snake Island (Pulau Ular or Pulau Kalampunian Damit) of Pulau Tiga Park. I’ve seen the video of dozens of highly venomous Yellow-lipped Sea Kraits or Banded Sea Kraits (species: Laticauda colubrina) roaming on this island. The poison of this sea snake is 3 to 4 times more potent than cobra!

Snake Island (Pulau Ular)

The trip to Snake Island is optional. You can pay RM40 (≈USD12) to visit two islands (Snake Island and Sands Spit Island) of Pulau Tiga Park. The tour also includes a snorkeling trip off the island, so it is a good deal.


We depart at 9am and reach the Snake Island after 15 minutes. They only allow you to go during good weather.


According to a legend, Snake Island is the resting place of a heart-broken princess, whose lover is turned into rock by black magic of her sisters. The angry king penalized the evil sisters by turning their islands into mud volcanoes (Pulau Tiga).


Snake Island is so small that you need only 15 minutes to walk one round of the island.


Besides a jetty and a shelter, there is no other facility on Snake Island.


Pic: a warning sign. Watch your steps! You must be accompanied by a guide. We are happy to have Mr. Mohammad Syaheer, the “snake catcher” from Pulau Tiga Resort, to go with us.


Though Snake Island is tiny, it has interesting plant such as tall Pisonia tree, which has smooth bark and grows well in sandstone, limestone and shale of Snake Island.


At first glance, Snake Island looks like an ordinary island with rocky shore. I saw the feather and dropping of white-bellied sea eagle, a bird that preys on sea snake.


Actually the sea snakes are sleeping in the crevices between the rocks. Mohammad is so brave to pull one of them out of the hole. I can’t forget it’s one of the most poisonous snakes in the world!


He even let us to touch and hold the sea snake. Surprisingly, its skin is dry and feel like plastic. We only saw two sea snakes. The guides say probably it’s not mating season and most sea snakes go hunting in sea during daytime.

You may watch the 2-min video below about Snake Island:

Click Here to see wider video

Sands Spit Island

After the visit to Snake Island, we stop briefly on Sands Spit Island (Pulau Kalampunian Besar), which is only a few Kilometers away.


Pic: old aerial photo of Sands Spit Island (Source: Sabah Parks)

Sands Spit Island was used to be a sand bar in the sea (see photo above). Technically, it didn’t look like an island.


However, over the years, some vegetations such as Casaurine trees and salt-tolerant creeping vine (Beach Morning Glory) set foot on Sands Spit Island, giving this white sand bar a green cover. A new island is born…

Personally, I think Sands Spit Island has the BEST Beach in Sabah. The white sandy beach is long and unspoiled, and the sea water is the clean crystal blue color.


Pic: you can see Pulau Tiga from Sands Spit Island

We enjoy every moment on this lovely island. Our footprints are the only human trace on Sands Spit Island. I don’t mind staying there whole day long, but sadly, we have to leave…

You may watch the following 2-min video of Sands Spit Island:

Click Here to see wider video

A new video taken at another end of the Sands Spit Island:

Click Here to see wider video

Snorkeling

As the last activity of the island tour this morning, our boat sends us to Tiga Trail, a snorkeling point near Pulau Tiga. In lucky day, you can see sea turtle there.


Pic: the dark area in the sea is coral reefs rich with marine creatures


The water is warm and only 1 to 4 Meters deep. The weather is nice, so the visibility underwater is very good. The corals are in healthy state, with many reef fishes foraging among rich variety of seagrass and hard & soft corals.


FYI, you can rent snorkeling gears (snorkel, mask and fins) for RM30 (≈USD9) per day, if you don’t have any. For those who are not a good swimmer, they can use the life jacket from the boat.


Pulau Tiga Resort also has a dive center on island. To go deeper to see more marine creatures such as nudibranchs, cuttlefish, bamboo sharks and marbled stingray, you can arrange with the resort for scuba diving trip in Pulau Tiga Park. For non-divers, they still can experience diving in Discovery Scuba Diving programme (RM200≈USD61 per person, RM300≈USD91 for two).

You may watch the following 1-min video of snorkeling in Pulau Tiga:

Click Here to see wider video

Reptile Paradise

Besides rich marine ecosystems, Pulau Tiga Park is also rich in terrestrial flora and fauna. In fact, Pulau Tiga is first protected as a forest reserve, before it is turned into a marine park. To me, Pulau Tiga is the Kingdom of Reptiles. Other than sea kraits, I saw many other reptiles such as the Yellow-ringed snake below:


Again, Syaheer the snake catcher is in action. Yellow-ringed snake is almost a guaranteed found if you do a night walk in the jungle of Pulau Tiga, especially after rain. Some says its poison is mild and cause only serious headache, but some says it’s fatal. Well, the only way you can find out is to let it bites you, just kidding.


Yellow-ringed snake is passive, so it is never a problem to the guests. FYI, its yellow color will fade if it’s very hungry. Python also lives on this island but I saw only its abandoned nest. I spotted the small Lizard Snake twice, but they flee so fast that I can’t photograph them.


The main predator of Pulau Tiga is Monitor Lizard. You can find a dozen of them wandering at the kitchen area behind the resort. Most of them are 4 to 5 feet long. Normally they stay away from human so they never pose a danger to tourists (as long as they don’t provoke the lizard). Below is a 1-min video of them:


Click Here to see wider video


Monitor lizard lives happily on Pulau Tiga like a king. If it lives in city, it’ll just become one of the road kills or have tyre mark on its long tail.


Skink and lizards are just everywhere. To name a few, I saw or heard Rough-backed ground skink, Striped tree skink, Brown skink, Green tree lizard and Tokay gecko.


Pic: near the coastal area, hermit crab is also everywhere.


You can see Oriental Pied Hornbill early in the morning (6am-7am) around resort. I also saw 4 of them perching on a Casaurina Pine in a night walk. They told me the guide and guest saw a white hornbill 2 years ago, probably an albino. Other birds that you can see on Pulau Tiga are Megapod, Frigate Bird, Magpie Robin, Blue-naped Parrot, Great Egret, White-breasted Woodswallow, Nightjar, etc.


Pic: a crab-eating frog in the mangrove stream outside my room. It’s one of the few frogs that can tolerate saline environment.


Long-Tailed Macaques are present in the island, but they prefer to stay in the wood. They can become a major nuisance if tourists feed them.

Monitor lizard and python also prey on this naughty monkey. You can ask the resort staffs who witnessed the terrible scenes of monkey being consumed alive by those reptiles. I hate monkey, so their stories sound awesome to me, especially the part that monitor lizard swallows the head of a baby monkey. Yes, I’m sick, whatever. Anyway, the island needs predators to control the monkey population.


Pic: Ranggu and Keruing trees dominate the island forest
There are 8 nature trails of different length in Pulau Tiga (see map below). The resort tells me they find pangolin and coconut crab in the forest.


Pic: Putat Laut tree (Species: Barringtonia asiatica) only grows on undisturbed beach. Its huge drift seed can survive for 15 years.

Just walk around the beach, you will see some interesting trees such as Putat Laut, Ketapang (Umbrella Tree) and Penaga Laut.

There are so many more to see in Pulau Tiga. I stayed there for 3 days 2 nights and explored only one-third of the island.

More Photos

You may check out my photo album on Pulau Tiga Island if you would like to see more nice pictures:

Related Posts
Pulau Tiga the Survivor Island
Accommodation on Pulau Tiga
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Photos taken in Kuala Penyu, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Snorkeling at Mantanani the Mermaid Island

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The story of an island boy and a friendly male dugong (named Nicky) in Mantanani was once featured in Discovery Channel. Besides their touching friendship, viewers are also impressed by the beautiful scene of the island. Due to the mysterious and human-like appearance of dugong, the people call it “mermaid”. Mantanani consists of three islands, namely, Mantanani Kecil, Mantanani Besar and Lungisan.

Two years ago, I had a 2-day-1-night trip in Mari-Mari Dive Lodge on Mantanani Kecil Island. Earlier this month, I decided to have a day trip to Mantanani Besar Island this time. FYI, as of this writing, the accommodation (Mari-Mari Dive Lodge) of Mantanani Kecil is destroyed by storm and will be open in later date.


Above: jetty at Abai Village
There are a few tour operators such as Mari-Mari Backpackers Lodge on Mantanani Besar. You need to book the tour with them for day / overnight trip on Mantanani, they will arrange the land transport and boat transfer for you. First, a tour bus will bring you to jetty of Kg. Abai (Abai Village) in Kota Belud in the morning (now boat transfer from Kota Kinabalu is also available daily). The land transfer takes about 1.5 hours. A day trip to Mantanani costs about RM300 (about USD90), which includes return transport, lunch and 2 snorkeling (with gears).


Then you will take a boat at jetty to transfer to Mantanani. The boat ride takes about an hour, depend on the sea condition. It’ll take longer time if the sea is rough during bad weather. I know it’ll be a good day when I see the face of Mt. Kinabalu is clear of mist.


Everyone on the boat is in happy mood and we enjoy the ride and breeze. The ride took less than 1 hour.

Probably most are first-time visitors. I heard lot of WOW and WAH when they saw the crystal blue sea of Mantanani Besar. Many stood up and took photos like crazy and they couldn’t wait to get out of the boat to take a dip. The visibility is so good that we can see the corals deep in the water. You can watch the 2-min video below:


Unlike the yellow sand we see in other beaches, the sand on this island is white and as fine as powder.


The place we have our tea break is “Sayang-Sayang” (means Lovely), which is an area next to Mari-Mari Backpackers Lodge of Mantanani Besar Island.


Frankly, I don’t mind resting in this little hut and watch the sea all day long. You may watch the 40-sec video below to see the surrounding:


You can see Mt. Kinabalu and mainland from this side. What’s better than having blue sky, peaceful sea and our iconic mountain in one open view?


Above: Sayang-Sayang, the place we have our break and lunch.


Above: toilets nearby Sayang-Sayang


Above: a friendly cat


Above: a cattle asks for a share of our lunch. It’s from a nearby village of islanders. It doesn’t swim all the way here from mainland.


Above: The Mari-Mari Backpackers Lodge of Mantanani Besar looks really nice. Too bad I was on a day trip. There are about 10 of them and each house can host 4 guests. The starting price is about RM80/night per person. They will build more houses like this at Sayang-Sayang soon.


Above: reception counter of Mari-Mari Backpackers Lodge


Above: Cafe of Mari-Mari Backpackers Lodge. We collected our snorkeling mask, fin and life jacket behind this cafe.


Our day trip includes 2 snorkeling. You may go for Diving Package instead, which costs RM500 (about USD150) and includes 2 discovery scuba diving (no diver license required) in water of 3 to 7 Meters in depth.


Our first snorkeling site is near Magic Rock, an area near Mantanani Kecil Island. Though our snorkeling sites are far from shore, the depth is only 2 to 3 Meters only. The sea there is quite choppy and we were being tossed around by rough waves. At first I was having fun, then I started to feel dizzy after 10 minutes. All of us got seasick and felt very uncomfortable.


After returning to island for a lunch break, our boatman took us to second snorkeling site near the sand bars. This time the sea is calmer, but the water is quite cool and the current is strong too. Instead of fighting with the current, I just stay relax and let myself flow with the current and I was sent to a warmer zone. Then I felt something stinging me like mosquito. I look carefully and find that I’m in a swarm of translucent jelly bug! Their stings are very light so no worry. I saw a few tiny flashing jellyfishes, so cool..


Above: I wonder what is on that sand bar. Too bad we didn’t explore it. There might be tons of seashells and corals on it?


Frankly speaking, I’m a bit disappointed with what I see during snorkeling. Even though I still see quite a number of fishes, many corals are dead and the rest don’t look healthy, probably damaged by blast fishing (fish bombing). If you go for snorkeling, the corals at Rocky Point and Magic Rock near Mantanani Kecil Island are still in great shape.


Anyway, Mantanani is still a beautiful island.

More Photos

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

Related Post
Mantanani Kecil (Mari-Mari Dive Lodge)
Fishing at Mantanani Island
Budget accommodation on Mantanani Island

Photos taken in Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

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.

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Photos taken in Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Usukan Cove

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“A bay full of corals” is my first impression of Usukan Cove in Kota Belud district. In fact, the rich diversity and density of corals in Usukan Cove reminds me of Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park 30 years ago, the time when the corals were in pristine conditions and found in shallow water only a few feet away from the sandy beach, before they were spoiled by thousands of tourists nowadays…


Above: Japanese Bridge

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To go there from Kota Kinabalu, just drive in the direction to Kota Belud town. After an hour, you will arrive a roundabout, just follow the brown signage that says “Jeti Ke Pulau Mantanani” (Jetty to Mantanani Island). Then you will see second roundabout (Kuala Abai), follow the junction at the left, and you will arrive the entrance of Usukan Cove Lodge within 10 minutes.


On the way, you will pass by a white steel bridge built by Japanese to transport the copper that they collected from Mamut Minefield about 30 years ago. The locals call it the “Japanese Bridge”. The funny thing is – it is a one-way bridge in arch shape. Cars entering from both directions can’t see each other until one of them reaches the top. One car has to give way (by reversing back) to the car that comes up to the top first. The traffic volume is low so the locals seem to get used to such inconvenience.

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Usukan Cove Lodge offers basic and economic accommodation, from bunk-bed room (2 to 4 beds) to sea front twin-bed room (Online Booking available). These building were used to be the staff quarter of Shell who has oil rig off Mantanani Island. A tour operator took over it in March this year and turned it into a lodge. Though the rooms have no attached bathroom cum toilet, they are clean and cosy. The lodge is able to host maximum of 50 people, so it is a suitable school retreat location. Many European tourists also like this quiet place, because other islands such as Sapi and Manukan are too crowded and noisy to them. But frankly, the beach area there is quite small.

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Snorkelling

Snorkelling is the best choice of activity due to the rich corals in Usukan. Diving is available but you should not expect “too high” coz in rainy season, the flowing river nearby would make the sea water a bit murky and poor in visibility. One of the highlight is the “Christmas Tree” coral, which I believe is a tubeworm. Turtles and seahorses were spotted here before but not common. There are about 4 dive sites in Usukan, and 3 wreck diving sites for advanced divers.

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The density and size of the coral reef is remarkable. The boat dropped me in Usukan Reef and Icy Point for the snorkelling. The Usukan Reef mainly consists of hard corals. Each species seems like gathering in large clusters. I saw large areas of big plate corals and stag-horn corals. In Icy Point, I also saw mainly hard corals, with more mix of soft corals and sea grass. The sea water in Icy Point is a bit funny. In one spot I felt warm, but moving a few Metres away I would feel cool, probably that’s why they call it Icy Point. The corals come in different shapes, like big boulders, brain, hand, pyramid, sponge and flower. Though the shore is quite a distance away, the water was shallow and the corals grew quite tall. I had to be careful so I would not destroy the corals by accident.


Above: Diving / Snorkelling sites of Usukan Cove

The sad thing I noticed was the coral bleaching. About 10% of corals here were showing sign of bleaching. You can even see these white spots (bleached corals) clearly from the boat. This was not present two months ago. I saw a big and white “coral tree” underwater. Its look was so stunning, like a big snowy tree with ice branches. But the corals were dead actually, a heart-broken but beautiful scene.

Due to global warming, the corals of Peninsular Malaysia are badly affected and they have to close down 12 dive sites. Now the coral bleaching is slowly spreading to Sabah. It is not a local issue, as other Sabah islands in west coast (in South China Sea) are also facing the same problem. In fact, the pollution from our mainland has been stressing the corals, global warming is just the last stack of grass that crushes the camel.


Above: clear spot of coral bleaching

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Deep Sea Fishing

Then I went “deep sea fishing” in the sea 20 minutes off Usukan Cove by boat. Ehem… it was only 14 Meters in depth, not really deep. The “real” deep fish fishing is going for the depth of over 30 Meters. This tour operator does take hardcore anglers to real deep sea but that’s another package. It was so nice that the workers prepared everything for us, the fishing rod, hook and bait, making our lives so easy.


Above: fishing bait (basung fishes & squid)

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Can you believe it? In 3 minutes, we got our first fish! I thought we were only lucky. But from there on, we got fish in every 3 minutes. That’s not my case though. At first my fishing line entangled, then my fishing hook stuck in a rock, no fish for 30 minutes but the bait was gone, my fishing became “feeding fish”. Then a worker taught me a tip, I had to release my fishing hook all the way down to the bottom, not letting it dragged in the mid water or surface.

Above: blue-dotted stingray that has venomous sting


Above: our caught in one hour

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The tip really worked! Within 20 minutes, I got 3 fishes, two blacktip groupers (red color) and a Jackfish (silver color). One of us even got a puffer fish and another got blue-dotted stingray. The capture of blue-dotted stingray caused a brief moment of fear onboard coz its sting is venomous. I’m not sure about other countries, stingray is considered a delicacy in Sabah. Its meat is quite delicious if you don’t mind it gets a weird “chemical” taste (can mix it with lime juice to cover the smell). The sea was a bit choppy, so I walked like a drunken man on the deck. Btw, it is perfect to enjoy some beer while fishing. After an hour of fishing, we returned to Usukan Cove Lodge with our fruitful caught and they cooked the fishes for us.

Above: They cooked our caught as dinner. I hope this is steamed though.

Above: meat of stingray

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River Cruise

We started our river cruise at Kawa-Kawa River at 4PM, to look for playboy of Borneo. I mean the Proboscis Monkey, which has many wives and always in “ready” mode to mate. On one side of this 15-Meter-wide river is human settlement and another side is mainly mangrove and nipah forest. Since the proboscis monkeys are used to people, they are relatively less elusive and we can get really close to them.

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Proboscis Monkey has the habit of spending the night on the trees next to the river in the evening. For them, riverside is the safest site to stay away from predators at night. About 4 to 5 herds of Proboscis Monkey were spotted at Kawa-Kawa River. But there is no guarantee we can see them. Luckily we found 3 groups of them despite the poor weather.

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Besides long-nosed monkeys, we also saw crab-eating macaque (long-tailed macaque), monitor lizard and many birds such as oriental darter, white-bellied sea eagle, little heron, blue-throated bee eater, white-collar kingfisher, frigate, doves, egrets and bulbul. After we exited the estuary of Kawa-Kawa River and on the way to Abai River, we were rewarded by the magic moment of the sunset.


Above: a male proboscis monkey showed warning then ignored us

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Then we proceeded to the mangrove forest of Abai River to look at firefly around 6:40pm. Normally there should be hundreds of them. Unfortunately, that night was rainy and bright with moonlight, the most inactive time for firefly, so we only spotted a few twinkling fireflies in the riverside. Weather is not something we can control so nevermind then. Anyway, I had so much fun that day and would call it an excellent trip.

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If you are interested in tour to Usukan Cove, you may contact Inno Travel & Tour Services (http://www.sabahholidays.com).

Photos taken in Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

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.


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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.


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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.

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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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

Mataking – Islands of Romance

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What makes a perfect honeymoon destination? Tropical island? White sany beach? Crystal clear sea water? Beautiful sunset? Luxury room? Mataking Islands seem to contain all these elements. In fact, many Italian tourists spend their honeymoon on Mataking. To go to Mataking, first you need to take a flight to Tawau city (a 45-minute flight between Kota Kinabalu and Tawau), drive one hour from Tawau to Semporna town, then take a 40 minutes boot ride to Mataking. This island is also gaining popularity among Chinese tourists from Hong Kong and China.

Mataking consists of two islands, namely, Mataking Besar and Mataking Kecil (in Malaysia language, Besar means Big, Kecil means Small). Both islands are connected by a long and narrow beach (isn’t this look like connecting two hearts?). During low tide, you can walk to Mataking Kecil in 20 minutes. All the facilities and accommodation are built on Mataking Besar. At the moment, the island is managed by Reef Dive Resort. I saw a new luxury resort was being built in the middle of the island, so there will be two resorts in the future.


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Besides making baby, there are many other activities you can do on Mataking. They have a 5-star dive centre, which can bring you to dive around Mataking Island, as well as dive sites around the islands of Tun Sakaran Marine Park. The dive site that is worth a mention is the “underwater post office” in a ship wreck about 40 feet deep. You can send a letter there, probably Nemo will help to deliver? This is a remote island, so the best ways to spend your time are diving, snorkelling, canoeing, kayaking, batik painting and enjoying SPA. They also have a reading area with a lot of books. Asian tourists NEVER read, but westerners do read a lot.


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Upon arrival, we were welcome by a singing group at the jetty, the start of king treatment experience. After a short briefing by a friendly host at reception area, we checked in. I was staying a night in a King Chalet. Everything was perfect, but too bad I was sharing room with a guy, not a female, haha… The room was very comfortable, just like the room in 5-star hotel, completed with bathroom, big bed, air-con, TV, cabinet, etc., but I like their wooden structure and traditional architecture with more natural setting. They have a generator on island so power supply is available 24 hours. Each room was also given a mosquito insecticide. Since the accommodation is under the shade of trees, there are some mosquitoes around. Just keep your door closed all the time and it won’t be a problem. Don’t spray insecticide in your room coz it smells. I hope no tourists would spray this on their bodies like insect repellent.


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Chinese New Year was approaching so the restaurant was nicely decorated with new year theme. I didn’t really shoot a lot of nice photos. My external flash (Canon 580 EX II) was malfunction (and it costed me RM427 to fix it later, about USD$120!). Another thing was I had 3 dives at Sipadan Island earlier, so tired that I had little mood to move in such a relaxing environment.


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Anyway, I still checked out the sunset from a 20 Metres wooden tower inside the resort. It was a breath-taking view on top. They said we could see island of Philippines just 500 Metres away from east side of the island. Look at the photo below. I didn’t see any island though. FYI, my mobile phone could receive one bar of weak signal at the jetty. Sound quality was bad but I was able to text (sms).


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Next morning I waked up early for the sunrise shots. After that, it was low tide so I tried to walk to Mataking Kecil along the exposed sand. But I was a bit late. The connecting sand was flooded by incoming high tide. There were many stuffs washed up to the beach, like tree branches, corals, seaweed, etc. Not quite pretty for beach photos. They say April and May are the best months for photography, as there is little junk on the beach. Mataking Besar is not very big. To walk circling the island only takes 40 minutes.


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Previous night I was supposed to join the night safari at 9pm. But they cancelled it, for the reason that part of the trail was blocked by high tide. So disappointed… Because the famous coconut crabs only come out at night. Coconut crab is closely related to lobster and a protected species. They feed on coconut and pandan pineapples, and baby coconut crab also shelters in seashell like hermit crab. Another feature of the night walk is the firefly “Christmas” tree. I am surprised Mataking has fireflies. The fireflies there always gather on a specific plant every night. If you are lucky, you will see turtle laying eggs. They will collect the eggs and put them inside a hatchery area in the resort. When the turtles hatched, they will release them back into the sea. They have released thousands of baby turtles. 99% are green turtles.


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Anyway, I decided to exlpore the forest in the morning. The friendly host, Ms Fatimah, was kind to be my company and gave an educational tour. The “jungle” was not so jungle, as the trees on this island are small and short (but quite dense), look more like a city park. It was fairly a short tour. Fatimah introduced the fruits and herb we saw along the trail. The vegetation of this island forest is so different. I had visited so many places and islands in Sabah, but most of the plant in Mataking looks so unfamiliar, may be Mataking is too far from mainland so it has developed its own unique ecology.


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There was a police base on the island. On the beach, I saw so many old and new footprints of guide dogs, meaning that patrol is carried out regularly. They also have more police bases in nearby islands. Despite the travel advisory from US, this is really a safe place. I will come back again, hopefully next time bringing a female. I am not that irresistible but the island is. 😉


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Photos taken in Semporna, Sabah Malaysia