August 26, 2008
Sipadan Photos
I finally
got off my lazy ass and put up the Sipadan photos here.
Unfortunately, we didn't manage to go to Sipadan on each of the 3 days that we were and ended up diving at Mabul and Kapalai only. My verdict: if you can't get to Sipadan, the diving at Mabul and Kapalai is only so-so. The coral life was not as abundant as other places I've been and while the fish are big (check out the pomfret in the photos) they weren't teeming as they apparently do in Sipadan.
The biggest surprise was the number of nudibranchs I saw on the trip. I love nudibranchs; they're my favourite thing to spot. On this trip I saw much more than I expected to, with one spot having not less than 5 nudibranchs of different sizes. My diving buddies weren't as pleased though, as they were there to see the big fish and not the small teeny-tiny stuff.
Would I go back to Sipadan again? Probably, but only if we could get some sort of assurance of getting the permit. Otherwise, there's better diving elsewhere. Having said that, the resort we stayed at (Sipadan Mabul Resort) was one of the best I've stayed at so far in terms of quality, price and efficiency. It's a really well-run organisation so I'd recommend it to anyone thinking of going to Sipadan.
Enjoy the photos! I am in Delhi for the next few days, brushing up on my head-shaking and gorging on Indian food :D
Posted by scrabbyfoo at August 26, 2008 04:47 PM