City Inn Semporna

<br><br>I just got done with my open water and advanced open water scuba diving certificate. I went down to the area of Sipidan, which is located in Southeast Borneo. It is known as one of the top 10 dive sites in the world. I booked my scuba vacation with Billabong Scuba weeks in advance becasue Sipadan only allows 120 divers a day and it books out very early. I stayed at Billabongs home stay on Mabul ...

... state in Malaysia country.Semporna is the last frontier, with beautiful islands, corals, and fish. Good for snorkeling and diving. Also the homes of Bajau tribe with unique culture.<br><br>*Including ...

We had a quick ferry stop at Labuan Island after leaving Brunei, but this doesn't really count as a stop, so our next official stop is the City of Kota Kinabalu . We check into a lovely homestay and briefly enquire about the prospects of climbing KK mountain. It feels like 'the thing to do' whilst we're here, but neither of us were desperate to do it. So instead we decide to splash out on an underwater camera for our upcoming snorkelling trip to ...

Sipadan Island is one of the the worlds most famous dive sites, and justifiably so. The marine life here is simply staggering, with sharks, turtles and barracuda all being the norm.<br><br>There's only 140 people allowed on this island per day, including snorkelers, so there's a 2 weeks waiting list to go diving here. This was something I had no idea about, but once again Lady Luck stepped in to help me along the way ...

... see them. This really is one of the most dispicable acts we manage as humans. One hundred million sharks are killed every year, mostly for their fins. Yes, you read that right. 100 million. Most of the time the sharks are still alive when they're dumped back into the ocean, and then just sink to the bottom and die a slow, painful death. I don't even want to write about it any more because I get so angry.<br><br><br>

... nogen der svor aldrig at ville goere det igen. Udsigten og erkendelsen af praestationen var det hele vaerd. Her to dage efter kan vi stadigvaek ikke gaa ordentligt.<br>Nu staar programmet paa afslapning og dykning ved et af verdens bedste dykkersteder. Bl.a. Sipadan, Mabul og Kapalai oeerne.<br>Haaber i alle har det godt derhjemme og det kan vaere vi hoerer fra nogen af jer i vores gaestebog;-)<br>Mange hilsener Lone og Martin<br>

... headed to the airport and all went our seperate directions, my<br>friends flew to KL and i went back to KK. It was the worst flight i<br>have ever been on, there was a big storm with lots of thunder and<br>lightning as we were taking off and we flew through really bad<br>turbulence for the whole flight. The only good thing about the flight<br>was that i was sat next to a malaysian model who was off to KK for a<br>photoshoot, she was also terrified for the whole flight as well.

... went off to the island. Now keep in mind here, I've just taken a 24 train ride from Bangkok down to Kuala Lumpur, then a plane ride from KL to a grimy little town on the Island of Borneo called KK... a 12 hour bus ride to Sipilok to see Orangutans, then another 7 hour bus ride to Semporno, now we are on a 1 hour boat ride to the Island of Mabul where we are within viewing distance of the prestigious Sipidan Island. <br><br>The boat ride comes and we get rained on... no ...