Turtle Power

Trip Start May 15, 2006
1
87
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Trip End Nov 2007


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Flag of Malaysia  ,
Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Another row with the minibus drivers early the next day and we were on the way to Semporna, jumping off point for Sipidan island. Everyone I've met who has been there raves about it so we were so excited. Basically you go there to dive or snorkel and you see lots of sharks and lots and lots of big turtles. Normally when you dive if you see one turtle its special and they are my fave thing to see underwater . You can't stay on Sipidan island, you can stay on Mabul which is nearby but its either silly money for a posh place or a really cheap grotty place so we decided to stay in Semporna in a nice but cheap hotel and do day trips to the islands. We really liked Semporna, a lot of people hated it but I thought it was a bustling (if dirty) town with a nice atmosphere, I was really glad it wasn't a "fake" resorty town that you sometimes get when there are lots of tourists coming to see one particualr place. The first day we couldn't get a trip to Sipidan cos there are only 90 permits for divers/snorkellers a day. we went to a nearby island and it was really disapointing, I don't want to talk about it cos I'm still upset about my wasted money! HOWEVER, the next day we went to Sipidan and to use the most overused word in travelling, it was amazing! I did 3 dives and saw countless sharks (white tip and grey reef) and more turtles than I could have hoped for as well as lots of other cool stuff like a huge trevally and unicorn fish, it really did live up to the hype. Dean also came and snorkelled and he too saw tons of sharks and turtles and generally had a fantastic day - even tho the annoying couple from Apo Island (remember the ones who wanted to steal the boat we'd booked) were on his boat! Luckily I went with a different company! Unfortunately we rounded off this most excellent day by taking an overnight bus back to KK and we arrived at 4am!
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