Snorkeling at Sipadan & SWV

Good morning, Mabul! I was really excited today...we spent almost the whole morning at Sipadan!! *woohoo!* We set off towards Sipadan at 7:15a.m. (fuh, I've to wake up so much earlier during my holiday...) & the speedboat ride took 20 minutes.

Military ship seen right outside from my chalet window

Speedboat ride to Sipadan *happy!*

That's Sipadan :D

Words just don't suffice to describe how excited I felt this morning upon arriving at the Sipadan island *smiles from ear to ear*

Hello, Sipadan! :P

The beach & sea

We had to register first before heading out to sea for snorkeling/diving

The reef is out there....

Our first snorkel was at the Barracuda Point. The view there was AWESOME!! The first type of fish we saw was the Bumphead. They were HUGE & all were swimming in a school right in front of us! Scary! Right after that, we saw a school of Barracudas! Oh my goodness...priceless! They were so large & up-close that it sent shivers down our spine...but I was SO excited, no doubt ;)

We spent almost 45 minutes snorkeling with our guide, Nazbar, a local Mabul guy (excellent fella), & I truly 'swim' in awe...there were some Sharks, more than TEN TURTLES swimming pass us, a large Jellyfish, Tigerfish, & tonnes of fishes of all shapes, color, & sizes. There were some all-blacks, some black-bodied with white tails, some in myriad of colors, some shining silver...ah, endless...corals, reefs....*faints in awe* I sure hope that the photos taken with that disposable underwater camera comes out! It's quite unfortunate that my camera's housing costs so much....if not, I would have gotten that instead...

The Resting House

No one is allowed to stay at this island, so all you can do is to rest here after a dive...

Signboard written in the Bajau language

This signboard caught my attention & I was told by my snorkeling guide that the words above are in the Bajau language/dialect

After resting for around half an hour, we headed off to our 2nd diving/snorkeling point: South Point. The beauty of marine life is indescribable :)

Our speedboat, Lady Ai Ping

Back at the Sipadan Water Village....

*Goooonggg!!*

Each time any group of guests arrive at the SWV, the gong will be sounded to alert the employees so that the welcoming party could gather to welcome the guests. Fwah....hospitality "ichiban"!

The reception area

Black starfish! :D

Looks like a huge star-anise to me...hahaha...

Angel Fish Feeding

Unique corals

Colorful too!

Hello, sea cucumber!

Can you see it? It looks like some slug/snake from here...hahaha...

Lunch at the SWV

Puffy-fish?

I caught the sight of this "fat"/puffy fish...no idea what sorta fish this is, but it looks pretty cute & rare! My first time seeing this at the SWV :)

Another unique-looking fish

So cute...so many fishes are half-and-half :P Ah, what a colorful world under-the-sea...

Recess!

I've more photos taken, but these are the better ones to share :) We even made friends with our snorkeling-guide, Nazbar, who brought us on a private tour around the Mabul island...*screams in excitement!!* Just like what Aaron calls me, "Kanak-kanak gembira", I truly felt like one ;) Heh.

More updates to come!


Dreams of the marine-life at Sipadan,