Diving @ Sipadan

Carbon dioxide vents, increased water temperature due to industrialization and climate change, homo sapiens’ gastronomical demands for sushi, an increase in eco-marine tourism, pollution… and the list goes on and on for reasons why our seas and marine life lay at the brink of destruction and death.

Senility, disease, high-speed travel, criminal activities that abound, natural calamities and disasters may also be some reason why my person too may be poised at the threshold of extinction.

These are just some morbid thoughts that intensify my determination to get to the bottom of the blue sea and enjoy God’s marvelous creation, which I only can view by donning my scuba gear. Unwittingly it is also one way to escape the morose feelings while overlooking the fact that one malfunction of my equipment in the depths or a famished shark could abruptly end my jaunt as well.

Admittedly this is not the best way to introduce an album. It was purposely done to give balance to the beauty and thrill that the photos were meant to portray. Beauty is better appreciated when it stands in stark contrast with the sinister.

check out number 3. Barracuda point is one of the dozens of dive sites around Sipadan island.

each number corresponds to a trip... all were plane rides except for #3 which was by boat from sandakan malaysia to zamboanga philippines.

Suvarnabhummi airport this was my first time to depart from this airport at daytime and i had the chance to take some photos.

nice cloud formation to KL

malaysia is nothing but palm trees

airport to KL train link

F1 racing crazed malaysians

awe inspiring petronas twin towers

1st class accommodations at KLIA-LCCT

the atm that won't give me money :(

getting used to malaysian currency

KL to Sabah... mt. kinabalu summit over the clouds. I'll climb you someday.

bus from tawau to semporna

semporna jetty

my first dinner at semporna...the chef was a batangeno. 25 ringgit

holiday dive inn where i stayed

Sipadan Scuba dive shop

inside the shop

aerial view of sipadan isle and reef

dive-site map

first day of diving did it at two islands 

2 boats to mantabuan

230-horse power

mantabuan beach

before the dive

Ingrid demonstrating the basics of underwater photography

frog fish

did drift diving here between the islands

gold spotted flat worm

a decommissioned oil rig now its a hotel.

I'd rather stay in these sea houses

muck diving at mabul

artificial reefs... batfish

with Florian doing wreck diving

300 ft there behind jun.

going over the days activities

dive buddy alex (french)

the jump sequence - back flip

last check...

the big splash

approaching sipadan island

another side of sipadan

dive buddies sandy (US) and florian (Ger)

ali (bisdak) and michelle (UK)... they just got married 6 months ago.

Ingrid (Austrian) my dive instructor showing off my advanced open water diver certificate after passing the oral exams.

on the boat to zamboanga

catching up on sleep

basilan island... abu sayaf territory

sun setting over sabah borneo

sunset afterglow

Lambda Sigma's first dive

In my first year at college (38 years ago) Lambda Sigma was established by the pre-med biology students at MVC. This club could have been a fraternity/sorority if only there were no rules against organizations of this type. In due time I grew up (not old) and found myself back in school teaching the nth generation of Lambda Sigma.

Fast forward 20 years and I bump into some of them in Bangkok, and the rest is history. Here's the album to document our first dive as a club just after Cheery and Nuj successfully hurdled their PADI OW course.

 Thai rice soup. in other words LUGAW for dinner. That day was the 3rd day of gastroenteritis I contacted after eating some yogurt and before leaving the house I discharged twice. I made sure that the bus I took had a toilet and prayed that God would seal my asshole for the ride.

 the best carrot cake in decades. courtesy of noods whose talents were encouraged by my sisters eons ago when he used to visit our house as kid. this cake was our midnight snack and breakfast.

 Noods and I share a room. a bed & breakfast joint at jomtien beach.

 Cheery loading up the diving gear.

 Raymond from the big apple with and cheery from char...ran.

 in the songthaew to bali hai pier.

 that's our dive boat

 Raymond busy applying sunblock. I declined the lotion because carabao skin doesn't benefit from it.

 dive teams identified. cheerey is cheery and ben is noods.

 dive master Chris. he was Cheery's PADI instructor in her 3rd and 4th certifying dives for OW.

 Noods strapping on the gear. he just got certified a week ago and looks like he's lost in the pre-dive preparations.

 Cheery getting ready to jump

 Noods getting checked out before he takes the plunge

 pink fins + baking... hmmm... i'm starting to have questions about Noods. he loved the sea as long as he was on a boat or at the beach. the deep blue was his fear factor until he took the first dive. now he's hooked for life.

 yeah that's him... he is a physical therapist who teaches biology subjects at an international school in Bangkok. he also has a very mean serve and topspin.

 Cheery took to the water like nemo. she's an ophthalmologist who comes from a coastal town in mindanao.

 the current was moderate and cheery had to hold on to a rock for this pose.

 I guess Chris was a moose in his past life. now he's a cross between moose and fish.

 bristle worms

 angel fish

 2-kg angel fish. they were really huge

 thai lady divers... Nok - the lady standing is just as big as a scuba tank but she's at home in the depths.

 after the first dive...stripped for lunch. can't bring wet divewear upstairs. mademoiselle behind me took the stripping down too seriously though.

 lunch... and cheery gets busy even if one more dish is still coming up.

 after lunch an hour before the 2nd dive

 the head shows who's who.

 engrossed with a clown fish

 a skunk clown anemone fish

 a butterfly fish

 a sting ray waiting for lunch

 a solitary jelly fish

 an unexploded mortar. South rock is an outcrop an hour and a half boat ride from Pattaya and the Thai Navy uses it as a target in their shelling exercises. some unexploded ordinance can be found like this one.

 some squirrel fish keeping an eye on me.

 up from the depths

 congratulating each other after the last dive

 fresh water shower...

 as the boat heads back to Pattaya

Noods waiting for his bus. I took this photo from my bus