“Heaven on earth, well, underwater!”-me
Wait until you see the video of the day I had. Malaysia > Borneo > Semporna > Sipadan > Barracuda Point = one of the top 3 dive sites in the world. All I can say is that this place is magical. I told you a while ago that Koh Phi Phi Leh was the most beautiful place in the world but I think that his island really is. I cried wolf.
On top of that I had one of those perfect storm of events. 3/5 people going on the fun dive (not part of a course) didn’t show up so the dive was much less crowded than it could have been. The dive master was a local who had been diving here for 11 years (9,000 dives). Even to this day, he has a ton of enthusiasm. He was also the videographer for the dive too.
It was kind of lame because there was some Danish “Kid” that was posing to run the show. The truth is, my guide has been running this place since this Kid was in Diapers. My guide didn’t seem to mind taking the back burner, but when he gave an order under water, I followed him (the local, you know, with 9000 dives and 11 years experience)
There was a dive master in training at the rear of the group who was a Norweigan in her 40s. She had only dove the spot the day before and you could tell that she was a little apprehensive about the responsibility of keeping us safe. Next we had “my dive buddy” (as far as i was concerned, the local (you know the one with 9000 dives, and 11 years experience AT THIS SPOT) was my partner. She was a Russian gal who was completely clueless under water (but two levels above me in certification). Bumping into everyone, you will see on the video how I began to kick my fins in order to keep her away from me. If she got remotely close to me, she would be kicked by me constantly. And wait until you see where she keeps her hands. Right out in front of her, like she would loose her hands if she couldn’t stare at them constantly.
My guide, on the other hand, was a total bad ass. As the Russian ran out of air (50/200 bars) I had 90/200 Bars, but my guide had 120/200 bars! He had all that extra air even after he swam circles around us for the hour.
I’ll write another post about what I actually saw under water shortly. Probably after I have a chance to watch the video again. It’s about 30 minutes long and isn’t edited much, so you’ll want click on it (via youtube) and walk away from your computer. You might want to fast forward parts. And if my computer were working, I would edit it to a mean 5 minutes (which I might still do if I can get my computer working again by Japan).
$$$$$ I watched the Video $$$$$$$$$
It really doesn’t do it justice, but It will give you an idea 
The first dive was definitely the best part of my diving career by far. Better than mantas, better than the whale shark. It was the Utopian society that went on under water. It was the sheer display of over kill opulence. Might as well have been one big underwater orgasm. And was it the best moment in all my travels? Oh yeah! Best moment in my life? Well there was a moment when I rolled onto my back and put my arms behind my back and looked up at the swirling ball of 1000s of fish and just relaxed. Ya, that was the best moment in my life.
The movie doesn’t really capture all the colors and grandeur, but it will give you an idea. The thing that makes this place so special is that it’s all going on at once. and it’s only a few feet away from the short pier that leads to the island. It just drops off into oblivion and “the big show”.
The island above water is also completely beautiful as well though and much less crowded than usual.
Check back on this post to see if the youtube video is ready yet. This internet is incredibly slow so it very well might not be ready for a day or so.