Not quite Vietnam....

By the time we got back from Canada we were both absolutely exhausted and quite relieved that we had left a break of 4 days for planning before we were due to fly out to Vietnam. After making some tentative decisions about which places we were going to stop off in and where we wanted to stay, we enjoyed having a few days to stay in and chill out by the pool. It wasn't until we went to catch our flight to Vietnam that we realized we obviously hadn't done enough planning. Until we were turned away at check in, we were both unaware that you are unable to get a visa on arrival in Vietnam, unlike every other Asian country we've been to. After an embarrassing few minutes of exclamation and claims that this obviously couldn't be the case for a British passport as us Brits must be exempt from that rule (poor argument I know, but worth a try), we gave up and headed to the Vietnam embassy. As it was 3.00 on a Friday afternoon before the 5 day Thai holiday of Songkran, we didn't hold out much hope of being able to get the visas in any kind of a hurry. We were told that we would have to wait 6 days before leaving and we weren't quite prepared to waste that much of our holiday hanging around in Bangkok. So, with a rather abrupt change of plan and very little organisation we headed off to Borneo the next day.

In truth, Borneo wasn't simply picked out of a hat as a replacement destination. We have been looking into it for some time and were hoping to go in October. Both myself and Nick have been hearing about that holy grail of dive locations; Pulau Sipidan for a very long time. Sipidan is a small atoll island about an hour's boat ride from Semporna on the coast of Malaysian Borneo. Once arriving in Semporna however, we found it wasn't as simple as we had hoped to get out to Sipidan. All accommodation on Sipidan itself was closed down in 2004 as there was fear that all the development was causing too much of a strain on the surrounding underwater ecosystem. What a nice treat to see, buildings being pulled down to protect the wildlife. Now all the diving is done on boat trips from Semporna or one of the surrounding islands and visitors numbers have been limited. We were faced with trying to find a dive shop that had space on the boat or were able to get permits. Some places get them every day, some every other. We had to trek around them all.

Our first day's diving was at Mabul as we were unable to get permits for Sipidan. We weren't that bothered as according to the guide book claims, Mabul is the 'home of muck diving'. Maybe it was once, but having been to Lembah, we were both quite disappointed. We didn't really see anything new, all very average apart from a pretty cool dive under an old oil rig. Apparently the rig was positioned where it was (right in front of probably the most expensive resort in all of Borneo) just to annoy the wealthy resort owners. Think you'd be a bit pissed if you'd spent a fortune to stay there and when you opened your shutters you saw the picturesque huts, flowers and deck, all surrounded by reef edged crystal blue water, right up to the great big ugly rig 150 metres of shore. As I said though, makes a pretty unusual dive site!

With all the hype about Sipidan I really was expecting the diving experience of my life. When we dropped in for our first dive and found ourselves faced with a school of bat fish and 3 huge green turtles all within the first five metres, it really did live up to it's reputation. However, I thought if I made it there, then I would be nearly guaranteed to see a hammerhead. Not so and it's still on the wish list. While the diving was unquestionably dramatic, with a vertical 600 metre drop off 20 metres from the beach to dive along, it never really produced that 'oh my god' wow factor I'm still waiting for. But, as I've said before, I think that we're maybe a bit spoilt. I am sure that the majority of divers would be content with countless turtles on every dive, sharks on every dive, schools of banner fish, a school of 20 white-tip on the prowl, and the meanest 1.5 metre tuna I've ever seen. There was one element of the diving in Sipidan that was quite simply unforgettable however, and that was being underwater while dynamite fishing goes on nearby. With Sipidan's proximity to both the Philippines and Indonesia, apparently this happens all the time. The first time we heard it underwater we couldn't work out what it was. A huge great bang that seems to come from all around you. The only thing I thought it could be was a high pressure hose exploding and ended up frantically looking round for someone in distress. The second time it happened the effect was even more dramatic, that bang seemed quieter, but you could feel the shock wave travel right through the water and your body You reverberate inside like you've been caught in a sonic boom. It's quite distressing to know that you're in one of most revered marine parks in the world, while the most indiscriminately destructive fishing technique is used right next door.