First there was Jacques Cousteau who declared diving around the island of Sipadan superb. Then there were several dive magazines, including Rodale's Scuba Diving and SkinDiver, that named Sipadan as one of the top dive sites in the world. Indeed, I have been itching to visit Sipadan ever since I heard about these broad accolades. Last week, I had my wish fulfilled.

I waited this long to dive Sipadan was due in part of logistics. Getting to Sipadan in the past was a journey itself. The closest airport to Sipadan is Tawau. In the past, you had to fly to Kota Kinabalu or Kuala Lumpur first before transferring a flight to Tawau. Alternatively, one can take a bus there cheaply but the downside is the 8-hour long road trip. While there is still no direct flight from Singapore to Tawau, getting to Sipadan today is made considerably easier with the advent of Air Asia. This Malaysian-owned, low-cost airline has added a flight route from Johor Bahru to Tawau. Getting to Johor Bahru Senai International Airport (JHB) from Singapore does require a bit of effort. Fortunately, Wikitravel provides quite a detailed article on traveling from Singapore to JHB . If you wish to travel by taxi, then you have to take a Malaysian-registered taxi, which can go anywhere in Malaysia, at the Malaysian taxi station at Queen Street in Singapore. The taxi fare from Singapore to JHB is S$55 (Singapore Dollars). From the opposite direction, the taxi ride from JHB to Singapore is more expensive. You will have to purchase a taxi voucher in the JHB terminal for RM160 (Malaysian Riggit), which is roughly equivalent to S$70, before presenting the voucher to a taxi usher outside who will then direct you to a taxi to take you over the border. Actually, taking the bus from JHB is a much cheaper alternative and it isn't as difficult as it seems. Here is a rough guide to the bus ride from JHB to Singapore. One thing to keep in mind is that the traffic at the border (or commonly known as The Causeway to the locals) is horrendously bad during rush hour, so allow ample leeway in your travel schedule.

No-frills Air Asia	Tawau airport terminal

Once you are in JHB, the rest of the journey to Sipadan is actually quite easy. Boarding an AirAsia flight is pretty straightforward. I find the experience similar to that of RyanAir: straightforward and no-frills. Since most dive operators in Sipadan will offer to pick divers from Tawau airport for free, you can expect someone to receive you once you step out of the terminal. From Tawau, it takes about an hour to get to Semporna, a fishing village and gateway to Sipadan. If you haven't booked for accommodation in advance, taking a taxi to Semporna from Tawau airport is the other viable choice. In Semporna, you have several choices for accommodation. You could stay in Semporna and do day-trips to Sipadan or stay at one of the many dive resorts found in nearby islands of Sipadan. On the first night, we stayed at Dragon Inn, which isn't bad at all. However, the walls there aren't soundproofed, so just make sure you don't stay next to someone who sings loudly or is noisy. If you stay in Semporna, the boat ride from Semporna to Sipadan is about one hour. Staying in nearby islands like Mabul, Kalapai, and Mataking can dramatically cut your boat ride to Sipadan by another 30 to 40 minutes depending on the speed of the boat. For the rest of our trip, we stayed at Seaventures, an oil rig that has been converted to a dive resort. They provide not just accommodation but all meals, transportation, and air tanks for diving. In my next post, I will focus on my diving experience in Sipadan.

Seaventures - the oil rig converted dive resort	The area in seaventures where our scuba gears are stored

7/31/2007 11:45:41 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Scuba Diving