I am sceptical when I hear somewhere is THE Place to go. I tend to avoid such destinations for fear they are tourist traps. My expectation was that I would find nearby islands more satisfying. Less hype, greater delivery.
I was wrong. Entirely. Absolutely. Sipadan is incredible. A sheer wall that starts metres from it's uninhabited beach. Turtles, barracuda, white tip, black tip, leopard sharks. Some divers saw a whale shark the day before I dived. They had a 2 day dive permit. They saw another on the second day. Bastards.
Barracuda circle above my head. Hundreds, thousands, parading in a tornado of beauty. Mesmerising. We drop deeper. In every direction there are sharks. Above, below, left, right, in front, behind. If I were to signal each sighting to my dive buddies I would invent scuba-karate. Turtles in abundance, fish and reef of every colour, shape, variety. On any other dive they would be the star, here they form a wonderful backdrop, a technicolor of dance, colour and emotion.
Sometimes when you meet your dream you are disappointed.
Then there is Sipadan.
*****
Kapalai House Reef
As we enter the water I hear a tank banger drum roll.
DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING
Either someone is in trouble or something very special had been sighted. We swim full pelt towards the noise. The excitement in the water confirms the rarity. I control my air intake and manoeuvre so I see the prize.
A beautiful blue ringed octopus, 4 inches long, scuttling around on the sea bed.
Naturally, we do the 'I just saw a blue ringed octopus' underwater dance.
It's really quite a thing to see.
*****
Yesterday I dived Sipadan. Today I met a friend and asked how her day was. The beautiful smile on her face told me everything. She dived Sipadan. Her smile is uncontrollable, my own also. It lights my face as I write these words.
Sipadan. Sipadan. Some day soon we shall dance again. Sipadan.
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