Kapalai Dive Resort

After 7 dives in 2 days, I was exhausted and slept almost the whole day the day after (while Matt continued on his merry way blogging and faffing on the cheap internet we found). In case you couldn't tell, there's really nothing else besides diving in Semporna, although it appears the major dive operators are creating a bit more "life" for the town by opening bars and pizzerias in the newer part of town close to the wharf.

The Dragon Inn - only $24 per night!

Anyways, we had become accustomed to stilt village living (and seeing water through the floor) having stayed in the Dragon Inn the last few nights, a hotel that takes up the majority of the Semporna Ocean Tourism Complex and built just off the shore from town, however we were excited about our next few nights out at Sipadan Kapalai Resort.

Our boat picked us up at the wharf in the morning and after a very choppy and bumpy ride (from all the bad weather) we were in the middle of the ocean in just under an hour. Kapalai Resort is built on a sand bar about 15 minutes boat ride from Sipadan - which was going to be great not having to endure that ride out to Sipadan from the mainland everyday!

We were welcomed by smiling faces, orange juice with umbrellas and waiver forms and were run through "orientation" including how everything worked, the boat schedules and feeding times and just as information overload was setting in, we were kitted up ready for our first dive.



The dive master lead all the newbies around the area just off the jetty to familiarise us with the area. Reef and coral were sparse, but the 5 or so wrecks sunk nearby formed a great home to tonnes of fish and the mother of all moray eels.


Back up for lunch and our rooms were finally ready. We settled in and admired the view for a bit, before kitting up again for another dive- this time to 'Seaventures Platform' an old oil rig stationed nearby to Mabul (an island nearby) which had been converted into accommodation.


It was during this dive that it occurred to us what the next week was going to be like... There was one dive master per 12 people and despite his requests to take it in turns to view the interesting features he was pointing out, it ended up being more of a rugby match with people pushing to get photos and often losing awareness of their surroundings, kicking other divers and coral in the process. Instantly, Matt and I lost interest in the crowd and did our own thing as much as possible, appreciating even more the attention and relaxed atmosphere we had enjoyed from having the instructor to ourselves with North Borneo. The dive master soon noticed what was happening and a couple of times he pointed to something for us and then swam away before the others would notice! However it was very tiresome and annoying to be diving with so many people around, having to watch them because they don't watch out for you and to not be able to take your camera out for too long, as the instant you find something cool - 10 people swim over and scare it away!


We got back to the resort and had another quick dive at dusk off the pier (just the two of us) at a place called Mandarin Valley. We got a little lost, but didn't have to swim too far and were well and truly ready for dinner when we got back.

Our Villa

The view from the porch! There was shallow reef below with trumpet
fish and turtles feeding and swimming by.

The next morning we opted for the 'early session' out to Sipadan which meant diving at 5.30am, 8am and 11am in the hope that the early start might deter some people. Unfortunately, we weren't so lucky... but our luck only got worse.

Matt had trouble with his ears on the first dive and after more than five minutes of trying to equalise at about 5 metres we ended up deciding the safest thing was to pull the plug and get back on the boat.

We were back on track for the second and third dives at Barracuda Point and Mid Reef and so later in the afternoon we decided to try navigate Mandarin Valley again. We jumped in and were starting to head down when at about 10 metres I felt this excruciating pain in my tooth, sending shooting pains into my cheek and creating really bad mask squeeze. Matt says he heard me screaming underwater!! I had taken my regulator out, because it had felt like it had split my gums!! I signaled to Matt and headed to the surface- probably a bit quicker than I should have. At the surface we inspected the damage- but there was no blood and no pain?? Given my gum wasn't split and there was no pain, I could equalise like normal and felt fine again, we decided to go down again. This time at 5 metres the same thing happened, not quite as badly, but definitely bad enough to call it a day.

We had our buffet dinner and made a call to the travel insurance agent to speak with a nurse. The dive masters assured me that I would probably be fine tomorrow and trusting their experience we signed up for the 5.30 start again, knowing there was a boat back to the mainland at 11am if necessary. Over dinner, Matt organised a dive partner to do a night dive off the pier later that evening, but I decided a magazine was a better option for me that evening.

To end our fairly disastrous day, I went down to meet Matt as he was getting out of the water at the pier (after some swimming again!) and just as the dive crew were helping him to get his BC off and get out of the water- he exclaimed "Something just bit me!" and began looking around for the offender.

A short while later Matt was being showered down, complaining of a burning sensation, cramps and difficulty breathing. Quite worried I sat him down in the shower and called over every person I could see floating around the area at the time, just in case one of them had any idea what it may have been, what to do and who to call (stupidly, what to do in an emergency wasn't part of orientation!)

The nice big welt on his neck, arm and leg was washed in vinegar and he was placed on oxygen therapy for 20 minutes or so, the consensus being most likely a jellyfish sting that would itch a lot but not cause any major damage. With Matt's breathing back under control, the cramps not as bad and kitted up with phone numbers and having scoped out the quickest route from our room to the phone, we were sent to bed.

Up again at 5am and both not feeling too bad from our respective injuries, we were at the dive centre ready to leave, only to be told that it wasn't safe to take the boats out due to the storms that had had us up at 2am closing up our villa and getting rained on in the bathroom. So it was off with our soggy togs and back into bed for a couple of hours until the weather calmed down.

At 8.30am we were back on a boat a small distance from Kapalai. The dive was good with the highlight being a flamboyant cuttlefish showing off his light show (I got there first! But didn't have the camera : ( ). I only had a small amount of pain in my tooth and Matt said his neck felt ok.

At lunchtime we headed out to Sipadan for a couple of dives at Barracuda Point again. The dive master explained that we had to stay in the same place again because it was the most protected from the weather and currents- but it didn't really matter anyway as every time we got in the water we saw something different!!

Confidently, we dived into the water and began our decent - but it was all over for me - the pain I felt was worse than the previous day and I immediately surfaced and signaled for the boat. We had warned the dive master of this possibility and Matt continued his decent to catch up with the group and buddy with the dive master. I sat on the boat for the rest of day, snorkeling for half an hour or so after lunch and chatting with the boat men who all rafted up to ask me questions! Matt did another dive and then we were back at the resort for dinner and to re-think the next few days.

We had been chatting with some of our new found friends at the resort, Frederick and Marie-Claire and MC had had similar problems in the past caused by sinus which in turn caused referred pain and pressure in her teeth.

We decided that if I couldn't dive, there was no point paying to be at a five star dive resort. It was sad to have to end our luxurious "honeymoon", but I was taken straight to the doctor from the boat, have taken some antibiotics and am feeling much better. Matt's sting has reduced down to an extremely itchy rash and today we have started the paperwork nightmare with the insurance company (as the 6 day package was not refundable).

So its on to Singapore next and then home. See you all soon! XX