//Machine Guns in Paradise – Sipadan Diving

Machine Guns in Paradise – Sipadan Diving

Reprinted with permission from Tank’s Travels

Some of the 120 daily divers arrive. We left our resort at 6:00 am to get in the water and diving by 7:00 am.

Some of the 120 daily divers arrive. We left our resort at 6:00 am to get in the water and diving by 7:00 am.

Wasn’t sure what to make of the scowling military guys with machine guns. Later, I was told they were there for my protection.

When I saw them playing with Sipadan Island’s friendlier stray cats, I knew they were good guys.

Sipadan is in Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia. It almost always makes scuba diving top ten lists. Jacques Cousteau, back in the day, gave it a thumbs up.

Tank gives it two thumbs up.

It is, bar none, the best place I’ve ever scuba dived. Shark-infested waters (white tip, non-aggressive), giant schools of fish and turtles galore. Warm water. Gorgeous beach on which to relax between dives.

The downside of Sipadan is also its upside. Malaysia restricts the number of divers to 120 per day, which means it’s relatively uncrowded and the marine environment is being protected.

The 120 permits have been divvied up among dive shops and resorts. They sell to each other when they have spares. Getting a permit – beyond the guarantee you may get with your hotel or diving reservation – isn’t easy or cheap.

Which means you can travel a long way, like from Canada, to only be guaranteed one day of Sipadan diving. That was my guarantee. In order to get that, I had to book at least five nights in a fairly swish cabin at the SMART Resort on nearby Mabul Island. (Roughly a 45 minute boat ride away.)

I booked seven nights and dove six days. I dove Sipadan on four of those days.

Yup. I hit the jackpot. I asked to buy extra Sipadan permits, if they became available. On three occasions, other divers at the resort elected to not dive Sipadan. (Insane??) So, I was offered the spare permits. The extra several hundred dollars I paid was well worth the expense. I may never get the chance to return. These memories are priceless.

Gorgeous. White sand. Turquoise water. That’s barbed wire on the left. No pics of the soldiers. Feared they might shoot me!

Gorgeous. White sand. Turquoise water. That’s barbed wire on the left. No pics of the soldiers. Feared they might shoot me!

So what’s up with the machine guns?

In 2000, 21 people were kidnapped from Sipadan by a terrorist group – 10 tourists from Europe and the Middle East, and 11 resort workers. They were taken, at gunpoint, to the Philippines. Most were released within five months after an offensive by the Philippine government.

The military presence on Sipadan is meant to prevent a hostage taking like the one in 2000 from happening again.

 

 

 

About the author:: Karen Tank:::always in the water. Not sure why it took Tank decades to figure out she’d LOVE scuba diving. (not that bright, perhaps?)

Tank enjoys nothing more than squeezing into an economy airplane seat (window please!) and lugging scuba gear around the world in her Rimowa suitcase.

When she has time to think, she thinks she’s full of great travel ideas, stories and tips.

You be the judge.

When she isn’t travelling, Tank lives in Vancouver, Canada.

She worked as a reporter for CBC News for a long time. Now, she teaches (that’s scary) aspiring broadcasters and does other communications-related stuff.

 

 

By | 2018-06-18T19:54:43+00:00 December 19th, 2015|Scuba Travel|0 Comments

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