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Semporna is a small Malaysian port town close to the border of Indonesia and some of the Philippine islands. The only reason to visit this town is to access the many dive sites that lay about 36km off the coast. Unfortunately, the town itself is a bit of a dump. There is rubbish strewn everywhere and packs of dogs haunt every corner, so we settled in for the night ready to leave early the next morning to Mabul Island - part of the national park that encircles all the dive sites.

Mabul is a small island, only really used by divers as a base to explore the surrounding dive sites. It takes 25 minutes to walk along the beach and end up back where you started! There are a few dive resorts there and not a lot else!! This is where you could get pure relaxation. Our room rental, included our 3 meals a day so there was very little else for us to do, except diving!

The most sought after spot to dive at is Sipadan Island. Here you can see more or less everything! And in huge amounts too! One diver told us he saw more in his 40 minute dive here, than he had seen in all his other dives put together. Consequently, even in low season, there is a waiting list to gain the permit necessary to dive the waters at Sipadan. Only 120 divers per day are lucky enough to receive the permit.

The permit came about mostly due to the fact the government has realised they have a natural wonder that needs preserving, but also as this tiny island was (and to some extent, continues to be) the site of much international debate. Due to its proximity to the Philippines, a court battle ensued as to who had the rights to claim the island as their own. Malaysia was granted ownership. Then in 2002, the island was a scene of a much publicised kidnapping. Now, no one is allowed to live on or visit the island, hence the permit for the surrounding waters.

Alas, we didn't allow enough time for ourselves to secure the permit. We were absolutely gutted and resigned to the fact we were only going to be able to dive the Mabul sites. Actually, they turned out to be pretty good too!!! We did 3 dives in one day - pretty exhausting, but worth it! The middle dive was a first for both of us - it took place under an old oil rig. The owner had brought it over to the island, planted it about 1km off the coast and used it as a hotel. He then dumped (and we mean dumped!) loads of junk and man made structures under it, that encouraged soft coral to grow amongst it, and in turn welcomed masses of fish and marine life to make their home there too! We saw some great creatures, but it was kind of eerie swimming amongst tyres, restaurant signs and abandoned scaffolding! However, I think the last dive was probably the best, not really for the dive site itself; it was pretty dull in terms of coral life, but the animals we saw! My favourite had to be 2 huge green turtles, which were apparently at least 100 years old, sitting amongst the base of the buoy line and getting cleaned by cleaning shrimps! We got so close to them and they didn't seem to mind at all!

Maybe not getting to see Sipadan turned out ok in the end, as now we have an excuse to head back there as soon as we can! But this time we will make sure we book the permit well in advance!