Borneo

November 4-17, 2010

Borneo — the name alone inspires visions of the exotic. This isn’t just a dive vacation, it’s an adventure — one that includes a lot more than just diving.

This trip includes stays at not one, but three different resorts, including the Sipadan-Mabul Resort and Borneo Rainforest Lodge. There are six days of three-tank boat dives off Mabul Island plus two days in the rain forest to experience orangutans and other exotic species.

November 4-7, 2010

Depart Los Angeles for Kota Kinabalu, Borneo. You will spend the next two nights at the Shangri La Tanjung Aru Resort, where you will be free to relax, sightsee and shop.

November 7-13, 2010

After a short flight from Kota Kinabalu, you will arrive at Tawau and travel by boat to Mabul Island. After checking in to the Sipadan-Mabul Resort, you will be able to make up to two boat dives the first day, and three boat dives on each of the next five days (plus unlimited shore diving). Boat dive locations include Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai Island. Meals are included for this portion of the trip.

Open any book on tropical fish and invertebrate marine life and you’ll see practically everything you’re going to see in Mabul. Not in ones or twos but in tens and twenties. You’ll see frogfish the size of soccer balls in blue and black. Every species of pipefish known. Fire gobies, both purple and red. Mandarin fish, ghost pipefish, many species of shrimp, wild and exotic sea urchins, crabs which will blow you away and lobsters by the dozens. Mabul is nudibranch heaven and if this is your bag, you’ll see more species on Mabul than everywhere else you’ve been combined.

Different sites are known for different animals. If you want to see a paper scorpionfish, then your guide will take you to Lobster Wall which is also great for nudibranchs and shrimp. If you can’t live until you’ve seen a Mandarin fish, then off you go to Mandarin Valley which is also home to the resident ghost pipefish and a black anglerfish the size of a rock melon. The Flamboyant cuttlefish lives at Froggy Lair along with two blue anglerfish (often referred to as frogfish) the size of soccer balls. Crocodile Avenue is a huge grass bed with heaps of huge crocodile fish, sea horses, sea moths (or pegasus fish), pipefish and snake eels.

But don’t think that each site only has one or two attractions. While there are reasons to visit each area, you’ll be encountering amazing animal after amazing animal throughout your dive. Non-photographers will find that they fill their slates with species long before the dive is over and the biggest problem for photographers is rationing the space on their SD cards.

November 14-16, 2010

You will travel by boat to Sukau Rainforest Lodge along Sabah’s longest river, the Kinabatangan. Along the way view birds and wildlife in virgin mangrove, wetland and rainforest habitats. Late afternoon you will take a river cruise using a quiet, electric motor in search of some of the ten primate species, including Proboscis monkeys as they settle down on treetops along the Kinabatangan River. Return for solar heated hot shower, candle light dinner and slide show conducted by a naturalist/guide.

The next day you will wake up to the calls of gibbons and hornbills. There is an early-morning river cruise up the Kinabatangan River to view more birds and wildlife. You will proceed to the Kelenanap ox-bow lake for a short jungle walk (if weather permits). You have the option to participate in the Kinabatangan Wildlife Corridor Regeneration Programme (KWICORP) by planting trees at the 64 acres of adopted land. In the afternoon, you will proceed for another river cruise to see more wildlife. After dinner there is an optional night safari cruise for spotting nocturnal animals, crocodiles and birds.

On the third morning, transfer by land to Sandakan and proceed to Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre. Trek ten minutes through the rainforest on wooden plank walks to witness the feeding of the orangutans. During the daily feeding time, you observe the orangutans as they playfully interact with each other and their environment. At the age of seven, the wildlife staff continues to supply the orangutans with fruits and milk, but this food is only a dietary supplement. The primates have already begun searching for their own food, resulting in fewer orangutans returning to Sepilok. Those who do come, swing in using branches and natural habitat. After seeing where the young orangutans are fed, walk to another area reserved for the feeding of the semi-wild and wild orangutans.

The day ends with a flight back to Kota Kinabalu, where you will spend your final night at the Shangri La Tanjung Aru.

November 17, 2010

Return to Los Angeles.

 

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