*Lots of Pix* Month Long Scuba Diving Trip Bali/Sipadan/Fiji/Great Barrier Reef

[foboiax]

Just got back from a 4 week scuba diving trip to see south east Asia and the great barrier reef. Saw the absolute most amazing coral and sea life I've ever seen. I traveled with only a GoPro Hero2 so bare with me on some of the photos, I tried my best! haha.

In Sipidan, Malaysia we stayed on an old oil rig turned scuba diving resort. Pretty much the most awesome thing you could ever do as a scuba diver. All inclusive dives/food/stay on the oil rig resort and you can dive at your own leisure whenever you want, there's even an artificial reef under the rig. At the great barrier reef we stayed on a live-aboard ship for a week where we went further outside the actual barrier reef to where the more rare fish and coral are undisturbed. Definitely saw the largest school of barracuda ever like a giant tornado in the water, also did a few shark feeds that were totally amazing. Giant manta rays, giant turtles, pigmy seahorse, and sharks galore are just a few of the amazing things.

Enjoy!

 

[foboiax]

 

[foboiax]

 

[foboiax]

 

[foboiax]

 

[xxjrealxx]

Man great pics

 

[foboiax]

 

[foboiax]

 

[Justin]

Awesome.. could you tell us some more details about your trip? Where did you go, how much did it cost? I'm looking to do something like this in the near future.

 

[foboiax]

 

[foboiax]

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[foboiax]

Justin,
Out of the four spots that I went to (Bali, Great Barrier Reef, Sipadan, Fiji) the two that you must do is the Great Barrier Reef and Sipidan (Malaysia). For the Great Barrier Reef, the only way to see the better untouched coral patches and larger marine animals, you have to go beyond slightly beyond the actual barrier reef, and the only way to do that is if you do a live-aboard. There's only two companies that go out of Cairns Australia that do the liveaboard, we went with Mike Ball (http://www.mikeball.com/). It's about $2500 per person for 4 nights 5 days. It's all inclusive with about 4-5 dives a day at amazing locations, food, drinks, room. It's definitely worth it, they usually take around 20-25 people at a time with about a 20 person crew that takes very good care of you. Went on the most amazing shark feed ever with hundreds of sharks, no cage.

A more amazing spot than The Great Barrier reef that's more off the grid is Sipadan, Malaysia. Now this is definitely not on the map like The Great Barrier Reef is, but if you can get there, it'll be the most amazing diving you'll ever see. Malaysia is split into two land masses with the South China Sea splitting it down the middle. On the east portion of the country there is a small fishing town called Semporna. Off the coast of Semporna there are a patch of three tiny islands Mabul, Kapalai and the best one of them being Sipadan. Now all three islands have amazing diving, but the reason why Sipadan is so amazing is that they realized the amazing underwater wildlife at the island some years ago and turned it into a national protected island. What does that mean? That means only 100 people can dive at the island a day. Only about 9 companies in the area have license to enter there a day, limiting the "tourist" who ruin the coral. Sipadan is also located in a unique location out of the three islands in that its located off of the continental shelf, so the underwater geography comes up to the surface from deep sea therefore being a host and a safe haven for a lot of types of fish. It's the most amazing place I've ever seen. So out of the three islands Sipidan is protected therefore no one can live on the island, so Mabul and Kapalai both have dive resorts for people who are diving Sipadan.

We decided to do something a little different, so about a quarter mile off the coast of Mabul, there's an old oil rig that a really smart company transformed into an amazing dive resort for about 50 people called Seaventures Dive Rig (http://www.seaventuresdive.com/). This was A LOT cheaper than The great barrier reef, it was about $800 a person for 5 days there, again all inclusive food, dives, tank refills, equipment, rooming, so on. After going there we really wished we would have stayed longer because of how amazing the diving was. It's unlimited diving because they made an artificial reef below the rig so you can go whenever you want.

I definitely recommend Sipadan for anyone diving who hasn't been there.

Awesome.. could you tell us some more details about your trip? Where did you go, how much did it cost? I'm looking to do something like this in the near future.

 

[Justin]

Justin,
Out of the four spots that I went to (Bali, Great Barrier Reef, Sipadan, Fiji) the two that you must do is the Great Barrier Reef and Sipidan (Malaysia). For the Great Barrier Reef, the only way to see the better untouched coral patches and larger marine animals, you have to go beyond slightly beyond the actual barrier reef, and the only way to do that is if you do a live-aboard. There's only two companies that go out of Cairns Australia that do the liveaboard, we went with Mike Ball (http://www.mikeball.com/). It's about $2500 per person for 4 nights 5 days. It's all inclusive with about 4-5 dives a day at amazing locations, food, drinks, room. It's definitely worth it, they usually take around 20-25 people at a time with about a 20 person crew that takes very good care of you. Went on the most amazing shark feed ever with hundreds of sharks, no cage.

A more amazing spot than The Great Barrier reef that's more off the grid is Sipadan, Malaysia. Now this is definitely not on the map like The Great Barrier Reef is, but if you can get there, it'll be the most amazing diving you'll ever see. Malaysia is split into two land masses with the South China Sea splitting it down the middle. On the east portion of the country there is a small fishing town called Semporna. Off the coast of Semporna there are a patch of three tiny islands Mabul, Kapalai and the best one of them being Sipadan. Now all three islands have amazing diving, but the reason why Sipadan is so amazing is that they realized the amazing underwater wildlife at the island some years ago and turned it into a national protected island. What does that mean? That means only 100 people can dive at the island a day. Only about 9 companies in the area have license to enter there a day, limiting the "tourist" who ruin the coral. Sipadan is also located in a unique location out of the three islands in that its located off of the continental shelf, so the underwater geography comes up to the surface from deep sea therefore being a host and a safe haven for a lot of types of fish. It's the most amazing place I've ever seen. So out of the three islands Sipidan is protected therefore no one can live on the island, so Mabul and Kapalai both have dive resorts for people who are diving Sipadan.

We decided to do something a little different, so about a quarter mile off the coast of Mabul, there's an old oil rig that a really smart company transformed into an amazing dive resort for about 50 people called Seaventures Dive Rig (http://www.seaventuresdive.com/). This was A LOT cheaper than The great barrier reef, it was about $800 a person for 5 days there, again all inclusive food, dives, tank refills, equipment, rooming, so on. After going there we really wished we would have stayed longer because of how amazing the diving was. It's unlimited diving because they made an artificial reef below the rig so you can go whenever you want.

I definitely recommend Sipadan for anyone diving who hasn't been there.

Thank you for all the information Alex. Mike Ball seems a little more on the pricier side but both seem to be great. How long were you on vacation for? Seems like a very long time. Also, is someone who doesn't have any SCUBA certifications or experience allowed to go and learn? Or does that have to be done separately?

 

[foboiax]

Thank you for all the information Alex. Mike Ball seems a little more on the pricier side but both seem to be great. How long were you on vacation for? Seems like a very long time. Also, is someone who doesn't have any SCUBA certifications or experience allowed to go and learn? Or does that have to be done separately?

We were on the trip for about a month, 1 week at each location. The Great Barrier Reef was definitely the most expensive leg of the trip, Australia is NOT cheap. Everywhere else in Asia everything is dirt cheap. Most of these places you need to be certified to go. It's actually really easy to do, 2 weekends at the pool learning how to use the equipment. You can get certified for "Open Water Certification" anywhere between $200-$400. I actually got certified in Culver City at Eco Dive Center, they're really great (http://www.ecodivecenter.com/).

 

[wickedfish]

Very Jealous of your dives. That is some diverse reef you got to see. All sorts of life. Great pics. I still haven't developed my Lil turn wheel camera pics from this year and last year in the Carribean.

I gotta get back on a reef soon. Thank you for sharing your trip with us. You made me smile this morning.

 

[gr1mm]

last set of pictures you posted didnt show up, great pics the one with all the sharks is crazy.

 

[Reefcube29]

So jealous,... like wow....

 

[El Dude]

Great pics! Thanks for sharing.

 

[ColorfulReef]

Justin,
Out of the four spots that I went to (Bali, Great Barrier Reef, Sipadan, Fiji) the two that you must do is the Great Barrier Reef and Sipidan (Malaysia). For the Great Barrier Reef, the only way to see the better untouched coral patches and larger marine animals, you have to go beyond slightly beyond the actual barrier reef, and the only way to do that is if you do a live-aboard. There's only two companies that go out of Cairns Australia that do the liveaboard, we went with Mike Ball (http://www.mikeball.com/). It's about $2500 per person for 4 nights 5 days. It's all inclusive with about 4-5 dives a day at amazing locations, food, drinks, room. It's definitely worth it, they usually take around 20-25 people at a time with about a 20 person crew that takes very good care of you. Went on the most amazing shark feed ever with hundreds of sharks, no cage.

A more amazing spot than The Great Barrier reef that's more off the grid is Sipadan, Malaysia. Now this is definitely not on the map like The Great Barrier Reef is, but if you can get there, it'll be the most amazing diving you'll ever see. Malaysia is split into two land masses with the South China Sea splitting it down the middle. On the east portion of the country there is a small fishing town called Semporna. Off the coast of Semporna there are a patch of three tiny islands Mabul, Kapalai and the best one of them being Sipadan. Now all three islands have amazing diving, but the reason why Sipadan is so amazing is that they realized the amazing underwater wildlife at the island some years ago and turned it into a national protected island. What does that mean? That means only 100 people can dive at the island a day. Only about 9 companies in the area have license to enter there a day, limiting the "tourist" who ruin the coral. Sipadan is also located in a unique location out of the three islands in that its located off of the continental shelf, so the underwater geography comes up to the surface from deep sea therefore being a host and a safe haven for a lot of types of fish. It's the most amazing place I've ever seen. So out of the three islands Sipidan is protected therefore no one can live on the island, so Mabul and Kapalai both have dive resorts for people who are diving Sipadan.

We decided to do something a little different, so about a quarter mile off the coast of Mabul, there's an old oil rig that a really smart company transformed into an amazing dive resort for about 50 people called Seaventures Dive Rig (http://www.seaventuresdive.com/). This was A LOT cheaper than The great barrier reef, it was about $800 a person for 5 days there, again all inclusive food, dives, tank refills, equipment, rooming, so on. After going there we really wished we would have stayed longer because of how amazing the diving was. It's unlimited diving because they made an artificial reef below the rig so you can go whenever you want.

I definitely recommend Sipadan for anyone diving who hasn't been there.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[foboiax]

last set of pictures you posted didnt show up, great pics the one with all the sharks is crazy.

Oops here we go, Barracuda tornado!!!!