From Sipadan it was back to Manila and on to Cebu - an island in the middle of the Philippine cluster. While I'm here I'd decided to dive at both Malapascua and Apo Island - both sites recommended to me by two guys who I did Mount Kinabalu with - Maia and Caspar.
So far I've been up to Malapascua .... and what an adventure!
From Cebu City it was 4 and a half hours by local bus, crammed full of locals and their chickens, up to the coastal town of Maya. I then had to get one of the rickettiest boats I have ever seen across the sea to the island.
It was brilliant! The response of locals who caught my eye through the paneless bus window suggested they dont see many single female white travelers, and I loved feeling like I was seeing the real country, and the way that locals travel through it.
Malapascua has been pretty badly hit by the recent typhoon, however the island was still gorgeous.
I did a night dive last night - which was fantastic! I felt like James Bond!!! scuba-diving by torch light!- and then on just 4 hrs sleep I was up at 4 to go diving with thresher sharks, Malapascua's speciality. I had just about enough time for another morning dive before taking a boat back across to Maia and repeating my journey in reverse.
It's a shame I didnt get to stay longer, however I want to squeeze Apo Island and Dumuguete in before my flight home next week, and so far I'm doing pretty well at optimising my time - on Tuesday I flew from Tawau to KK to Manila to Cebu, then it was straight up to Malapascua and back, and tomorrow I'm heading off down south to Apo Island :)
If you're looking for off the beaten track adventure, and a spot of diving on remote islands, then the Philippines is definitely the place :)
Charly xxx
Thursday, 17 July 2008
CC goes scuba!
A few months ago when I was in Borneo I happened to get chatting to the girl next to me on my flight from KK to KL (Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu).
Her name was Jen, she was English, and she lived in Borneo with her Scottish fiance, who ran a dive company in Semporna.
During the course of the flight I told her about Challenge Charly, and she suggested I dive at Sipadan as one of my challenges.
And that is exactly what I've just done!!
Sipadan is famed as Borneo's best dive site, and the 3rd best dive site in the world according some Malaysian water bottles!!
It was fantastic. I'm technically in the Philippines this trip, making my final Masters documentary on free press and the murder of journalists in the Philippines ( a topic which unfortunately didnt lend itself to video making, so that didnt turn out to be a challenge in itself). However, it is 'relatively' easy to fly across from Manila to KK.
I saw relatively because it turns out that Clark 'Manila' airport, where all the cheap flights to Borneo fly from, is actually nowhere near Manila! I spent more money on my two 3 hour taxi journeys to and from the airport than I did on the flights themselves.
However, despite this aggravation, and some interesting time keeping as a result of the 3 hr journey, I managed to get to Semporna, the nearest town to Sipadan, fairly seemlessly.
Over the course of my 3 days diving there I completed my PADI advanced open water, dived on the islands of Mabul and Sibuan, and then did 3 awesome dives at Sipadan, seeking heaps and heaps of white tip sharks and turtles.
I would definitely recommend Sipadan for diving enthusiasts, and Scuba Junkie, the company Jen had recommended, were brilliant.
Her name was Jen, she was English, and she lived in Borneo with her Scottish fiance, who ran a dive company in Semporna.
During the course of the flight I told her about Challenge Charly, and she suggested I dive at Sipadan as one of my challenges.
And that is exactly what I've just done!!
Sipadan is famed as Borneo's best dive site, and the 3rd best dive site in the world according some Malaysian water bottles!!
It was fantastic. I'm technically in the Philippines this trip, making my final Masters documentary on free press and the murder of journalists in the Philippines ( a topic which unfortunately didnt lend itself to video making, so that didnt turn out to be a challenge in itself). However, it is 'relatively' easy to fly across from Manila to KK.
I saw relatively because it turns out that Clark 'Manila' airport, where all the cheap flights to Borneo fly from, is actually nowhere near Manila! I spent more money on my two 3 hour taxi journeys to and from the airport than I did on the flights themselves.
However, despite this aggravation, and some interesting time keeping as a result of the 3 hr journey, I managed to get to Semporna, the nearest town to Sipadan, fairly seemlessly.
Over the course of my 3 days diving there I completed my PADI advanced open water, dived on the islands of Mabul and Sibuan, and then did 3 awesome dives at Sipadan, seeking heaps and heaps of white tip sharks and turtles.
I would definitely recommend Sipadan for diving enthusiasts, and Scuba Junkie, the company Jen had recommended, were brilliant.
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