big thrill diving!

i haven't been able to post for a while due to internet restrictions and lack of programs on hotel computers, but i had a great experience while still in borneo. the reason we went to this area is because our dive masters in thailand told us if they had our budget and time they would make their way to this place. who can argue with the dive instructors?! we made our way across the peninsulas which turned out to be a lot farther than we realized...the map never looks that big...and finally arrived in semporna, which is the base for diving a world famous site called sipadan. people flock here all year round for the copious sharks and turtles along with fantastic muck (macro) diving. they only allow 100 permits (divers and snorkelers combined) onto the site a day and those are gobbled up by the 4 or 5 scuba centers pretty quickly. it used to be open and there were even a couple rudimentary resorts there, but the government stopped that due to over use and destruction that was happening. the coral reef is such a fragile environment and with all the boats and people, sipadan was beginning to show significant damage and wear. however, typical to many developing country's governments, they saw an opportunity to monopolize the place and after sending the 2 small resorts off the island, came in with a huuuge barge, ready to build thier own resort and have sole rights. well, the barge wound up getting stuck on the reef and they couldn't unload anything for several days...yes, tons of damage was done to the coral and it made headlines (complete with photos of stranded barge) in the malaysian papers forcing the pre fabbed resort back to the mainland for good with a lot of bad press. geesh. in any case, we were on a waiting list and were very lucky to 'get the call' the night before. we had dived mabul island and kapalaii, which are nearby and were ready. sipadan is like a huge monolith coming up from the depths. so many big sharks and turtles come to this location because of the depths and food sources. also, this is where jacques cousteau filmed "turtle tomb" a long time ago. we got into the 29 degrees celsius (super warm!) water and descended into stunning azure water. since it was a more special experience and we would dive 3 times that day, i decided to try my hand at an underwater camera. it was quite challenging, but i'm happy to have had it. i got a lot of good tips before diving, but still there are just so many variables! as soon as we went down, there were white tip sharks swimming below us and green and hawksbill turtles off in the distance. it was so amazing and surreal! on one dive we went to the giant cave that is 'turtle tomb' and hung around the massive entrance for a few minutes just watching the activity. apparently, there is no light inside and it's easy to get disoriented even with a torch, so we didn't go in...and didn't want to... but there are hundreds of turtle skeletons inside. after 3 dives we were exhilerated and exhausted, but feeling very fortunate to have been granted the opportunity to dive this place. truly amazing. take a look at my photos below. at one point i got up reeeally close to a 'sleeping' turtle and then it came out of its nook right up under me! it was all i could do to get out of its path! crazy. hope you're all well. love, j