After a few days in Sandakan, cleaning up after the jungle trip, we headed off to catch a bus to Semporna.
Sandakan sunset.We went to the bus terminal and were directed to a bus that would take us to the bus terminal on the outskirts of town where we would catch a big bus to Semporna. The bus driver didn't speak English and insisted he was taking us to a Semporna bus connection so off we sailed past the bus terminal. After an hour with people getting on and off we shot up a side road into a palm oil plantation and everyone got off the bus and left us sitting there. We found a local Muslim woman who spoke English and she told us that the driver did not have a permit to travel this route. We unloaded our bags and headed across the street to flag down another 'bas mini' and continued our journey to the junction. At the junction we had to look for another mini bus and when it finally filled up we headed off again for Semporna. After a short cramped ride we shot up a dirt side road into another palm oil plantation- you guessed it- another checkpoint and no permit either! The road was lined with mini buses and trucks in view of the police checkpoint, waiting for the police to go home. We unloaded our gear again and waited on the side of the road which was now just as the sun was setting. We tried to flag down any bus that came our way but they were all full. A local returning from Tawau tooted at us and we got a ride with him at twice the price of the usual bus. What seemed a straight forward thing to do turned into quite a mission!
Local seaside villageSemporna is a popular place for divers who go to Sipadan Island to dive at a spectacular site. We took a 3 island trip and did some snorkeling for the day.
Local children watching the tourists!The next day we decided to do the Discover Scuba Course at Mabul Island. What a challenge!
After learning 4 skills- purging the air regulator, clearing the mask of water, giving your buddy emergency air, and recovering your air regulator - we practised the skills and then did 3 dives in 3 different places.
The first dive was scary for me but by the third I was more relaxed and it was a fantastic first experience.
We saw 4 huge turtles (hawksbill and greenturtles) - 1200mms, a sea snake, pipe fish, angel fish, a flying gurnard, lion fish, a moray eel, a stone fish, a crocodile fish, as well as lots of colourful coral, anemones and schools of small fish at a depth of 10 metres. What a buzz!
This oil rig is a dive resort, and the story goes that the owner wanted to buy on Mabul Island but the owners wouldn't sell it to him so he bought this and placed it in front of the resort! 
