Boating

Semporna and Singamata Miles traveled 105.
Tropical paradise has been found, and it is in Borneo, Malaysia. After a short debate on the merits of the investment, Sara and I decided to become certified in Scuba diving rather than continue snorkeling. It was more difficult than I expected, but we completed the course and have four dives under our belts. We have been more than 50 feet under water…and survived to tell the tale.
The feeling is rather incredible. I turned so that I could look up toward the sky and watch my bubble rise to the surface to reassure myself that I was really underwater. The visibility was incredible, nearly 60 feet, in the clear water of the Celebes Sea. It was hard to believe that what we were seeing was real. Our most incredible dive was in Turtle Garden off of Sibuan Island. We saw three turtles, an infinite variety of neon and Technicolor fish, and coral galore. There was brain coral, fan coral, and branched stiff types of coral. Clown fish and baby sea horses hide in the stinging arms of sea anemones. Lion fish sheltering in the shadowy recesses of coral boulders. Our largest sighting was a monster grouper over five feet long. In between dives we rested on the stunning white beach of the small island.
In between studying and diving we hung out at our hotel Singamata. It was built in the bay and an artificial reef was built around it. Even there, we could snorkel and see starfish, coral, and abundant fish. We sunned ourselves on the beautiful deck, enjoyed the panorama of the sea and jagged islands in the distance, and we watched the huge specimens of fish in the “aquarium” in the center of the resort.
Enjoy the pics, sorry no underwater camera yet.

Bastamientos. Miles traveled 2.
We relocated to Isla Bastimiento the following day. The atmosphere there is more relaxed and a little less traveled. We found a great room at Hostel Bastimientos with private bathroom, fan, and patios overlooking the city and the bay. The owner, Dixon, helped put us on the right track for the day. We bought some water and headed out to Wizard beach. Wizard beach often has some of the best waves in the area. After waiting around for a water taxi and drinking a few beers, we headed out in a 15hp motor launch. After about ½ hour we rounded a rocky point, and sighted a beautiful long stretch of beach. In the center was a jumble of volcanic rocks with about a mile of open beach on either side. We couldn’t see any other people on the whole beach. It was nothing like the “popular beaches” at home where you fight for a patch of sand. As we drew nearer to the shore, we saw a few scattered groups of people. Sara and I got off the boat and walked about a half mile down a clear stretch of beach with no rocks in the water and set up camp. We lathered up with SPF 30 to make up for the burning that we got on our first tour and waited for it to soak in. The surf broke consistently but more gently than at red Frog. It felt like we had an island all to ourselves. We bobbed up and down in the waves, waded in and out of the surf, drank a few beers and about a half liter of water. We drank some more salt water when we got hit by an unexpectedly large wave. All in all we had a fabulous day.
We rescued another traveling couple, Harry and Tracy, who had hiked across the island. Actually, they just needed us to spot them water taxi fare for one(Tracy) back around the island. The hike that they did was not an easy one especially carrying surfboards. They left their gear and money at the surf shop halfway back up the trail so they would not have to worry about it at the beach. Harry hiked back around for his gear and planned to meet us in town. A few other hikers who had come across, joined our taxi home as well. It took the little old 15hp a little longer on the return trip and the 100hp boats motored past us. After reuniting in town, Harry and Tracy invited us to a thai dinner up the hill from town.
We sat down to eat with Tracy and Harry and Shane and Carrie were also at the restaurant. We met them earlier that day at our hostel. They had previously traveled for eight months in South East Asia and were finishing two months in Central America. During the meal we kicked around the idea of doing a tour together to see the sea turtles nesting. Sara and I were delegated to research. We agreed to meet the following evening in the square. The delicious thai food filled our stomachs, we swapped travel hints, and drank the “Magic Drink”, a mixture of rum and various juices. It was an excellent cap to a fantastic day.
The next day we ended up sleeping in, big surprise, huh? We had lunch at the local criollo joint on the water, called “Roots” and enjoyed the fantastic breeze and some amazing barbecue chicken. We met up with Shane and Carrie at the square, but Harry and Tracy were nowhere to be found. We hung around for about ½ before going to eat. We figured it wouldn’t take much investigation to find a group of four gringos in the four restaurants they had to choose from!