Hello 
Well I went to Derawan and Sangalaki and Kakaban islands .....
And do I have a few things to tell you !!!
First off is Kakaban island. It's more of a really thick wall in the sea really because there is a huge lagoon right in the middle of it - and this lagoon is FULL of stingless jellyfish. It was the most wierd experience snorkelling through all these jelly fish. Hard to describe really. If you can imagine at least 50 jellyfish about the diameter of your hand smimming in all directions right in front of you - when you turn in any direction there is another 50 to look at. It's almost like being microscopic and swimming through some strange liquid looking at what makes it! Very strange and wonderful! The jelly fish were the "upside down jellyfish" if you know what they look like, but most of them weren't upside down! I thought this experience was EXCELLENT!
Well, on to Derawan Island where I stayed. Here is really good for small stuff - mainly. The coral here is just in excellent condition. I drifted over the top of coral garden at quiet a speed sometimes (more like flew over it!) and for 5-8 minutes didn't see a patch of sand, just coral packed in amougst more coral. It was great! As one of the guys I dived with said "I've just seen all the coral books in the whole world!". Very good condition! I also saw a seahorse, leaf fish, absolutely loads of different nudiebranches, frog fish, octopus, loads of big cuttle fish - always excellent to watch - turtles, blue spotten rays, glass shrimp, mantis shrimp, gobis, morays, jacks, triggers, scorpion fish and stone fish - and this was normal there!
But of course I had some very memorable dives there too, one in particular was Shark Cave....
I decended down the rope of the bouy and follows another rope along a rocky slope, across a big sandy patch and at 35-40m there was a big rock juting up. The side we approached had a cave entrance about 7m across at 42-44m depth. Inside the cave was a 2m+ Tawy shark, sleeping and very pregnant! We were about 2-3m away from her so not to disturb her. Quite a sight. Then out and around the corner of the rock there were two more caves, one above the other. In the upper cave another 2m shark slept at the back! Couldn't stay for too long because my computer told me to start acending! On the way up at 8m we passed a large sandy area - a flat plateu of sand - I looked and out of the haze at the edge of visibility I saw the most amazing sight - one of those sights that you can remember like it just happened. There was more than 7 big rays (not sure of the name) sort of munching thier way over the sand in a line towards me. They floated just an inch or two above the sand and left a low cloud in thier wake. They were more than 1.5m in diameter - amazing to watch. Later I got to within a meter of one as it lay covered in sand on the sea bed. I was smiling when I climbed aboard the dive boat after this dive, make no mistake!!!!
Well, now for Sangalaki. I met some divers who had been there for almost two weeks and not seen the Mantas. I met a guy who stayed on Sangalaki one week and had seen one. My first dive there was at Manta Boulavard ...
Down to coral next to a huge sand bank (no ATM though). Lots of sand eels there. Checked it out and then went up and overit - like a sand dune. Nice corals spread out over a sandy bottom - very nice scenery. Saw a swhite leaf fish, clown trigger, then a pigmy devil ray went by - 1 to 1.5m diameter. Excellent! We then went to a cleaning station and after a little while (49th minute of a 50 minute dive!) along came a 2m span Manta Ray! We watched it for the rest of the dive. Fortunately it was only me and the DM on the dive and he was a good Divemaster because we stayed down another 34 minutes :-)! The manta banked, circled and settled down a meter above the sand, gently gliding over one spot, as it got cleaned. We watch the cleaner fish go into its gills and out again. I was about 0.5m away from it at times. So picture the manta to the right, then me back from it 2m and the DM, Sajid, 2m to my left a forward slightly - like a triangle. We were being mesmerised by the manta when two turles plonk themselves down right in front of us! One on top of the other. He had her by the neck and after a brief struggle she broke free and swam off slowly. He swam after her fast and climbed back onto her back - hitching a ride because she was doing all the finning! Amazing, and this could have happened 2m behind us and we would never have seen it! We swam away with the manta as it left the cleaning station and at 5m during my Safety Stop I watched it bank into the haze at the edge of visibility (20m) and ANOTHER manta smim right under me!  What a Dive!
Well after the surface interval we went out to watch MANTAS GALORE feeding at the surface in a long line of plankton. So the next dive was Plankton Path, just 5-8 benether the surface as Manta Rays came towards me mouth wide open and then gently bank away as they go close. This was wierd because the plankton made for bad vis. - about 5m mainly. I saw more than 20 mantas on this dive. I also saw them on two other dives I did at Sangalaki. Everyone said I was lucky, I know I was!

So all in all I'd say pretty good diving off the south coast of Borneo. Top Notch!
Another one for the list hey! I didn't get to dive Maratua island - which I hear is very good for BIG fish and strong current. So I guess I'll be back some day!
SORTED
Love
Mark
The DiveMaster