The second and third days of our Borneo trip were very similar, so I am going to combine them in this blog. Both days were spent scuba diving in the Marine Park in the waters just beyond our hotel. We went on three dives a day, each about 45 min long with an hour break in between. It made for long, but enjoyable days. Since it was "winter" the water visibility was less than perfect, with lots of plankton floating about. But, if you focused your gaze on more immediate things or went to shallower (and warmer!) water, the visibility was better. I think it's just like snowboarding. You have to have the windy, freeze your butt off days to really appreciate the bluebird powder days.....
We still saw some amazing things while diving. My personal favorite was seeing two cuttle fish, each about a foot long. Cuttle fish are the masters of disguise. They have millions of pigments in their skin, allowing them to change color instantaneously. The ones we saw were perfectly blended in with the coral they were hovering over, and as they moved around they would change to match whatever was underneath them. So clever. If the dive master hadn't of pointed them out, I'm not sure we would have even spotted them.
We also saw a lion fish, not swimming around but resting on the side of a coral. That was probably lucky for us, as they are actually extremely poisonous if poked by one. Add the lion fish to conch shells, fish tornadoes, trumpet fish, and lots of star fish, sea slugs etc. and you get an idea of what we saw.
During a quick snorkel break, we actually saw two small black tipped reef sharks. They were swimming in impressively shallow water, and they moved so quickly we could barely follow them. It was very exciting as we've never seen a shark while diving before.
We also saw a small barracuda. They were tricky, as they swim right under the surface of the water. Since you mostly keep your gaze pointed downward while snorkeling, you wouldn't notice them until they were right in front of you. Then you'd get a small shock as they give you the stink eye. They just look like they're frowning, don't they? Mr. Grumpy Gills....
When we weren't diving, we were spending our time relaxing on this gorgeous beach. Looks like a postcard doesn't it? Talk about some blue water! I was trying desperately to not get a sun burn, so I would lay with a towel covering my torso and my wet suit covering my legs. Somehow, I forgot about my feet, so I got a lovely tan line right across my ankles. Yikes!
We also saw a giant monitor lizard patrolling the island we were diving off of. It was the biggest wild lizard I had ever seen! No pet bunnies allowed on this island!
After a day of diving, we would go back to our hotel, go to the gym, watch the sunset, grab some dinner, then hit the sack. The diving required early mornings, so we didn't get up to much on those nights. But below are some shots of the grounds of the hotel. It was just stunning! And only a 2.5 hour flight from Hong Kong! This was the view from our hotel room.
The hotel had a small beach if you wanted a real sand experience.
Or you could just hang by the gorgeous infinity pool. We took this picture with our iPhones! Imagine what a professional camera could do!
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