The morning I left for Kota Kinabalu, we had no idea how we were going to get there. Theresa has done an amazing job of planning this dive/jungle escapade but she left some things open for us to do things on the fly. We wanted to get from Sandakan on the east coast of Borneo to Kota Kinabalu on the opposite side and there were several ways to do it. Hire a taxi and split it four ways, take the local bus, take the aircon tourist bus, or try to find a flight. In the interest of time (and comfort,) we decided on the plane and headed to the airport to buy tickets. Wellington and I got put on standby and started to make other plans, but luckily made the flight.
For a town I never heard of, KK is a very happening place. It's way bigger than I expected and there are lots of things to do. It is pretty cosmopolitan with lots of nightlife, shopping, wild adventures like whitewater rafting and mountain climbing are an hour or two away, and best of all there is a big five island national marine park Tunku Abdul Rahman, just off the coast. After one night's mistake of a scary local hotel, the four of us got a fabulous family room at the Daya Hotel and felt like we were living in luxury. We also discovered a fantastic Italian restaurant - who would have thougth I would be enjoying fresh, hand-made gnocchi in Borneo???
For a town I never heard of, KK is a very happening place. It's way bigger than I expected and there are lots of things to do. It is pretty cosmopolitan with lots of nightlife, shopping, wild adventures like whitewater rafting and mountain climbing are an hour or two away, and best of all there is a big five island national marine park Tunku Abdul Rahman, just off the coast. After one night's mistake of a scary local hotel, the four of us got a fabulous family room at the Daya Hotel and felt like we were living in luxury. We also discovered a fantastic Italian restaurant - who would have thougth I would be enjoying fresh, hand-made gnocchi in Borneo???
The next day, the girls elected to spend the day exploring the beaches of the island parks and Wellington and I went diving. Not just any diving, but diving on MY REEF! That's right, our dive spot for the day was named Clement's Reef - evidently a Course Director a couple of years ago discovered and named it and as soon as I saw it on the dive map I knew I had to get there. The reef around KK is not as good as Sipadan, (hell, what is?) they have a history of dynamite fishing and it showed. Dynamite fishing is when local fisherman, too impatient for lines or nets, toss lit sticks of dynamite in the water and wait for the fish to float up after the explosion. Easy fishing but unbelievably destructive to the coral and it causes permanent damage - which isn't good for the fisherman's long-term but they don't seem to think about that. Saw lots of big rubble patches, but also some encouraging signs of growth too - the park is making a difference I think. Still, the fields of coral rubble and encroaching algae were sad to see. Still, there was all kinds of good stuff to find - rays, nudis, and my new favorite crab - the Orangutan Crab! They are really cool looking but the best part about them is the underwater signal when you spot them. First you scratch your underarms in a monkey pose and then you make the fingers to thumbs motion for crab claws - I don't know why but it cracks me up. When I did it I made the "hoot hoot" noise of an orangutan in my reg when I scratched my pits...
Wellington and I dove two out of the three days we were there, spending one day lounging on the beaches and exploring all the park's little islands. At night, we wandered KK - trying all kinds of great local food at the huge local market, hitting an Indian restaurant during a blackout, and trying to find something fun to do while the girls went shop crazy. KK has lots of great shopping, and if I had brought along a sherpa, I might have indulged in some collecting.
KK was great - I am so glad we went and discovered such a neat little coastal town. It was nice and cosmo, had good local stuff to do, and of course any place with some decent local diving 30 minutes off shore is fine with me. Sadly, our time there came to an end and it was time to go. Not so sadly, actually, because our next destination was an encore performance of the awesome reef walls of Sipadan!!!
That's right, some of the best diving I hace ever done in my life - part 2!!! Only this time, with 5-star accommodations...
Debating whether or not to write about it, since I did before... Oh what the hell, it was so awesome again, I'll tell you all about it next time.
Salamat Pagi,
Clement
