| Tours
& Excursion - Sabah Tours |
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| Tour
39
: Pulau Kapalai (seat-in-coach) |
| Tour Price |
US$
590 |
US$
760 |
US$
930 |
US$
1100 |
US$
170 |
| Duration |
4D
/ 3N |
5D
/ 4N |
6D
/ 5N |
7D
/ 6N |
Extension
Nite |
| Minimum |
2
persons |
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| Macro heaven
in the Celebes Sea |
|
A
few minutes by boat from Sipadan but a full world away it
lies the exhilarating Sipadan-Kapalai Dive Resort, sitting
on its sturdy stilts on the shallow sandbanks of the Ligitan
Reefs. Planned and built in full style as an airy, comfortable,
sunny water village with no land in sight, it boats a mile-long
sandbank of powdery blindingly white sand where one can
suntan at complete leisure. |
The resort offers great food, surprisingly roomy ad elegant twin-sharing
wooden chalets with huge private balconies and attached bathrooms
and a couple of miles of walkways for those who like to take their
morning jog while looking at thousands of fish just a few inches
beneath their feet. Meals are served in the terraced, open central
structure, while a big western sundeck allows divers to have an
evening drink or an after-dive chat with a background of fabulous
tropical sunsets.
Diving around Kapalai is exceedingly easy and shallow but quiet
spectacular: the sandy bottom and the spare coral heads host an
amazing array of small, often yet-to-be-classified, shamelessly
colorful subjects, making the diving here and unforgettable experience
for any discerning photographer. The resort offers three dives a
day plus, if requested, day trips at Sipadan. |
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| Diving in
Pulau Kapalai |
| The
purest image of natural serenity, the sandbank of Kapalai and its
exclusive resort-on-stilts lie on a patch of brilliant turquoise a
few miles off the coast of Borneo, along the spectacular Ligitan Reefs
and just a few minutes by speedboat from the celebrated (and more
crowded) islands of Sipadan and Mabul. |
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Quiet
shallow waters lap at the sturdily, kampung-style built wooden
bungalows overlooking the sandy sea bottom, and from the windows
of the elegant, spacious rooms one can spend endless hours
looking at the sea life dancing its never ending tune just
a couple of meters below.
Innovative in concept - a chain of roomy and well-equipped
chalets with private bathrooms linked by long wooden walkways,
centered around the open restaurant cum sundeck |
|
and
the customary dive center - the Kapalai Dive Resort has been built
on a shallow but surprisingly wide sandbank which had been long
known (and dived) by underwater photographers from all over the
world, who used to come all the way from Sipadan and Mabul in search
of its wildly exotic resident fauna. |
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Swimming,
creeping, crawling or just simply lying still on the surrounding
sand bottoms, hiding among the branching colonies of the shallow
surrounding coral reef, ambushing their unwary prey from the hideouts
offered by the resort stills and a few artificial reefs dotting
the bottom, an amazing number of rare and unbelievably colorful
species play their game of life and death, offering to the discriminating
visitor unsurpassed opportunities for observation and macro photography.
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| Accommodation |
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This
is the lair of the weird and Technicolor flamboyant cuttlefish,
rumbling on the bottom like a miniature tank rippling with fluorescent
waves of vermilion, purple, chocolate brown, bright yellow and blinding
white, all the time waving and flourishing its paddle-shaped front
tentacles like some samurai of yore, looking more like a sensuous
orchid than a predatory cephalopod; it is the domain of the invisible
frogfish-coming in Kapalai in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colors
- which despite sometimes being as large as a melon will often escape
even the most trained of wildlife spotters. |
| |
All
dive spots are extremely close and can be reached in just a few
minutes by speedboat (some of them, actually, just by swimming from
the dive center pier); the diving in Kapalai is so easy and shallow
that it can be considered ideal for the newcomers to the sport,
being extremely satisfying at the same time for the very experienced.
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In
any case, those who are at last satiated with the tiny marvels
of the macro life of Kapalai can, in just a few minutes more,
dive at will both in Sipadan (where big fish and turtles abound)
or at Mabul (whose solty and muddy bottoms offer different
and equally pleasant opportunities to the lovers of "muck
diving"). And those who just want to relax and rest between
the dives may take advantage of the cleverly thought-out balconies
of the bungalows, which offer the total privacy so much sought
out by the lovers of sunbathing. |
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Kapalai
Itinerary
|
| Day
01 |
Arrival
from Kota Kinabalu by MH 2121 / 0655hrs.
Meet at Tawau Airport
and transfer to Semporna overland (85 mins).
At 0800,
depart jetty at Semporna to Kapalai Island
Check in at
Sipadan - Kapalai Dive Resort
Overnight at Sipadan-Kapalai
Dive Resort
(Lunch/Dinner)
|
| Day
02 - Day 05 |
| 3
boat dives daily + unlimited jetty (pier) dives with own
buddy. Night diving at Kapalai is possible for advance diver
(with own buddy)
Note:
At least 2 boat dives at Sipadan water daily will be conducted
during these period
(Brekafast
/ Lunch / Dinner)
|
| Day
06 - Departure Day |
|
After
breakfast, Free at leisure, depart at 1000hrs for MH2140 /
1610 to Kota Kinabalu or
at 1300hrs for MH2663 to Kuala Lumpur
(Direct).
END
OF SERVICE
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| Package
Includes: |
1.
Meet and land transfer from Tawau Airport to the private Jetty at
Semporna (85mins) & return transfer
2. Boat transfer to Kapalai island
3. Accommodation on a sharing basis on the resort
4. 3 boat dives daily except on arrival and departure days and unlimited
dives in front of resort.
5. Provide 2 morning dives to Sipadan dive sites and return to
Kapalai for lunch. Afternoon diving around Kapalai and Mabul
6. Fresh food cooked by Chinese chef on buffet style.
7. Afternoon snacks served after 3rd dive, tea/coffee, cold water
and cordial served thru out the day
8. Tanks, weight and belt are provided during the dives
9. Night dives in front of dive centre with a buddy are included
if you are an Advanced diver
10. Limited dive gears are available for rental
11. Permit fee
is included to enter Sipadan |
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| Package
Excludes: |
| Air
Tickets |
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| Terms
& Conditions |
| • |
Rates
are quoted in Ringgit Malaysia (RM), subject to 10% service charge
and 5% government tax. |
| • |
Rates
are subject to change without prior notice. |
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