Pilgrimage to Layang-layang

When I was diving in Sipadan Island back in 1999, I had heard folks talking of the magic of diving in Layang-layang. One recurrent theme was that hammerheads were in abundance there. So much so that instead of spotting the sole member of this highly elusive shark, divers would frequently be treated to a "wallpaper of hammerheads" passing by during their dives. News like this had fired my imagination ever since. This was further reinforced when a very good friend and regular dive buddy of mine (Hi Stewart...hope you are well in Thailand), went to dive there a few years back and told me that the rumours were true.

It was therefore not if, but when I would make this trip myself. So, 2007 has to be it. The diving season and Chinese New Year period (when I would make my annual trip home to see my family in Malaysia) coincided nicely for the first time in years. This, with the increasing frequency of AirAsia flights(which only cost me a mere £65 return) to Kota Kinabalu(KK) from Kuala Lumpur made it possible. I had to stay overnight in KK, as the flight to Layang-layang was 7:30 the next morning. I stayed in Hotel Capital, which again cost me only about £15. However, to make it sweeter, there was a discount of about RM1000 from my dive package for Malaysian divers. Hurrah!!! Who says there is no benefit from holding a Malaysian passport??!

I checked in nice and early the next day at the new KK airport, which was very nice. They had to weigh all our bags as well as the divers. This seemed a bit odd, but the reason soon became clear. It was the tiniest aircraft that I had ever flew in. There were no doors and cargo and passengers had to be loaded from the back. It could only carry a maximum of 12 passengers. We were soon airborne, and after an hour , we were touching down on the single airstrip on the island.














The formalities were quickly and efficiently dealt with, and yessssssssssss.......!! Time to hit the water. The following are just a few of the shots that I took during the week.

Healthy looking starfish. This seemed to be in abundance, and most commonly spotted starfish here.














A nudibranch. Someone called it the "dinosaur".















Corals forming on an isolated branch.















Soft Corals.















Basket Coral.















Turtle taking a Rest.















"Flying" Eagle Ray- I wanna be free!!















Divers in the deep - waiting for the Hammerheads. Alas....we were to be disappointed.














Group Photo (Courtesy of Lawrence Dodds)


Sunset at Layang-layang.















It was a great week diving here. Unfortunately, I did not get to see the hammerheads. Looking on the bright side however, this means that I will have to make another trip back here soon. Yipeee!! One thing I've got to say is that the welcome here was second to none, and all the staff were very efficient. Safety was on the top agenda for all the divemasters and I certainly felt very safe diving with them. Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh.........I can't wait to be back there!!!