Night Dive and back to KK

March 13th, 2010:
It's Saturday night and I'm in the pitch black 15 meters underwater. The green glow from the jetty lights is long gone and I'm at the front of the group so without my flashlight I can't see much of anything. I turn around and watch as my 3 fellow divers and dive master float around searching for interesting creatures. The sound of metal hitting metal tells me my dive master has found something interesting. I haven't the slightest idea how he managed it, but he's spotted an octopus the size of my pinky finger nail. Throughout the dive he also spots eels, squid, crocodile fish, stone fish (guess what this one looks like...), hermit crabs, turtles and loads of other cool stuff.
The night dive was a very surreal experience and made me feel like I was in a movie about exploring the ocean floor. Loved it!

Lesson 6: if you shine your flashlight in a sleeping turtles eyes it can drown because the light 'resets' it internal depth gadge.


Although we hated to leave, Kate and I dragged ourselves away from Mabul and al the amazing diving and headed back to Kota Kinabula for our flight to Manila. The bus ride from Semporna to KK was about 8 hours, which was going beautifully until we hit the 6th hour and KK national park, where the road is best compared to a crazy straw. The bus spent the next 2 hours continuously swerving around corners while the majority of the passengers held on to plastic bags and attempted to breathe deeply. Kate and I managed to hold it together long enough to make it into KK, but, unfortunately, not everyone did and so the tiny bathroom was christened several times over. YUCK!