Diving - Pulau Sipadan, Borneo, Malaysia

Imagine leaning back and tumbling into the azure abyss, then open your eyes as if entering a lucid dream to stare into the attention of hundreds upon hundreds of Barracudas eclipsing the sun and swimming in graceful symphony. You reluctantly turn away just to get your bearing and two archaic sea turtles swim together only ten feet away. I call it diver's nirvana and I reached it yesterday.

With a surgeon's confidence, my French dive instructor in the Gili Islands recommended diving Sipadan in the Malaysian region of Borneo. A few flights, one car ride with a creep, a boat taxi, a night's sleep in a stilted house over the shore of the island Mabul, then a quick dive-boat ride and VA-VOOM, I'm in a diver's paradise. My log book says I gained some perspective, seeing more underwater life than I could shake a stick at, including over 40 Sharks spanning 4 dives! Sipadan also set the low reference point during the third dive in which I became entranced by a cyclone of Barracuda as they lured me down to 34 meters (112 feet). I love diving!

Tomorrow it's off to the Philippines for about a week north of Manila trekking the volcanoes, so stay tuned.