snorkel snorkel- and underwater photography

One fine weekend, I decided to check out the islands just outside Kota Kinabalu

 so I headed down to Jesselton pier, armed with my new camera and about 2 hundred ringgit.
the price was good, and I went on one of the commercial boats, which didnt need any booking or a group
I booked boats for Mamutik, Sapi and Manukan Islands..each about 2 hours from 10am-4pm (the last boats go back at 4pm)
I bought a disposable underwater camera too, it's sold at the shops near the counters costs rm58 and the film can take about 28 photos, and rented the snorkeling equipment and a life jacket for rm10 each

on the boat I met these three tourists from Belarus, they were surprised as I could speak Russian and thought I was a translator. I wasted about 4 disposable daily contact lenses trying to put them on in the speedboat. Dont ask me why I did that,

the Islands were pristine and beautiful, with many tourists visiting, and it was mostly clear and clean.

I suggest not to bring anything too fancy/expensive as there were no lockers on the islands..as far as i found out

my first attempts at snorkelling were laughable. I'm not used to the water environment like my ex roomate Zam, and I've always felt vulnerable there. I almost immediately sucked in the water, got a nasty cut (above), and flailed my arms around...but luckily I could still stand in the water. Then I proceeded to try to get to the spots where they said the corals  & fishes were most beautiful..and cautiously went along the ropes tied to balloons they used for borders in the snorkelling areas. The ropes were not really nice to hold, as they had their own moss, living things and sharp corals or things that kept giving me cuts.

Later in Pulau Sapi, as I got better, I ventured out into deeper, more beautiful places.

a few lizards on the island

 by the time I finished with Pulau Sapi, the weather was still nice, but ominous clouds ahead told us it would rain later, my boat driver, mr phong, advised me to change my plans to go to Pulau Gayang instead of Manukan, so I did. There, I jumped straight from the pier instead of spending time on the beaches, as it was getting late anyway. this particular area had more cloudy water..probably because of the rain, but coral reefs were still visible if you look around
my next aim was to find rarer, more beautiful objects..one of them was the starfish, which is blue in this area...

as you can see I did find it..at the last few minutes before they called me. I hope I didnt step on it as immediately after that I sucked in more seawater, did that weird flailing dance again, and furiously had to kick myself above water..probably out of excitement. It was about 2-3 metres deep, but deadly enough.

another of my aims was to attempt snorkeling without a life jacket, and taking a picture like this one. It wasnt without costs..as I was actually having a hard time not to get drowned alone in the middle of nowhere without a life jacket. if you noticed...I was wide-eyed in every pic..that's because I definitely was scared. Immediately after this picture I did that suck water-dance-flail-flail routine (this time holding the life jacket for dear life at the end), and my right leg cramped.. I did consider asking for help, but I dont think they would take it seriously..it was about 2m deep.

finally I went back, sent the camera to be processed at suria mall, and had cheesecake and a chocolate milkshake in Secret Recipe, reading that David Eddings book The Elenium II:  The Ruby Knight