Snorkel Sapi Island – Much better than Manukan

View of Pulau Gaya from Pulau Sapi. Sal's photo.

I thought the reef in Sapi is going to disappoint me because a long long time ago (more than 10 yrs) I thought that the reef in Manukan was so much better (it was my fave island). And when I discovered that Manukan reef is not as good as I remembered it to be, I figured Sapi will be much worse.

I put on my snorkeling gear and head out to sea. The first thing that came to my mind was “Damn, the water is so murky I can’t see more than 1m ahead of me.” Well of course its murky la, I was still in shallow water and wave action is stirring up the sand. A few fin kicks later, the water was clearer and I could see a lot of algae growing on dead corals. Hmm….

Razorfish spotted by Lan. Sal's photo

Then all of a sudden Lan and I was attacked by a school of piranha!! Yes yes they are freshwater fish but i swear these guys are just as bad. Seargentfish (mostly) and other herbivorous reef fishes attacked us. This is the effect of fish feeding. This is why Sabah Parks should stop this activity. Anyway,......

The piranha!! See how vicious they are??? Sal's photo

A few more kicks, and the bottom went down to a sudden steep slope and revealed to me an underwater paradise. Wow! This is what I have been looking for. The treasure he he he. The reef was smallish but it was covered with a variety of colorful corals. Some soft, some hard. I also saw some artificial reefs! (Sabah Parks effort to rehabilitate the reef… kudos guys :)

The artificial reef .... the piranhas were still swarming me. Sal's photo

The busy cleaners. Sal's photo

Lots of cool fishes living here and I love observing the fish cleaning stations. Those cleaner wrasse are cute when they are busy cleaning. I usually wonder if they have conversation with their customers much like a hair dresser talking to a client.

Moorish Idol. Sal's photo

Lan being the expert in discovering marine creatures in hiding, pointed out to me a boxfish :) Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to take a good photo of it. Only got the tail….. This time I saw more butterflyfishes. The common 8 banded butterflyfish were abundant and there were 3 other different species as well.

Boxfish's tail.... at least you can see from here why its called boxfish :) Sal's photo

The humbugs hiding in coral branches. Sal's photo

I was disappointed when I had to go back to shore…. 1 hour exploring this reef was not enough!!

On the down side, I think there were lots of debris floating around the water. I think there is some improvement that Sabah Parks can do to better manage our marine resources for our future.

Sal’s tip: We all should also play our part in this effort. Use less plastic and throw trash in proper bin. Remember, do not step on corals.

There is a part of the island that is all sandy bottom. Perfect for beginners learning to swim or snorkel. No corals to step on here… just watch out for stingrays hiding in the sand ;)

Overall, I give Sapi Island 2 thumbs up!!

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