Return to Mantanani Resort, Malaysia - Oct 2000
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MANTANANI ISLAND is located north of Kota Kinabinlu, Sabah-Malaysia. About one hour forty five minutes by car, and approximately forty five minutes by boat to reach Mantanani. If take 8:00 am morning flight form Hong Kong to Kota Kinabinlu, you can arrive before 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon the same day, and have a night dive if weather permits. This island is much more larger compared to Sipadan Island, you can walk all around the island for about two hours. And there is a traditional fishing village located 30 minutes away from the resort by walking. Mantanani is the only resort on the island without any roads available.
Mantanani will always be my top ten sites for macrophotography. Most of all, the friendly quiet atmospheres of Mantanani makes my holiday a wonder. Every Wednesday or Thursday night is the BBQ dinner on the beachfront looking towards the Sun go down. And the dive master is always resourceful finding unusual critters for guests. "I think I'll be back again soon within the next few months!" Ken Yeung |
As my second return to Mantanani, the attractive marine diversity brings me interested in macrophotography. Many ware specie of Nudibranchs are to be found there in all the dive sites, one which I encounter call Thuridilla. It is the most elegant nudibranch I ever seem; color and patterns are the main interest. Also, various Cowries are special to be found during the winter month of the year. Hard and soft corals around the island are well intact with uique formation. The Gilly rock dive site is full of Purple Anemones with orange clownfish, great for semi wide-angle photography. Occasionally, the anemone crabs and shrimps are hinting behind it. Sea Whip corals lives on the tiny Gobies, and Shrimps together as a family. In front of the resort are a few good deeper dive sites named Kampond, Naoko Point, and a new site call Macro Heaven. All three dive sites are ranges from 60 to 80 ft. in depth.
Kampond is right in front of the fishing village; there are surprising ranges of soft corals like the Giant Elephant Ear Sponges. Occasionally, Eagle Rays are to be sited on the open sandy area. Naoko Point is full of different types of nudibranchs, and Red Eye Gobies are always resting on top of the hard table corals. Macro Heaven is a flat sandy bottom area, which you have to look careful for little rocks and corals in order to find the critters you can encounter. Like the glowing Emperor Shrimp, Squat Lobster, Gobies, etc.
Right in front the beach resort consist of a few markers for shore dives, which only 5 to 8 ft. deep for easy diving or snorkeling. More than half a dozen Giant Clams are located in one of the marker, and waiting for small surprises! If bad weather arrives, the beach shore dive is the best place for second option or even night dives. There are increasing number of Turtles return to the beach, which I was lucky enough to see dozen or more baby turtles to be released back to the ocean.