Thursday, May 04, 2017

Kabran Gone Wild: Kota Kinabalu - Nothing But Beach in Borneo


Eager to get back underwater and further our scuba diving skills, we looked into PADI’s Advanced Open Water Course.

This would allow us to dive deeper and specialize in wreck diving – what better place than the largest island in Asia?!

We packed our bags, booked our course, and made our way to Kota Kinabalu (I swear this place exists and I did not make up the name).

Certified Deep Divers: With Borneo being one of the cheaper places to dive, we were not expecting much.

However, the first day we were chartered by boat out to Down Below’s private beach resort and could not have been more impressed!

This island oasis was the perfect place to debrief after dives, and refuel on delicious snacks and chicken lunches (fish are our friends)!

Our specialty dives included: underwater navigation, deep dive, boat dive, wreck dive and peak performance buoyancy.

Let’s just say .. we were not peak performers when it came to buoyancy.

A lot of underwater bubbles were blown while laughing at one another bobbing up and down in the water.

Nonetheless, we passed (without flying colors) – after all Sea’s Get Degrees!

Island Hopping: After expending a lot of energy underwater, we rewarded ourselves with a day of ultimate island relaxation.

TAR Marine Park is made up of five islands, and hopping from island to island by boat is KK”s most popular tourist attraction.

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