14Mar

‘Blue holes’: Proper planning needed for Darvel Bay to be made tourist attraction

LAHAD DATU: There is a need to have proper planning and sustainable management of Darvel Bay should the area be commercialised in the future. This follows a statement from Sabah Parks, which conducted a scientific expedition at the bay, and reported to media about Malaysia’s only known “blue holes” off Silam waters, here. Local dive instructor Glen Hapirulla, 56, who is also the owner of a dive site Pirate Divers, had led his team to discover and map 60 sites to date including the blue holes in 2017 which they named the Blue Ring reefs. “Since news of the discovery has been shared widely in social media, I have been receiving many inquiries to come and dive at the Blue Ring,” he said, adding that previously people had been sceptical about safety in Lahad Datu due to the history of piracy and the intrusion by armed men from the southern Philippines in 2013. Pirate Divers, being the sole dive operator here, normally sets a limit of eight divers daily at Blue Ring, which is known as “Pakat Tenggiri” among locals as its near fishing grounds for them. “Both holes of the Blue Ring are not connected and the depth is between 14m and 18m, depending on the tide. Hole One has less than 30 per cent that can be explored while Hole Two is more special as it has (what we named) ‘Journalist reef’, which has magnificent corals of different types,” he said, adding that the reef was so named to acknowledge the media’s contribution in promoting Lahad Datu dive sites and conservation efforts. Glen, who is aware of the state government’s efforts to gazette Darvel Bay, said Lahad Datu’s untouched “gems” must not be subjected to “overcrowding” by tourists or it would become a “second Semporna”. “There should not be resorts or (anything else) built mid sea off Lahad Datu waters as it would damage the natural state of underwater life, especially corals. “Divers and visitors should also be screened through ‘one-door’ so that there would be proper monitoring and control of their activities,” he said, adding that the authorities must have strict enforcement of regulations, with a systematic arrangement of visitors’ movements. Glen added that any development should always prioritise locals in terms of employment and affordability in visiting the area. “It would be sad, if, in future, our locals can only see others diving here as they can no longer afford to pay exorbitant prices, just like what is happening in Sipadan island,” he said. Meanwhile, Tungku assemblyman Assafal Alian said the scientific expedition by Sabah Parks was part of the efforts for gazettement. “The whole of Darvel Bay is expected to be gazetted as a protected marine park. It is still in the process, but we hope it will be completed by year-end,” said Assafal, who is also assistant tourism, culture and environment minister. Source: New Straits Times  
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13Mar

‘Blue holes’ in Silam waters discovered before by local diver

LAHAD DATU: The so-called ‘blue holes’ that were allegedly discovered by researchers off Silam waters this year was actually discovered much earlier by a Lahad Datu-born diver back in 2017. Lahad Datu Pirate Divers operator Glen Hapirulla made the discovery with his team some two years ago while exploring new dive sites in Silam waters. The dive site was sketched, mapped and named ‘Blue Rings Reef’ by Glen and Pirate Divers back then, instead of the blue holes as reported. It was reported that on Feb 14 this year, a team of researchers from the Sabah Parks (TTS) allegedly discovered the dive sites, as part of a scientific expedition to collect marine data at Darvel Bay, and described them as the only known ‘blue holes’ in Malaysia. The report of the findings have raised much concern among local divers who are familiar with Pirate Divers’ constant work in exploring new dive sites and actively promoting Lahad Datu as a tourism destination. Some local divers took to social media to vent their frustration, claiming that Glen and Pirate Divers were not given any recognition for their hard work. But according to Glen, Sabah Parks (TTS) had invited him for the scientific expedition on that day but he was unable to participate due to other commitments. Glen said the dive site cannot be named as such as it did not fulfil the criteria of a ‘blue hole’. Blue holes are roughly circular, steep-walled depressions, and so named for the dramatic contrast between the dark blue, deep waters of their depths and the lighter blue of the shallows around them. “But this dive site is not interconnected, but instead each is a different large hole,” said the local-born dive instructor, who has discovered more than 50 dive sites in Silam waters since 2009. Glen added that since the discovery of the Blue Rings Reef, the operator has been bringing divers to the area, which he divided into three dive sites- namely Blue Ring Reef Hole 1, Blue Ring Reef Hole 2 and Outer Ring of Blue Ring Reef. Source: Borneo Post Online
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11Mar

Lahad Datu Blue Hole holds huge tourism potential

LAHAD DATU: Darvel Bay in Lahad Datu, is poised to be a world tourism spot with the discovery of an iconic scuba diving site known as The Blue Hole in Tingkayu Corals in the bay. The finding was recorded on Feb 14 by a group of divers including researchers from Sabah Parks (TTS) who joined the scientific expedition to collect marine data at Darvel Bay. Unlike other blue holes in the world, the blue hole in this bay has two structures with each hole 15 metres deep into the seabed. Relating the matter, TTS senior research officer, Nasrulhakim Maidin said the blue hole is probably the only such feature in Sabah and maybe even in Malaysia. “If this sunken coral structure (like a cave in water) is promoted as a diving site, it could become a major tourist attraction such as The Great Blue Hole of Belize (Central America), Blue Hole Dean (Bahamas), apart from Dragon Blue Hole (China),” he said when met recently. According to him, they stumbled upon the find when a remote sensing map detected a coral area and they found a blue hole instead. “We explored both blue holes and could cover the site with just one tank of gas. The experience was amazing when we came out of the blue hole from the left to the right, we were like moving over a mountain range in the sea,” he said and added the place could be opened to divers apart from becoming a sea-walking spot,” he said. Nasrulhakim said the blue hole could be promoted as one of the tourist diving sites as it is strategically located near Sipadan Island in Semporna. “If we take a boat from Silam Coast Conservation Area (SCCA) to the blue hole, it will take about 30 minutes and from Sipadan, an hour and it will take two hours by tourist boat from Semporna to the blue hole in Darvel Bay,” he said. However, according to him, to bring this gem into the eyes of the world, Darvel Bay which is about 100,000 hectares encompassing the blue hole and 50 islands should be gazetted by the state government as a marine preservation area. The move is necessary to realise the development of Darvel Bay in Lahad Datu as an international tourism destination based on the concept of ecotourism or research tourism. “The gazette is the initial measure to preserve marine lives in the area like the blue hole which we found has lots of corals but minimal presence of fish. “When we dived to a depth of 13 metres, we found 10 fish traps (bubu) but they appeared discarded a long time ago and we observed there were no groupers (fish) sighted in the area,” he said. He said gazetting the place would make Lahad Datu as the preferred tourism destination which could in turn contribute to state revenue. “Last year alone, Sabah earns RM7.8 billion from tourism and this income can be further expanded with the latest product like Darvel Bay,” he said and added they also found four other diving spots in bay. Meanwhile, Universiti Malaysia Sabah Borneo Marine Research Institute lecturer, Assoc Prof Dr Juanita Joseph, said the expedition also recorded the finding of two turtle species, the green turtle and sea hawksbill turtle in the area. “These wild turtles were found in Pulau Baik and Pulau Tabawan and it was also observed that there is sea grass which is what turtles feed on. “Interviews with fishermen and security forces personnel in Tabawan also confirmed the presence of turtles in the island,” he said. According to her, if the government gazette the bay, more turtles will be attracted to the island as a safe haven such Semporna apart from restoring the coral destroyed by fish bombs. In this regard, Juanita said the beach and sea in several areas of Darvel Bay need cleaning up due to rubbish washed up from the sea. Apart from rubbish, she said old fish traps and ghost nets dumped into the sea could contribute to killing marine lives such as turtles. On Feb 11, 21 researchers from Sabah Parks, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Remote Sensing Agency took part in 2019 Darvel Bay Scientific Expedition. The week-long programme was organised by Sabah Foundation and Lahad Datu District Office. — Bernama
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10Nov

Promoting Sabah to backpackers

SEMPORNA: Members of Sabah Backpackers Association (SBA) are working together to offer diversified tourism products to attract travellers to stay longer in the state. Its president Richie Lee said backpackers would get the opportunity to know Sabah more as they tend to stay longer. “Backpackers rely heavily on word-of-mouth, social media and the Internet to choose and decide on their travelling destinations. “After their visit to Sabah, we want them to go back to their countries and write good reviews that will attract more people to the state,” he said at an “End in Sipadan” programme, here, recently. The programme is organised by the Tourism and Culture Ministry. SBA is a strategic partner that helps the ministry promote dive trails in Sabah. Lee added that each operator should offer different products to allow divers to explore more. “People usually fly to Semporna (in Tawau) and end up diving only in Sipadan, but Sabah is blessed with three seas (South China Sea, Sulu Sea and Celebes Sea) and there are definitely more diving trails to experience in the state. “The ‘End in Sipadan’ is a voluntourism programme designed to encourage tour operators to offer packages for divers to build artificial reef conservation,” he said. He added that divers engaged in the work could return to check the progress of the reef. Besides that, the association had also been engaging education institutions to be a part of their programmes. “College students are involved in internship programmes with our members. Through this, the younger generation gets hands-on experience and learning opportunity. “After their graduation, the association hopes to help produce quality frontliners in the tourism industry.”   Source: New Straits Times
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