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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New dive site in Silam named ‘Journalist Reefs’

LAHAD DATU: A newly discovered dive site in Silam has been named ‘Journalist Reefs’, in recognition of the Sabah Media Divers for the year-long “End In Sipadan” dive campaign back in 2017. Pirate Divers founder Glen Hamirullah said the dive site was named after the local media for their contributions towards spreading the beauty of the undisturbed dive sites in Silam waters. “Journalist Reefs has a depth of between 27 and 30 metres, a dive site meant for advanced or experienced open water divers. “The dive site has huge corals on one site, while on the west one can see white sands and huge rocks,” he said, adding that among the marine habitats are blue and yellow-tail fusilier, stonefish, big eyed fish and nudibranch. The ‘Journalist Reefs’, said Glen, is one of the 55 dive sites discovered in Silam waters when Pirate Divers first began their operation in 2009. Gifted with underwater mapping talent without the need for sophisticated equipment or gadgets, the 56-year-old local-born dive instructor is known as one of the best underwater mapping divers in the country. He has mapped several hundreds of Malaysia’s most beautiful dive sites since 1997, and reckoned there were more beautiful and untouched dive sites that had yet to be explored in Lahad Datu. “Lahad Datu has many beautiful and undisturbed dive sites with coral reefs at depths of 27 to 30 metres. “Here at Silam waters, whale shark can be seen between March and May, while schools of tuna fish are found between October and December,” said Glen. One of the best dive sites in Silam is the ‘Japanese Timber Wreck’, a vessel that was sunken in the 1980s, now lying peacefully at a depth of 10 meters on the sea bed. Pirate Divers, which brings divers on a traditional fishing boat, is one of the operators featured in the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia year-long “End in Sipadan” campaign in 2017 to promote diving trails around Sabah. Source: Borneo Post Online
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200 villas at Sipadan resort

TAWAU: Sabah Green Development Sdn Bhd aims to increase tourist influx to Sabah’s east coast, especially Tawau and Sandakan, by building 200 units of villas at Sipadan Mangrove Resort, Sungai Burong, Kalumpang. Since the signing of a MoU between Sabah Green Development and Great Living Fortune on March 26, 2018 in Sandakan to build the 200 villas at Sipadan Mangrove Resort, a milestone has been reached where the ground-breaking ceremony was held yesterday to build 50 wellness villas that can host up to 220 guests. The project is the first phase as part of Sabah East Coast Tourism Belt initiative to achieve more high standard accommodation for tourists. The company also plans to build other villas of different designs in Sandakan and Silam, Lahad Datu. Sabah Green Development CEO John Nip said most of the villa units are expected to be sold to China tourists and the sale will start around the beginning of May as the 50 villas are scheduled for completion by July. To achieve this, he said, the company signed a MoU with Great Living Fortune, a villa builder and marketing agent from China as the company targets to sell most of its unit to China. He said that with the China builder’s expertise, a villa structure could be assembled within 7-10 days and the company hopes to build a showroom and announce sales by mid May this year. Though the main target is China buyers, the units are also for interested local buyers as investment, where buyers are entitled to one month stay per year while the rest of the months will be for lease with unit owners getting 70 percent of the profits. With the villas in place as accommodation, the company aims to make Sipadan Mangrove Resort as an alternative gateway to Semporna’s Mabul Island, Mataking Island and Tun Sakaran Marine Park. The resort, which is self-sufficient using renewable energy from solar power, biomass and wind turbines, will see the highly innovative and highly sustainable development project having a low impact on the environment with villas built along the canal and along the land.
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