Layang Layang (Malay: Pulau Layang-Layang) is an island situated 300 km north of the coast of Sabah, in Malaysian Borneo. This island has been always being my dreamed dive site. A part of the disputed Spratly Islands, the island is also claimed by China, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines, and is occasionally known in English as Swallow Reef.

This dive resort is situated on a coral atoll along with a small Malaysian Naval base. The naval base is completely off limits - island visitors are warned that wandering into the naval base area will result in detention. My good friend Mr Ong KC has try to go beyond the line and was warned by the guard of the naval base. The island has been reclaimed from the ocean and artificially increased in size by use of concrete rubble, thus there are no sandy beaches to walk on, just concrete boulders.

Layang Layang is situated in very deep waters with the drop off outside the island's reef falling away to approximately 2000 metres. Given its location in the middle of nowhere, the ocean waters are clear and unpolluted. Deep water marine species such as Hammerhead sharks visit this location. The corals are in pristine condition and with no fishing permitted, the fish life is abundant.

The only option for the scuba diving traveller is to fly on the Layang Layang chartered flight which operates 2 flights per day from Kota Kinabalu, generally early in the morning (6.30 and 10.30 AM departure ). Check with dive resort for flight schedules. As for our trip , the flight costs has been included in our package. Flight time is about one hour.

We arrive at the KK International Air terminal in Kota Kinabalu about 11PM on 21^st May 2009 ( Thursday ) and stay overnight in KK town little hotel named Shangarila.  We go back to KK international Airport on the 22^nd  May 2009 early as 9am. Here you and your luggage are weighed. This is a particularly amusing thing to watch, especially when someone is over 100kg as the luggage scales max out. After a hour or two waiting around whilst luggage and food is loaded, the flight departs.

A few words of advice about the actual flight: Note that small freight planes are used. The largest can take about 20 people and you board through the rear cargo ramp. We charted the whole flight and we have only 10 of us which James and Cynthia took the earliest flight which is 6.30am. Given the humidity, when the aircon system starts during the flight, there is a lot of smoke-like mist which pours from the ceiling vents - this is not a cause for alarm but is enough to set off the nervous flyer! Spare seats are occupied by your dive bags.

For the non-scuba diver, there is not a lot to see on the island. If you are a non-diver travelling with a diver or dive group, consider staying behind to enjoy the things to see in Kota Kinabalu.

The island is renowned for its amazing scuba diving opportunities, and this is the only real reason for visiting the island.

Each dive is done as a group under the direction of a dive master and a boat driver. Before each dive, the dive master will take your group through the dive plan i.e. underwater itinerary, maximum depth, bottom time, low air metric, usual marine sightings, etc. Usually you have the same boat for the duration of your trip and so you leave your dive gear in the boat only taking with you your computers and cameras after each dive. Someone else takes care of replacing your air cylinder between dives - but don't be slack - check your air pressure and attachments as soon as you board the boat for your dive rather than just before you jump in.

The dive centre expects that everyone is diving with a computer and the Dive Masters reserve the right to check/monitor your dive computer to make sure you haven't exceeded maximum depth etc. If you are found to have exceeded then you face a 24 hour diving ban. In addition, there is no diving for the rest of the day once you've consumed alcohol.

The dive rules are: maximum depth 40 metres and no deco time allowed - there is NO decompression chamber available hence if you get bent, then you are in trouble. Air is the only gas mix available - there is no Nitrox or other blends, hence no Technical diving possible. The island also has a no gloves policy for divers.

Dive gear rental is available at the Dive Centre. If you have your own gear, it's best to take it with you as the rental gear isn't well maintained and is old, faded and getting worn out. Most divers that visit Layang Layang are fairly experienced and thus take their own gear.

Dive photography is a big thing at the Island and there is an annual digital photography competition with prizes sufficient to attract the serious marine photographer.

Dive sites

There are twelve or so dive sites - all which are accessed by boat and are from 5-15 minutes away from the dive centre. The visibility is usually very good at 20 metres and more. The water temperature is somewhere around 30 degrees C. Each dive will give you opportunity to see large creatures such as sharks, turtles and manta rays - maybe even the elusive hammerhead shark. A vast array of intact, unbleached hard and soft corals, barrel sponges, gorgonian fans, schools of large fish and the usual array of colourful little fish are easy to see on each dive. The diving conditions such as current will vary with the weather and the dive master will select a suitable site accordingly.

• Crack Reef

• D Wall

• Navigator's Lane

• Snapper's Ledge

• The Tunnel

• Wrasse Strip

• Dog Tooth Lair

• Gorgonian Forest

• Shark's Cave

• The Runaway

• The Valley

• The Point - For a chance to see any hammerheads, this is the location where divers swim away from the reef at the beginning of the dive into the blue at about 30-35 metres depth for about 5-10 minutes before returning to the reef and completing the remaining 30 minutes slow ascending dive along the reef wall. We been to this site for 3 times and only get to see hammerheads during our very last dive.

• Pier Diving - Diving is available from the pier but with the sandy bottom and movement of the boats, it is very murky with visibility being 2-4 metres. That being said, there is an amazing array of marine life to be seen directly under the pier from huge moray eels to baby lion fish. Pier dives are offered for those wanting to do a night dive without the expense of chartering a boat and also as the last dive of your visit. A bit of trivia - the 2007 photo competition winner took his winning shot from a night dive at the pier.

Other

Bird watching - A number of species of birds nest and visit the island such as Black-napped tern, Great crested tern, Sooty tern, Brown booby, Lesser frigatebird, Pacific golden plover, Plumed and Pacific-reef egrets and Ruddy tern. Also there are lots of Barn swallows and Yellow wagtails. During the right time of the year, this would present good observing and photography opportunities for the bird watching enthusiast.

Sun bathe - in between dives, there are deck chairs around the resort's pool for a spot of sun bathing but remember the sun is strong and don't get sun burnt.

Note that there are no entertainment facilities for children, i.e. no playground, no sandy beach, no special meals and no kids' club activities.

There are no shops at the island so take everything you need with respect to personal items, medicines, reading material, etc. The Resort does sell a few tourist items such as t-shirts and diving books.

Our case is that we had already paid in full for our dive and accommodation package and flight prior to arriving at the island. Any expenses we occur on the island can be settled with a major credit card hence cash is not required.

Tipping is not generally expected in Malaysia but if you are really happy with the services , we do give RM 30 per diver to our dive master and boatman. I personally also left a few RM in the room as they fold towel into nice shape of sea species such as turtles and hammerhead shark.

All meals are included in the accommodation package and are served in the resort dining area.

There are 5 meals served each day. A light breakfast of cereal/toast; a substantial buffet breakfast after the first dive of the day; another large buffet lunch; afternoon tea snack followed by a decent buffet dinner.

All meals are self-serve style. There is no room service. There is no A-la-carte menu.

If you do have specific dietary needs, then advise the resort at time of booking to make sure they have prepared menus in advance as there are no supermarkets or food shops on the island. If you are a snack food devotee, then take your own supplies of chocolates and chips/crisps. The bar does sell a very limited range of bar snack foods.

The resort has a bar where you can purchase drinks including beer, soft drinks and cocktails. Soft drink cost about RM 5.00

The Layang Layang island resort is the only place to stay on the island. The rooms are comfortable albeit a little dated. The rooms are air-conditioned, have their own bathroom, two comfortable double beds and are well cleaned. Cable TV, with a narrow channel selection, is in each room but don't expect a remote control.. A four-night package (twin sharing) costs S$1437 per person for diver.

There is a satellite telephone system and you can arrange to make calls from the reception desk - call charges apply. Mobile phones work on the island under Celcom.

Wireless internet is available for those who bring their own laptops etc.

The only option to leave the island is by return air charter flight. The process is that you settle up your bill the night before. You and your luggage are weighed about 10.30am. You have a basic breakfast. Your luggage is loaded into the plane after it has arrived with the fresh faces from Kota Kinabalu. You depart somewhere around 11.30am.

We reach KK airport at about 1.00PM and we hang around in KK town to do some shopping till 4.30PM and catch our flight back to Singapore at 6.15PM. We touch down at about 8.00PM.

End of Layang Layang trip .

 Photos : http://www.flickr.com/photos/10020922@N03/sets/72157619102402102/