Layang Layang, Malaysia (Borneo)

[Zippsy]

The reason is they hot fill their tanks and why for god's sake do they not have nitrox?

I am not sure of other ways of mixing nitrox but getting food to the island is tough enough. Getting enough O2 tanks there would be much more difficult. Also, with normal dive profiles being go to 40m and look down into the blue, there is a fair chance of a lot of people exceeding MODs and if I were the operator, I'm not sure I would be keen for divers to use it there either.

There is no excuse for underfills though.

 

[ambertiger]

Well IMO they do not have to have replace all their tanks with special O2 tanks if they are only using EANx 27 or 32. They could also buy an EANx compressor they do not have import massive tanks of oxygen every week. Max depth for EANx 32 is 35M and EANX 27 42M that would work just fine for me and would reduce my fatigue and 'no fly' time considerably over a one week dive period. I believe that nowadays almost every dive operation would benefit from using EANx.

 

[zandelion]

Hi I have dived both destinations. If you are planning to go in August then I would probably recommend Sipadan. If earlier in the year such as April or May I would say go to Layang Layang. Layang2 has IMO a greater diversity of marine life at every level then Sipadan. I would say that the reason for this is that Layang2 has been protected as a marine park for the past 15 years and all fishing on the reefs is prohibited. Sipadan is still fished on a daily basis by the Bajau people and others. Grouper and shark in particular are targeted as a food fish for restaurants in Tawau and KK. Sipadan has its profusion of turtles, I once counted over 50 on one dive, schooling jacks and whirling dervish barracuda. Layang2 has its brilliant diversity of marine life as well as Hammerheads in April~May, Jacks, Barracuda and Devil Rays. My only complaint about Layang2 is no EANx and bad fills, I consistently got tanks with 170~180bar. I actually made a fuss about this and they made an effort to change for our group but they weren't very happy about me bitching at them. The reason is they hot fill their tanks and why for god's sake do they not have nitrox?

thanks for writing this, it gives me the right idea in my head about LL....i am just about to book it, and was going to do a 10 night, but now am rethinking that if i make it there it would be better to do only 5... i really wanted to wait and book it when i am a lot closer as i am travelling for 5 months... however, flights are a real issue.
hmmm...what to do??? such a question! thanks for your honesty, and i was going to take a nitrox course so i could dive nitrox,,, i HATE short fills, it makes me feel ripped off. zandelion.

 

[ambertiger]

thanks for writing this, it gives me the right idea in my head about LL....i am just about to book it, and was going to do a 10 night, but now am rethinking that if i make it there it would be better to do only 5... i really wanted to wait and book it when i am a lot closer as i am travelling for 5 months... however, flights are a real issue.
hmmm...what to do??? such a question! thanks for your honesty, and i was going to take a nitrox course so i could dive nitrox,,, i HATE short fills, it makes me feel ripped off. zandelion.

Hi, If you were thinking of 10 days then why not do 4 or 5 on Layang2 and 4 or 5 on Sipadan /Mabul? You would have fantastic diving. They are not that far apart if you are travelling a long way in the first place and flights are large amount of the total cost of the trip, it will be worth your while... I agree with you about the short fills on tanks there is no excuse for it really at any dive shop and there is no excuse for them not to buy a nitrox compressor, they make heaps of money off the resort. The short fills annoyed everybody in my group and I heard people bitchin about it around the dinner tables. Other than that I have no complaints about LL , the marine life was superb and the food and accommodation excellent and the DMs were pretty good.

Safe diving.

 

[Zippsy]

If you are going in April, the Black Manta (Welcome to Whitemanta.com) will be going there again this year. The LOB sails out of Kota Kinabalu so you don't have to worry about the flights to Layang2 from KK.

 

[Searcaigh]

I planned to visit LL last June and had to abandon the idea due to flight availability and ended up in the Philippines instead, no complaints there, I had a marvelous time, but I still have LL on my sights although I now have reservations about it as there is no NITROX.

It should not be difficult for the resort owners to install a membrane system to produce NITROX, it would certainly be a strong advantage to all who dive there.

 

[Roger J Munns]

Here is a video of Avilion Layang Layang Island Resort for anyone thinking of heading there.

[youtubehq]075iCnNTXSw[/youtubehq]

 

[Zippsy]

Not available? You should ask Jason I. for his excellent video of all the hammerheads from there in April 2009. Oops, on second thought, don't remind him.