Layang Layang

[fm2002]

For those of you heading to Layang Layang you might want to read this. I will be bringing my own gear and underwater video equipment and will struggle with the below requirements:

[Thank you for your reservation in Layang Layang.

We wish to inform you that the Airline Company has provided us a smaller aircraft instead. As such, we seek your customer co-operation to bring the minimum luggage and not to exceed the luggage limit of 30kg per person inclusive of hand-carry. Excess luggage is charge at MYR10 per kg per way. As a precautionary measure, we advise you to pack 1 or 2 days clothings and essentials in your hand-carry bag in the event that the luggage is overloaded by the Airline Company. We will sent the overloaded luggage on our next available flight.

Should you have any luggage that can be kept in Kota Kinabalu, you can arrange with our Kota Kinabalu Operations staff to store in their office or there are shops in the Airport Terminal where storage space rental is available.

We apologise for the inconveniences caused. We appreciate your co-operation in this matter and wish you a pleasant stay in our Resort.

Please contact me if you need any other information.

Thank you

Regards
Nelson Lam
Sales and Reservation Support
Layang Layang Island Resort

 

[mthkoh]

Hi Zippsy / fm2002, your sharing has been invaluable! My trip is just 2 weeks away and I'm already dreaming of it..quite literally =)

 

[xariatay]

Update: Friend who went 23rd - 28th Apr didn't see any hammerheads. Her friend stayed longer & saw a large school on 3rd May. Sweet!
Our trip: 7-12 May, Saw 1 lone hammerhead on 10th May. But I didn't get to see it, was down with flu (eeks!). On 11th May another group saw a large school of hammerheads, altho we were in the vicinity, we didn't see.
Despite not seeing the hammerhead, I am still happy with the trip, as I got close encounter/s with small manta ray/s & dolphins were playing at our boat's bow on 2 mornings - those mornings were exceptionally calm, the sea was like the lake... The DM said that early April has a better chance to see hammerheads but luck is most important!
The free shore-dives are good! They station staff at the jetty to help customers gear-up, so nice!
We had 8-9 divers per DM & 12 is not uncommon...

 

[Zippsy]

Yah, luck is VERY important. It's good you enjoyed the trip even without seeing the myths. It really is awesome diving and I am glad you did the jetty dives - most people can't be bothered and they miss seeing some cool critters.

 

[xariatay]

Zippsy, your advises are valuable! Many thanks! There were more & more divers joined in for the dusk dives, viz was really low on 10th May (our last dusk dive), we couldn't even see the next pillar but everyone came up happy. ;-)
This is the link to the awesome video of the school of hammerheads that the group saw on 3rd May Hammerhead Highlights 03/05/2009 Layang Layang on Vimeo Videos like that make perfect advertising for LL... ;-)

 

[divenowworklater]

In general I do think that LL is overrated and overadvertised. The groups are big, around 10devers/DM and the divemasters aren't very keen on showing stuff. We did see some matntas and that school of hammerheads on May 3rd, but in general paying 200e/day simply isn't worth it.

 

[rab1412000]

my friend is there right now.
she just posted on facebook that she saw a medium sized school of scalloped hammerheads and a great hammerhead yesterday.
to her seeing that great hammerhead made up for all the frustrations about the trip

 

[soozy]

Hi Everyone -

Finally have some time to sit down and report back about my trip to Layang Layang 30 April - 7 May. I would say that the trip was a great success and I am very happy with my diving experience there.

I was there for 7 nights and did a total of 17 dives (overslept a few of the afternoon dives due to severe jetlag, shame!) and saw a great variety of pelagics, small stuff, fantastic coral variety and pristine reefs.

Due to a typhoon in the Phils, we were terribly unlucky with the weather, with strong rains, winds and storms everyday we were there. That made the trips to the farther dive spots (ie Wrasse Strip) much more challenging. I was sick on the boat almost every time we went out for a dive. Also due to the storms, visibility was down overall and there was a lot less light to spot the hammerheads.

Me and my dive buddy were quite lucky. We start off with an encounter with a single hammerhead on the 2nd day of diving. Then, on a 730AM dive on the third day, we saw our first big school of about 30+ hammerheads as I was going into my final minute of no deco. On the same dive, right after enjoying the school of hammers for a few minutes we hear a "ting ting" on the DM's tank, turn around, and see a manta (6 meter wing span, huge!) doing barrel rolls right in front of me! The manta had a fish net stuck on its tail and racer stripes on its wings, a few groups saw them that day. As we were making our way to the reef, the currents were so strong on the tip of Wrasse Strip that the rest of the dive was almost Palau Blue Corner-esque. 5 or so gray reef sharks, a number of white tips, small schools of trevallys, it was fantastic.

After a few more small group sightings of hammerheads (3-5 of them, a group of 10 on one dive), we had one very lucky dive at Wrasse Strip on our second to last day of diving and saw a school of 60+. What a rush! One came up just over a meter above my head. On the same dive we also saw two huge tuna hunting a school of barracudas, it was a lucky day of seeing big stuff for us.

Other highlights of the "big stuff" was a huge marble ray, school of 16+ devil rays, a small manta, and sightings of pairs of devil rays almost every day.

It didn't seem like many people at LL when I was there was very interested in the reefs or small stuff. We were going in the deep in search of hammer heads pretty deep, and for a long time, that a lot of divers had to stay well above the reef to extend their bottom time just to make it to the end of the dive. I had a fab time exploring the reefs, they are so healthy and had so much coral life that it was almost hard to spot the fish!

I do agree, LL is a haven for juvenile things, lots of juvenile bat fit, 3 spot drum fish, the PYGMY SEAHORSE!! was a real treat. I am sad not to have been able to go to D-wall, I hear that is one of the most stunning walls in Asia to dive.

All in all, I had a great time there. In terms of value, I think the staff at the resort as well as the diving makes up for the drab accommodations and lousy resort manager. I found housekeeping, restaurant staff and front desk extremely friendly and helpful. As for the dive masters not keen on showing stuff, I can't totally agree. Most DM's focus on the big stuff on the first two dives, and small stuff on the third dive. If you are looking for fun things like the pygmy sea house, frog fish, leaf fish, etc. just ask them and they are more than happy to take you to see them.

However, I do think some DMs are better than others. We got a less enthusiastic DM when changing boats one day and quickly transferred to a new boat. To those that are planning on going, I would suggest trying to get on Mel, Pharris or Averil's boats - and also James's if he is still diving there. They seemed to be the "luckiest" DM's that saw the most hammerheads, but I also think they actually care about giving guests a really good experience and open to suggestions and requests (more so than the others) - just a personal opinion of mine.

That's it for me! I will post videos and pictures soon and post the link.

Soozy

 

[Zippsy]

hmmmm.... reading divenowworklater and soozy's post, I have to say I agree with DNWL. Definitely, under no circumstances, should anyone come to Layang Layang. (that leaves it to the people who appreciate it. )

Soozy, I'm glad you had a good time despite the weather and jetlag. Imagaine what it could be under ideal circumstances! It is definitely a magical place but anyone looking for guaranteed perfect dives everytime will be disappointed no matter where they go.

ps - nice video xaria. Thanks for sharing.

 

[xariatay]

Wow, Soozy, u people are lucky!!! Looking fwd to yr videos & photos. Yes, the reef is beautiful!
When we paid for the LL package, it seemed a tag expensive but looking back, LL is actually good value for money (eh, M'sians & S'poreans have special rates ;-]) - this is coming from someone who usually go budget. Breakdown the package into 3 dives a day + free jetty dives, 3 buffet meals (dessert cakes for lunch & dinner are yummy & the main dishes are not bad & salad & fruits) + 1 light breakfast + 1 tea break, nice accom (not luxurious & the tap water smells rusty but at least there is hot water). And you get to dive at a location which only opens for half a year annually, it is good value!
I agree with Zippsy, leave LL to those who appreciate it. ;-)
Thanks to Kulen for agreeing to share the video!