Gisle,
I see from another of your pictures that you met Elger, Borneo Diver's singing DM, and resident Romeo (in his mind at least) while you were there. You are right that the Drop Off Cafe at the end of Borneo Diver's pier is a good place to hang out at night. The only problem was it was easy to drink a "bit" more than I intended on several of the nights when there where lots of people there and I missed a before breakfast dive on several occasions because I couldn't drag my lazy butt out of bed
I noticed several changes on the island from '94 to '00. They are:
- '94 there were only 3 resorts on the island. Borneo Divers and the resorts immediately to the right and left of Borneo Divers.
- in while walking around the island in '94 the beach was pretty clean for the most part. Now you see lots of trash, abandoned boats, etc
- there used to be a much wider beach in front of and off to the right of (towards Barracuda Point) of Borneo Divers. In fact we used to be able to play beach volleyball on the beach between Borneo Divers and the Drop Off. The last time we were there in '01, so much of the beach had eroded away that several times at high tide they would bring the boat right up to the steps of the dive locker and we were able to step right into the dive locker. Unfortunately it seems that most of the eroded sand ended up going over the edge of the Drop Off and covering the coral there so the Drop Off isn't near as pretty as it was in '94.
All of that said, we have enjoyed all of our trips to Sipadan and we also plan on returning. While the island itself is not as nice as it used to be (due to the increased # of resorts and people) the diving and the Borneo Diver staff remain super.
Maybe we'll run across you there one of these days.
Rickg
