Sibuan Island - Most Beautiful Beach in Celebes Sea

Most Beautiful Beach in Celebes Sea

Island and Beach of Sibuan Island has often been mentioned in internet the most beautiful in Celebes Sea.

Sibuan comprises one main island the shape of a war ship, with white-sand beaches surrounded by a coral reef.

Living on the island ate resident of about 50 including Sea Bajau and Government officers on duty.

White sand beaches, swaying coconut trees, crystal-clear pristine blue waters with a surrounding of calm sea.

Few sea gypsies families built small huts on the island. Curious and playful sea gypsies children sharing their catch and coconuts with you.

This most beautiful beach closest to Semporna Town on Sibuan Island is where we came for a half day snorkeling on 31-5-2011. No doubt the most beautiful beach we ever being to.

This one of the most beautiful islands in the Celebes Sea has in recent years became a popular spot for snorkel and student-divers.

The island is protected by Malaysian armed forces with its barracks stationed at the remote Northern end of the island. Providing tourists protection and offering the sea gypsies supply of water.

The soldiers also protect the island ecology from illegal fishing using bombs and cyanide that destroys coral reef. Together, the soldiers and the sea gypsies form a community to help to keep the island clean and protect the island's marine life.

Sibuan Island has 8 Dive Sites.

A diving learner learn how to drop into with tank for the first time (photo above) while the local Diving Master in black dive suit on the water keep a watchful eye.

We are in the same boat to the island.

Sibuan is a popular spot for diving instructors to conduct the Open Water Diver Course because of the calm water, shallow slope and clear sandy bottoms.

Good underwater visibility all year round promotes colorful underwater photography.

Sibuan is a macro divers paradise with rare, unique and bizarre critters everywhere. Sandy bottoms mixed with rubble as well as sloping reefs provide a playground for divers to hunt within.

I have seen Nemo in all forms of digital images and in aquarium, but it is here in Sibuan Island I meet Nemo face to face. The new experience in water is difficult to describe. I will come back one day with a water camera.

Sea Gypsies of the Celebes Sea

Blue sky, green sea water, white sandy beach, tall coconut trees swinging to the rhythm of warm sea breeze. Like a setting for yet another Hollywood film of tropical island fantasy love story.

This is what greet our eyes when we arrive and I talked to myself "The islanders must be living a fantasy life that the city people like me dream of"

Our speed boat took only 20minutes journey from Semporna Town to this tinny Sibuan Island. But before departure, the boat has to drop by the Tourist Jetty to pay Rm2.00 per person Park Entrance Fee. (Rm10.00 for Non Malaysian)

Underneath the coconut trees are huts of Bajau Laut people. At the Northern end of island is Malaysian army guard post where government officers stay when on duty.

Their simple homes of huts made out of coconut leaves and drift woods. Those who are more capable have huts made of plywood and zinc roof.

Over looking from the huts is spectacular view of clear green water of Celebes Sea that attracted thousands of sea lovers from all over the world each year.

Sea Bajau (Bajau Laut or Sea Gypsies or what ever name given by the so called modernized people on the land) are sea faring people.

They used to live on boats, many have moved to land to live on huts. After several years, they may move to another island where food are abundant.

The people on this island is among the world's last marine nomads.

This Bajau ethnic group have lived at sea for centuries, plying a tract of ocean between the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.

They themselves are not sure where their home town is, neither historian knows where they were originated.

Bajau people : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajau_people

Sea Bajau people has a proud tradition of skilled craftsmanship in hand-made boat ‘LEPA’ (Bajau language : boat that hand-crafted).

A LEPA boat usually measured 5 to 7 meters long. This LEPA boat in the making is about 4 meters.

Sea Bajau language is different from Malay. Their language is related to South Philippines.

"Dalok Bin Mangona" he told me when I asked what his name is.

Dalok Bin Mangona is certainly proud of his little LEPA that would soon sail him over the Celebes Sea.

Dalok is certainly proud of his boat making skill handed down in the thousand years tradition of his people. But a skill and tradition rapidly disappearing in this part of industrializing world where the young generation has to face the challenge of mastering new skills to survive in a large modern society............. and human's civilization has always been cruel to the culturally weak groups.

Under the tropical sun are playing children and drying strips of shell meat hung horizontally.

For the children here, their daily routine consists of plenty of playing (above) while the more industrious, usually girls, traipsing the shallows sea (photo below), gathering food and subsistence for the family.

Celebes sea provide staple foods of the Bajau Laut in this island that includes sea cucumber, sea urchins and shellfish.

One of the Sea Gypsies sea flavors is the Sea Urchins the red girl above collected.

While snorkeling I saw many of these spiny dark brown sea urchins at the coral area and nearby me the red girl was collecting them using a long iron hock.

An hour later she was at the beach side cutting open the urchins with a parang (long knife) and scooping the eatable orange color meat into a plastic bowl.

These are considered a bit of a delicacy because the amount of effort takes to collect them from the sea floor and the small amount of edible material you actually get for quantity collected.

Opening the sea urchin is an important process because the edible part rests completely on one side. The edible part is the organ that produces eggs rather than the eggs themselves.

Town people in my town do not know much about this delicacy from the sea but the Japanese use sea urchins as ingredient for their shushi.

Sea cucumbers (photo below) is a delicacy among them and a commodity they have traded for centuries. A main cash income for many of these fishermen.

These dark color dried sea cucumber in photo below may not be the high grade for export. They consume themselves or sold in local town market at a lower price and usual customers are local Chinese.

......their migration has been attributed in part to their pursuit of trade, particularly in a sea cucumber species called the Trepang. It is considered a delicacy and is used in soups made as far away as China, where it is also used medicinally. The Bajau. The Peoples of the World Foundation http://www.peoplesoftheworld.org/text?people=Bajau

The Sea Cucumber of above photo may not be the species Trepang that has high export value. These are sold in local market in Semporna and Tawau.

"She sells sea shells on the sea shore."

Yes, the girls do sell sea shells at the sea shore collected from Sibuan Island sea shore.

But this sea shell I saw on sea shore she not sells (photo above).

This spider sea shell has a bottom half broken that spare it from being sold.

"All Bajau people are poor. To travel to Semporna with boat without engine took 5-6 hours. We can't afford an engine boat. I ever thought of selling coconut to the tourist but climbing the tall trees are dangerous." Ng Shannon Bajau Laut at Sibuan Island Sabah19 March 2011 http://ngshannonhomeschool.blogspot.com

Perhaps this is the most wealthiest family unit in the island as shown in this young lady's procession - a CD Player powered by a car battery and a Gas tank underneath the hut.

Dreams of the Islanders

Sibuan Island

Sibuan Island is located at the North of the Semporna Marine Park. Looking through Google Earth, Sibuan shaped like a chilli.

This island has a land area of 15 hectares and very flat covered with coconut trees. The coconut trees are grown in neat rows indicating the trees are systematically planted by human and not grew up by themselves.

Judging by the height of the tree, the coconuts trees are at least 60 over years old. That was after First World War and base on my history knowledge of Tawau, at that time the Japanese are doing coconut planting in vast area in this part of Sabah (North Borneo at that time). The Japanese farmers all evacuated from Sabah after the Second War World. Their agriculture property "confesticated" by UN and taken over by local Chinese.

But was Sibuan Island a Japanese coconut plantation 60 over years ago ??

Sibuan At one time the economy of the island was based on the coconut plantation – an old copra production shed was seen in 1980 (Piper, 1981). The plantation is no longer actively managed, but there is some harvesting of coconuts judging by the piles of discarded husks. A small plot of maize was seen close to the huts in 1999, but otherwise there is no cultivation. http://www.sempornaislandsproject.com

I am very impressed by Sibuan's beauty of white sandy beach and swaying coconut trees dotted with some fisherman stilt wooden houses.

It is not surprising that in the Internet reckon Sibuan Island the most beautiful island in the Celebes Sea.

The huts are temporary home of Bajau Laut fishermen. Huts made with mangrove/coconut posts and thatched with plaited coconut leaves.

There are only 10 over houses/huts on the island. How nice if I have a house to live in such an peaceful and charming environment. But....

.....most people left the settlement present on Pulau Sibuan in 1999 after a pirate raid in 2000. http://www.townplanning.sabah.gov.my

Sibuan is without a doubt, one of the most beautiful islands in the Celebes Sea, and has the most beautiful beach closest to the mainland Semporna. Allister Lee AQUATASTIC http://www.allisterlee.com/2010/10/sibuan-island.html

Sibuan southern end has a deeper water channel allowing speed boats to come in even in low tide.

Sibuan Island is a popular training ground for PADI Open Water Dive Course.

This is also the reason why we came to this island, the boat we follow is the boat for a group of Diving learners and their instructors who come to the island for diving training.

Sibuan Island is part of Tun Sakaran Marine Park, a public marine park set up only several years ago by Malaysian Government for both tourism and marine protection.

Several kilometers from Sibuan Island are seaweed farms in the middle of the sea. Seaweed farms provide economy improvement to the local people, an Endeavour of Malaysian Government to help remove poverty of the locality.

A canoe maker in Sibuan Island

A traditional sampang (canoe) maker in Sibuan Island

A canoe - a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, pointed at both bow and stern and open on top,

This canoe is propelled by the use of paddles by one person.

Paddles may be single-bladed or double-bladed.

The log canoe dugout from a single piece of log.

Building a lepa boat at Pulau Sibuan.

Semporna Waterfront

Kulapuan Island

BUKIT TENGKORAK ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE SITE

BUKIT TENGKORAK (SKULL HILL) ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE SITE

"It is estimated that more than 6 million prehistoric potsherds can be found all over this hill" as written on a signboard at the archaeological site.

This broken piece I am holding (above photo) is from a 3000 years old pot made on the hill.

It’s Labor Day, our whole family has an outing to Semporna. A town 105 Km 1.5 hours drive from our home. Our main destination is this BUKIT TENGKORAK ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE SITE, a major pottery producing site 3,000 years ago.

It’s a dizzying day that ruined much of the fun of an outing that other wise a joyous holiday outing.

Visitor Center of the site was complete only in 2010 and is a new tourist attraction in Sabah.

This is a RM4.2 million project by Malaysia National Heritage Department aimed at preserving the historical site which showed the area's civilization

Bukit Tengkorak is one of Sabah sites with the highest prehistoric value. An important archaeological site in South-East Asia.

Situated 500 feet above sea level, Skull Hill was a volcanic rock cave and formed part of the rim of a 2km-wide volcanic crater, surrounded by numerous isolated hills and mountains.

Universiti Sains Malaysia and Sabah Museum Department since 1994 found 3 important items aged over 3,000 years on this SKULL :

1) pieces of porcelain,

2) stone equipment

3) food remnants from various marine species

Walking up the wooden stairs on the upper forested area will lead you to the site.

At the foot hill is a museum for visitors to view its historical finds.

Archeological research uncovered pottery shards in layers of ash which were probably remnants of open kilns used for firing pottery.

Historical studies point to trading between the people of Bukit Tengkorak and other prehistoric communities along the southeastern coast of Sabah.

Archaeologists believed that long-distance sea trade and migration of people in insular SEA and the Pacific moved east from Melanesia (near Papua New Guinea) to Polynesia, leaving behind what is known as the “Lapita culture” of pottery, stone tools and ornaments.

“Our research at Bukit Tengkorak shows that 3,000 years ago, people were not only moving east towards New Britain in Melanesia but also westwards towards Sabah.............This is one of the longest trading routes in the world during the Neolithic period.....”

Archeochemist Dr Stephen Chia
of University Science Malaysia
who based his PhD thesis on the site.

Dr Stephen Chia found obsidian (a volcanic glass used to make tools) at the site and traced it chemically to Talasea in New Britain, 3,500 kilometers away. His fieldwork in Southeast Asia also found stone tools and pottery similar to Bukit Tengkorak in the Zamboanga Peninsula, the Sulu Archipelago and Sulawesi.