Mamatik Snorkeling

The beauty of another world on the reef. 

One of the best ways to relax in the tropics is to spend the day on a tropical island and to take your mask and snorkel for a swim. The water is pleasantly warm and there is so much to see in among the choral. So on our first opportunity to go island hopping in Kota Kinabalu we couldn't refuse. We took the boat to Mamatik, the price of the landing was included in the ticket that we purchased through the travel agent.

I came to the surface and I sighted a mermaid!

Mamatik is the smallest island in the group that form the National Park off the coast of KK. A short 20 minute boat trip drops you at the wharf. The coral here is quite good but due to the high number of people who come here there is quite a lot of damage. At low tide it is very shallow, it is best to avoid this part of the tide. There is a good little cafe on the island that cooks up some tasty noodles and other basic food and serves cools drinks.

I have never seen so many Nemos.

This soft coral seemed to have a large family of Nemos living in it.

Is this a larger Nemo or a different breed entirely?

These two came right up to the camera and tried nibbling on it. 

I enjoyed getting up close to the clown fish. With numerous soft corals in quite sizable clumps, there were a number of very confident clown fish. Some were quite big and I was left wondering if these were a different breed. I also observed a fish behaving in the same way but with a stripe running along its back.

Amazing spotty markings and marbled features on their faces.

Are you looking at me?

There were numerous other colourful fish. These fish must be used to people because they swam right up to me. A number of them attempted to nibble at my fingers and camera. Maybe they get fed. I didn't see any of the big fish here, but I was treated to some great displays of large schools of fish swimming by. Often these seemed to be going nowhere in particular.

I was left in awe of these large schools of fish that just seemed  to be all around me.

Fish everywhere. So many and so close to me.

This pufferfish was spectacular.

I spent some time enjoying the splendor of this puffer fish. He was brilliantly marbled and really not concerned about me swimming by quite close to his small cave. The coral in this part of the reef was particularly interesting because there seemed to be a number of different varieties and colours. As we don't have coral in New Zealand I find seeing these shapes under the ocean very exciting.

It is exciting to sit at home and relive the thrill of swimming through this underwater wonderland. Kermit, my little green fujifilm camera,  has been such a treat because I get to share these great sights with others who don't get to see such things.I am constantly reminded that it is so important that we all consider how we are treating the world we live in today.

Think about what you wash down your drain, because eventually it will end up in an ecosystem that is important to the survival of our planet.