Diving off the Coast of Similajau, Bintulu, Sarawak - Part 1

I was on a field trip with Dr. Lee Nyanti of UNIMAS and his team on 7^th – 11^th June 2008. He was going to do some dives off the coast of Similajau to do coral reef surveys plus marine fauna surveys and sampling. Not quite my area of expertise but being in the outdoors never ceased to thrill the adventurous side of me.

To get to the diving spots, we had to first get to Similajau coast. We hired a boat from one of the local fisherman (a friendly chap named Effendi and his crew Hisham) at Kuala Nyalau village, a fishing village located at the estuary of Nyalau River, 70km from Bintulu town. Kuala Nyalau is one of three Kedayan villages located along the Nyalau River, which drains into the South China Sea.

The UNIMAS team, led by Dr. Lee Nyanti, comprised Dr. Lim Po-Teen - a plankton specialist, Dr. Andrew Alek Tuen – a terrestrial flora and fauna specialist, Jongkar Grinang – aquatic and macrobenthic specialist, and technical assistant Amin Mangi. On Sunday 8^th June, we took the boat out for as far 1 km parallel to the coastline, and Dr. Lee selected 4 dive spots of about 2-3 km apart, up to the mouth of Similajau River.

Weather was fine and sunny. Some of the photos I took are shown here.

Dr. Lim managed to collect one lobster species at one of the dive spots (exact location is kept confidential) and according to these guys, the lobster is a juvenile. Imagine how big a fully grown one could be.

Sarawak's Future Business Hub - Bintulu

Already referring to it as my second home now, Bintulu is a town worth noting for I believe in the very near future it will transform into one of Sarawak's most prominent towns in terms of business and industrial development, out pacing other more established cities or towns such as Sibu or Miri in Sarawak.

I personally like Bintulu as it is now for the fact that it's ever so easy to get around. You can get to almost any part of the town in just a matter of minutes (well, maybe not when school is out). There is hardly any traffic jam or congestion (except for of course when school is out) and it's just a far cry from Kuching City or even Miri. Of course, being a small-ish town also means you don't get the luxury of getting everything that you'd expect from the metropolises. It provides adequate needs, and that's enough for me. No cineplexes or bowling alleys but hell, who needs those things anyway. Fishing off-coast and boating to the sea is great at Bintulu. Although one thing the local folks are saying is that the fish are going further and further away from the coastal areas.

The price of houses are also cheaper that Kuching, Sibu or Miri. You can get a nice intermediate single storey terraced house for under RM100k here in Bintulu, and it's located like a few minutes drive from the town centre. Can't get that price in Kuching City.

The photo shows Bintulu's old airport which was located right in the middle of town. It's now defunct; the new airport is located soutwest about half an hour's drive away from the town.

Tanjung Similajau, Bintulu - Photographs

Tanjung Similajau, Bintulu

It has been quite some time since I last visited Tanjung Similajau located north of Borneo, Sarawak. I was there recently, 18th September, and had the opportunity to trace back my footsteps when I first set foot on this place back in 1999.

I remembered back in 1999, to reach Tanjung Similajau one had to endure some rather long miles of uncomfortable 4WD rides on oil palm dirt roads – maintained only sufficiently to allow for daily business ongoing of the plantation industry of the area – and all the while your journey is canvassed with oceans upon oceans of what seemed to be endless, mundane greenery known to all as oil palm trees. The Similajau region still is very much covered with this profit-making phenomenon, thanks to the ruling Government’s policy of maintaining the industry as one of the country’s main international export commodity. CPO’s the word.

To the south of Tanjung Similajau is Similajau National Park – a totally protected area under the Malaysian and Sarawak laws - separated from the former by the Similajau River. I myself have not been inside Similajau National Park – I have only knocked on its entry gate to look for directions, not that anyone is there to be asked – so yes, the entire park and its paraphernalia is an absolute mystery to me. As for Similajau River, of late it has been making some minor local media headlines owing to the rather rampant crocodile attacks that made the river much feared by the locals, and those who have heard of the news. Well maybe rampant is too strong a word. On the rise sounds less intimidating.

I took a stroll down memory lane that day of the 18th, almost tracing back my footsteps almost eight years ago now. I walked from the Tanjung heading northeast towards Tanjung Borgam just a kilometer away, and only stopped short of the edge of the beach going to Wiser Bay. The stretch of beach area from Tanjung Similajau up to Wiser Bay is, how shall I say it, nothing to shout about or carve in your journal as one of the best discoveries of the millenia. As to how Wiser Bay got its name, best to point that question to Mr. Wiser or Mr. Bay.

The Tanjung Similajau area harbours within me a certain kind of saddened question – what’s to become of this not-so-enchanting logged-over secondary forest at the edge of civilization in the years to come? I sometimes wonder, what does a little patch of forest has to have to get a certain kind of “recognition” to elevate itself from the realms of annihilation and be preserved for the so-called future generation? Of course some would argue scientifically that an area has to have certain scientific criteria, biologically and in terms of the abundance of flora, fauna, species recorded in literatures and what-not. Rules and regulations made by humans, obviously for the convenience of humans.

I leave you with these photographs I captured on the 18th. Maybe one day it will be appreciated as part of a legacy of a place that never ever was anything much in any part of any history at any time. Nevertheless I consider these photographs to represent what Tanjung Similajau visualized itself to be, and what it wishes to remain as, if it could ever defended itself in the Court of Development Justice.

Tanjung Similajau, Tanjung Borgam and Wiser Bay can be reached by road via the Bintulu-Miri coastal road to the northeast of Bintulu town, a 60-KM drive away. There will be signboards along the way to point you to the right direction. The road is dual lane, tar-sealed all the way to the edge of the beachfront of Tanjung Similajau, so you could use a saloon car to go up there. No entry fees required, just make sure you take your rubbish with you when you leave.