Pulau Layang- layang

Swallow Reef ( Layang- Layang Island) Sabah
"World of Marine Park"

Layang-layang island is one of the island located 300KM far from the North of the coast of Sabah, Malaysia. In China, this island is named as " Danwan Jiao". In English, it is occasionally called as Swallow Reef. Swallow Reef has a total land area of approximately 0.1 km².
Understanding about this miracle of Island

This dive resort is situated on a coral atoll along with a small Malaysian Naval base. The naval base is completely off limits - island visitors are warned that wandering into the naval base area will result in detention. The island has been reclaimed from the ocean and artificially increased in size by use of concrete rubble, thus there are no sandy beaches to walk on, just concrete boulders. There is a sealed air strip on the island.

Layang Layang is situated in very deep waters with the drop off outside the island's reef falling away to approximately 2000 metres. Given its location in the middle of nowhere, the ocean waters are clear and unpolluted. Deep water marine species such as Hammerhead sharks visit this location. Whale Sharks also frequent the atoll. The corals are in pristine condition and with no fishing permitted, the fish life is abundant.

The island's solitary resort is open from March to August ONLY. November to February is considered "Monsoon Season."

The Way to go

For most visitors, the most common option for scuba diving is to fly on the Layang Layang chartered flight which operates several flights per day during the peak season from Kota Kinabalu. Check with dive resort for flight schedules. As of 2008, the flight costs precisely US$256 return, including taxes. Flight time is about one hour. In addition to the one resort on the island, there are at least two liveaboards that visit the island and sail from Kota Kinabalu.

The process is that you arrive at the KK International Air terminal in Kota Kinabalu about 5AM. Here you and your luggage are weighed. This is a particularly amusing thing to watch, especially when someone is over 100kg as the luggage scales max out. After a hour or two waiting around whilst luggage and food is loaded, the flight departs.

A few words of advice about the actual flight: Note that small freight planes are used. The largest can take about 20 people and you board through the rear cargo ramp. There is a lovely scenic view of the cargo plane interior - not every seat pair has a window, only the emergency exits. Given the humidity, when the aircon system starts during the flight, there is a lot of smoke-like mist which pours from the ceiling vents - this is not a cause for alarm but is enough to set off the nervous flyer! Spare seats are occupied by your dive bags and trays of eggs and onions. This all makes for an interesting flight - take a book.

Attraction:

It's mostly underwater... For the non-scuba diver, there is not a lot to see on the island unless you are an avid bird watcher and/or snorkeller. It is a good place to learn to dive, but you must make arrangements before embarking on your journey. If you are a non-diver travelling with a diver or dive group, consider staying behind to enjoy the things to see in Kota Kinabalu.

Dive sites

There are twelve or so dive sites - all which are accessed by boat and are from 5-15 minutes away from the dive centre. The visibility is usually very good at 20 metres and more. The water temperature is somewhere around 30 degrees C. Each dive will give you opportunity to see large creatures such as sharks, turtles and manta rays - maybe even the elusive hammerhead shark. A vast array of intact, unbleached hard and soft corals, barrel sponges, gorgonian fans, schools of large fish and the usual array of colourful little fish are easy to see on each dive. The diving conditions such as current will vary with the weather and the dive master will select a suitable site accordingly.

• Crack Reef

• D Wall

• Navigator's Lane

• Snapper's Ledge

• The Tunnel

• Wrasse Strip

• Dog Tooth Lair

• Gorgonian Forest

• Shark's Cave

• The Runaway

• The Valley

• The Point - For a chance to see any hammerheads, this is the location where divers swim away from the reef at the beginning of the dive into the blue at about 30-35 metres depth for about 5-10 minutes before returning to the reef and completing the remaining 30 minutes slow ascending dive along the reef wall.

• Pier Diving - Diving is available from the pier but with the sandy bottom and movement of the boats, it is very murky with visibility being 2-4 metres. That being said, there is an amazing array of marine life to be seen directly under the pier from huge moray eels to baby lion fish. Pier dives are offered for those wanting to do a night dive without the expense of chartering a boat and also as the last dive of your visit. A bit of trivia - the 2007 photo competition winner took his winning shot from a night dive at the pier.

Anothers attraction points on the island

Bird watching - A number of species of birds nest and visit the island such as Black-napped tern, Great crested tern, Sooty tern, Brown booby, Lesser frigatebird, Pacific golden plover, Plumed and Pacific-reef egrets and Ruddy tern. Also there are lots of Barn swallows and Yellow wagtails. During the right time of the year, this would present good observing and photography opportunities for the bird watching enthusiast.

Sun bathe - in between dives, there are deck chairs around the resort's pool for a spot of sun bathing but remember the sun is strong and don't get sun burn

* Attention!!!: there are no entertainment facilities for children, such as: no playground, no sandy beach, no special meals and no kids' club activities. Besides, in the island there are no shopping, or any night activities. The food& drink ONLY available inside the resort. This resort is only the one resort provided on the island.

Hotel/ Resort Accommodation

Avillion Layang-layang Resort ( formely Layang-layang Island Resort) (86 rooms) 3 stars 

Location: Beachfront
Address: Layang Layang Island, Sabah, Malaysia

On this sliver of land lies a modest but complete resort - the three-star Layang Layang Island Resort. It consists of 76 superior rooms as well as 10 deluxe rooms. Made of tropical hardwood, it shares the look of a Longhouse, the traditional community homes of Borneo’s tribal people.

Rooms are comfortable enough and all are air-conditioned. Dining is a pleasure as a wide range of eastern and western cuisine are spread out for every meal at the restaurant. To ensure variety, daily menus are amended to ensure eating will be one other activity guests can look forward to regularly.

If the lagoon is not enough, there’s a swimming pool that seems to continue into the sea. It’s a great spot to cool down, put your feet up with a book or get some drinks.

At the Raba Raba House, get yourself loosened up with a session of relaxing body massage and foot reflexology. Experts are on hand to get you all refreshed.

This island seldom visited by local tourist, only the visitors who are scuba divers or nature lovers. Therefore, the budget that I suggested visit for this island is around RM 3800++ per pax 6D5N (including diving, meals,accommodation and transportation),by flight depart from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Note: You can make your call by using Celcom network and wireless internet service is available in this island.