Layang Layang

It was early in the morning when we left our hotel in Kota Kinabalu town and set off to the airport. In stead of the usual Terminal One as I expected we were however directed to Terminal Two. We had to walk on the tarmac in order to board the aircraft. Much to my shock it was an old small propeller engined Russian made aircraft.

The crew, the captain and co-pilot, were two Russians who spoke poor English. Before we took off our captain looked into the cabin with a friendly smile and informed us that the flight would take approximately one hour.

Our destination was Layang Layang. I had never heard of that name before until I went together with my wife to Sabah in East Malaysia. Layang Layang was a tiny remote islet built on a ocean reef in the South China Sea. It was about 200 km west off the coast of Sabah. Layang Layang appeared to be a attractive diving spot for scuba divers. It was told that after Malaysia reclaimed land in the reef which became Layang Layang its sovereignty was already disputed by Indonesia. That explained why there was a small navy base on such a small island.

Our aircraft did not fly on a high altitude. We could see clearly the sea waves beneath us. The weather was fine on that morning and the sea calm. So our flight went pretty smoothly. I imagined that this shabby aircraft would not stand much chance to survive when it had to fly over the North Sea in Europe where we came from. It would just blown be away by the strong and unpredictable wind there.

On board there were about a number of ten passengers. Apart from my wife Elvira all the other passengers were male persons. The majority were I assumed Malaysians and the rest a few Westerners. It was about 10 am when our aircraft arrived at Layang Layang. It was a scary sight when I saw how our aircraft was approaching the small landing strip in the midst of the ocean. It was such a small landing strip that there was just no room for any mistake. Thanks God, our Russian captain did his job well and our aircraft touched down perfectly on air strip itself which ran from the sea shore into the islet itself.

Next to the landing strip we saw about three compounds which looked like a sort of camp. One of those wooden buildings served as the main facility hall with reception, restaurant and recreation room etc. The hotel resort did not look as luxurious as those one used to find accross Asia. The accommodation had a bit Spartan look. Our bedroom was big but simple. There were only a few channels available on tv most of them were Malaysian channels. The water from the shower was from freshened seawater. Even the hot drinks such as tea and coffee served were cooked with this kind of water of which taste was still a bit salty.

The first day we set out to explore the island. In fact, it was so small that one could only walk on the landing strip. At the end of the air strip there was a small navy base with just one or two vessels. Since it was a military area access was restricted for the holidaymakers. The most astounishing thing was that the tiny island was reclaimed inside a pacific reef where the water was shallow and its colour was azur blue. When looking further one could see the vast ocean which was contrasted by the dark blue sea water and the huge waves. Layang Layang was like an oasis of peace in the midst of an impetuous vast ocean.

There were lots of sealife to be found in the shallow water of the reef. Between the rocks one find little crabs and small tropical fishes. The water in the reef was like a big scale aquarium. Moreover, together with the light azur blue coloured water gave us a sight which was priceless. The boundary of the reef was surrounded by a ridge which looked like a huge ring of irregular shaped rocks. Beyond the reef there was the deep ocean.

We were told that there about 70 diving spots in and beyond the reef of Layang Layang. Every day four expedition are scheduled for diving. The first dive started at 8 am just after the early light breakfast. The boat set off and return about 10 am just in time for the second breakfast to be served. After lunch there was the third round and in the afternoon the last one of the day. Most of the scuba divers came from far to Layang Layang. Most of them appeared to be British, American and Australian. To me it became clear that Layang Layang was a diving paradise for the experienced divers.

When it came about diving I was not really the right person for it. Since one needed a padi for scuba diving. And I had never done any diving myself. My wife Elvira however was a sporty and seasoned scuba diver. She joined the others and set off a few times to the open sea for a dive. Elvira really had a wonderful time here. She also took some underwater pictures which were indeed fantastic.

So being on this pacific reef I realised that I did not address to the question of what I was supposed to do for the coming three days here? Fortunately, there were still other leisure things to do in this resort. In the main hall there was a recreation room where one could read some books and newspapers. Also, there was a big screen tv showing many sports program and movies. There was a pool table and also there was a small outdoor pool in the garden. Another option was to swim inside the reef itself which was like vast outdoor pool. Since the water was shallow inside the reef there was no way that you could get yourself drown here.

The best memories however we kept about Layang Layang was not the diving or the beauty of the reef. It was the excellent food which they served there! At the first evening when we had dinner in the restaurant it appeared to us that all the dishes served really tasted very well. We had not been trying such a good food thus far since we were in Malaysia. And we had already stayed in a few five stars hotels in Sabah.

In the second evening we noticed that our chief was a tall Indian guy with a big moustache. When the guests were enjoying their meal in the restaurant the chief also joined the party and enjoyed a long drink and had a good chat with some staff and guests there. Although he was an Indian man his cooking encompassed a vast range of cuisines. The dishes were a fusion cuisine with Western style breakfast, barbecue but also Chinese food with typical dishes like rice congees, friend noodles but also Indian curry mutton and so on.

Ever since our culinary experience in Layang Layang we had not come accross a restaurant or hotel where the food could match the outstanding quality of those prepared by this Indian chief! So we saluted for him. Layang Layang was in all aspects a very unique experience for us and it was definitely still an unknown pearl in the South China Sea.

Yohanes Leung

Chief Editor