Turtle Island

We made it to our early morning flight to Sandakan, which turned out to be a 40 minute hop.  We took a short walk around the town.  They had a huge food market, which included lots of pungent fish products.  We're right on the edge of the Sulu Sea, a part of the Pacific Ocean. (What makes a sea a sea?) To set our geography, we're on the very eastern side of Borneo. In fact we are only miles by sea from the Philippines -- you can see some of their islands even.

We took a 45 minute boat ride to Turtle Island, known locally as Palau Selingan. (Yes, it was longer than our flight here!)  This island is a national park where turtles come to lay eggs every night. The rangers take the eggs and put them in a hatchery for safekeeping.  They also release hatchlings. There are there islands in this park, although this island is the only one tourists can visit.

We spent the afternoon relaxing on the beach and snorkeling.  It was the first time since the Maldives. There weren't too many fish. The highlight was a family of clown fish (think Nemo) within sea anemone.

I'll close with a picture of the beach. More after the turtle activities of the night.