There is a secret island off the Malaysian coast that forms a mirror that flawlessly reflects the sky, hence the name “Sky Mirror.” This is one of the photos of Sky Mirror from our December 2022 trip to Kuala Selangor.
About the secret island:
This secret island is located in the Strait of Malacca, about 45 minutes by boat from Kuala Selangor, Malaysia. The island is submerged under the sea and appears only for a few hours during low tide. Here is how it looked when our boat arrived at the island. Oh, but where is the island? It could not be seen anywhere. This is how it looked like:
Photo taken at 09:46 a.m.
In about 6 minutes the sea level dropped substantially and we could see our tour guides standing in water.
Photo taken at 09:52 a.m.
In another 12 minutes, the sea receded further, and the tourists started coming down the boats in the water, which was now about 6 inches deep.
Photo taken at 10:05 a.m.
As we were walking toward our respective tour guides, I looked back, and the mirror dawned upon me. Here is my first photo of the mirror. The water was only about an inch deep now.
No filter no edit photo at 10:21 a.m.
Slowly, there was hardly a few millimeters of water, and all the tour guides were very busy setting up their screens, leveling the sand, and setting up the props..
After everything was set, a few kids were standing as if punching something in the air. This was the setup by the photographer:
Photo setup by our tour guide who was also the photographer using his phone camera
And the following image was captured by the photographer with his phone camera. If you’re wondering how the dinosaur ended up in the picture, look at the prop in the above image. If you are still not getting your head around it, then see the pictures of someone eating the sun, carrying the moon on their shoulder, or pinching the Eiffel Tower, and you will know how the dinosaur came into the frame.
While our guide was busy taking photos of others from our tour group, we went for a walk. We walked away from the photo shoot area for about ten minutes only to be called back as the boat was heading back to Kuala Selangor. On our way back we saw thousands of crabs walking ahead of us. As we kept walking towards the boat, the crabs in front of us probably sensed us coming and went hiding in the sand. Thus, they made a clear way for us and saved us from causing a stampede. Unfortunately it did not occur to me to take a photo or a video of the life on that island. However here is a photo (from Canva) very close to what I saw
Finally here is a quick photo of how the island looked as I climbed the boat at 11:30 a.m.
Photo at 11:30 a.m.
Why would a secret island appear in the sea for a few hours and then get submerged again?
The Sky-Mirror Tour had come to an end, but was it only about the mirror-like reflections and surreal photos? Overwhelmed by the magical transformation of the seabed into a mirror, I now find myself reflecting on the last hour of my experience. The experience was two-fold: One was nature unveiling itself as a reflecting island that slowly started buzzing with life (after the humans started going away). The second was the synergy of all the tour operators working in full cooperation with each other without a sense of competition amongst themselves. I realized that there were at least 250 people on that island, and yet everyone got great pictures without anyone accidentally photobombing someone else’s picture. And everyone got as many photos in as many poses as they wanted; there was no hurry, no chaos, but everything was systematic, friendly, and heartwarming. A big shoutout to all the tour operators and their coordination. (If I can post some heart emojis here:)). Our tour operator was Sky Mirror Sasaran, Rainbow Jetty.
Questions that make me want to go back to the Sky-mirror one more time:
- What lies beyond the reflecting effect, Why does the island exist? I was quietly sitting on the boat, looking over the vast sea and experiencing the gentle breeze.
- The presence of crabs, clams, and sea anemones on the island made me think of what will happen when all of us, the tourists, have left the island? What will the armies of crabs do?
- Will there be birds visiting the island?
- What will happen when the tide rises again? Will the crabs hide themselves before the water submerges the island? Why does nature create a temporary oasis like this one?
- What is the role of such islands in the ecosystem?
- What is the significance of this island according to the local fishermen community? Is there any cultural association or significance?
I wish I could gather all these questions and talk to the locals …nonetheless these questions make me want to go there once again.
On a different note
I took printout of a photo from our tour and kept wondering how come the image flipped while printing?
Only to realize that the image did not flip while printing but I flipped the picture while putting it on the wall.
Yet another funny thing was – Hoping to get a picture of the army of crabs, I searched for crabs in Kuala Selangor on the internet and here are the top results
These results were surely different than what I was expecting. I hope at least some information related to the marine life surfaces on the internet and not just where to eat crabs!
Also if you are visiting this place please do help me find answers. Take only photos and leave nothing behind other than your footprints (remember to bring back your balloons, water bottles, or other props).
Looking forward to learning more about the secret island beyond the Sky-mirror 🙂
UPDATE: Thanks to Wendy from Rainbow Jetty, I have some images of the marine life. My sister sent her a message and Wendy generously shared the following images.
Hermit crab
Squid eggs