49.4

If the Bajau tribes of Kota Belud are known for their horse-riding prowess, the Bajau Laut tribes of Semporna are known for their seafaring skills. Bajau Laut tribes are usually known as the sea gypsy people, a term normally associated with the island people of the Pacific, especially in Borneo, southern Philippines area and other smaller islands.

For many years these people have lived in the ocean on their make-shift house boats. Probably only in recent years that they have made settlements into the coastal area, with their houses built on stilts. The ocean is still their main source of living - fishing, collecting clams and mussels, and even pearl farming in the remote islands of Bodgaya and Boheydulang.