Sipadan Island Diving
"The Best Shore Dives in the World"
Pulau Sipadan - The jewel in the crown of diving in Malaysia and with good reason. Sipadan is a tiny oceanic island less than an hour from the mainland where rich currents bring food which brings fish, which brings bigger fish, which brings more and more fish, sharks and turtles. The dive sites are peppered around the island and none is more than a short speedboat ride away from the nearby dive resorts. And although they are all different they all offer one thing: lots to see!
The list of attractions is quite staggering and all the more exceptional as it involves plenty of big fish encounters - at Barracuda Point you can find yourself surrounded by a spiralling vortex of barracudas, so large that the sunlight is often clouded out. At South Point there are scores of reef sharks, large schools of passing trevally and herds of massive marauding bumphead parrotfish. This is one of the big fish capitals of the world.
It is easy to understand how Jacques Cousteau got so excited about diving at Sipadan when he visited and declared it an "untouched piece of art". Tourism has made it less than untouched but it remains a fabulous experience to find yourself diving here. It is often hard to believe that you are not diving in an enclosed environment such is the array of species and overwhelming biomass of the marine creatures that choose to live here.
• Sipadan Island tourist information
• Sipadan Island history
• Map of Sabah - Borneo
How to Dive Sipadan
For environmental reasons this tiny island has now closed its resorts. This means the best way to dive here is by staying in on one of the resorts on the nearby islands of Mabul or Kapalai.
The resorts also boast some excellent macro-diving which is a great complement to the breathtaking big fish action of Sipadan Island.
Diving Season
You can dive here all year round. Overall, the best conditions at Sipadan Island exist from April to December, especially July and August. January to March can see some unsettled weather and a decrease in visibility but the resorts still see plenty of guests at this time as the diving can still be fine.
Reef Basics
Great for: Large animals, wall diving, drift dives and advanced divers
Not so great for: Wrecks, beginner divers and non-diving activities
Depth: 5 - >40m
Visibility: 10 - 30m
Currents: Can be strong
Surface Conditions: Can be choppy
Water Temperature: 26 - 30°C
Experience Level: Intermediate - advanced
Number of dive sites: 12
Distance: 12 km (25 minutes) south from Mabul and 10 km (18 minutes) southwest from Kapalai
Access: Diving from Mabul and Kapalai resorts
Recommended length of stay: 5 - 14 days, including the nearby islands
Dive Sites
More detailed information on Sipadan scuba diving sites (on our www.dive-the-world.com website):
Dive The World Recommendations: South Point, Turtle Cavern and Barracuda Point.
Other sites that can be dived together with Sipadan Island:
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