SIPADAN ISLAND

One of the top dive sites in the world, Sipadan lies in the Sulawesi Sea just 5' north of the equator, off the southeast coast of Sabah. The island is reached via the town of Semporna, about 45 minutes away by boat. Sipadan  is thickly forested (and home to a number of interesting birds), and surrounded by sandy white beaches.

An oceanic island formed by corals growing on top of an extinct undersea volcano, Sipadan rises 600m up from the ocean floor. To say that the wall diving here is spectacular is an understatement. Sipadan is in the heart of the Indo-Pacific basin, the richest marine habitat in the world, where more than 3,000 species of the fish and hundreds of coral species have been classified.

Sipadan is renowned for its unusually large number of green and hawksbill turtles coming to mate and nest; it is not unusual to see more than 20 turtles on a single dive. Residential schooling barracuda and big-eye trevally, which often gather in their thousands, create spectacular tornado-like formations, one of the highlights on every diver's wish list. There is also possibility of seeing pelagic species such as eagle rays, mantas, hammerhead sharks and whale sharks. 

A unique feature at Sipadan is the "turtle tomb", an underwater labyrinth of caves and tunnels that contain the skeletal remains of many turtles which became disoriented and drowned.

 The macro life at Sipadan is as amazing as the big fish, with garden eels, leaf scorpion fish, mantis shrimps, fore gobies and various pipefish guaranteed at certain dive sites. With its diversity and abundance of marine life, it is wonder that Sipadan is acclaimed world wide.

Since 2005, dive resorts that had been operating on Sipadan were closed to help conserve both marine and land eco-systems, and divers are brought in by boat from resorts on nearby islands by their dive manages the island, opened attractive wooden facilities for day visitors.