Walls crammed with colourful life and activity, sharks, turtles and vast schools of fish such as barracuda and jacks, and all the while the possibility of seeing something really exciting such as hammerheads or thresher sharks; this is what scuba divers from across the world flock to Pulau Sipadan to see. What makes the island special is the density and variety of marine creatures in such a small location. [More information on these dive sites: Sipadan].
With dive sites so near to shore and a large choice of land-based accommodation on nearby Mabul Island, Sipadan is really a destination that favours diving from a resort. Many resorts offer unlimited house reef dives and there are always more fun non-diving activities too, so they are popular among couples and mixed groups of divers and non-divers. Some of the properties are beautiful stilted wooden structures built over the shallows, others are styled more like beach resorts. What they all have in common is that they offer good value-for-money diving packages and are close to Sipadan’s amazing sites in one of the most bio-diverse regions on earth.
Sipadan is located on the island of Borneo in the Malaysia's eastern state of Sabah. Within Borneo's rainforests and beaches lie a host of exciting eco-tourist activities. You can climb Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in the region, visit the largest orang utan sanctuary in the world, as well dive some of the world's best wall, reef and macro-life locations.
At the end of 2004, for conservation purposes, Sipadan Island was closed to tourist stays and the dive resorts based there had to find new homes. Nowadays in order to visit this tiny island, tourists stay on either of the nearby islands of Mabul or Kapalai, or on the more distant mainland of Sabah in the port town of Semporna. From Mabul Island and Kapalai, guests are taken the 25 to 30 minutes to dive at Sipadan. Both of these islands offer some exciting macro dives themselves with many unusual critters to discover, and they complement the spectacular main attraction of Sipadan very well. [More information on these dive sites: Mabul, Kapalai].
There are over 40 dive sites to explore so, whichever option you choose, diving packages of 1 week are ideal. However, if you are short of time then you can still have a great time with as little as just 3 nights stay. Packages normally include full board accommodation, diving (including unlimited unguided shore dives) and airport transfers. As of 1 October 2022, diving at Sipadan is restricted to advanced divers only.
You can join other lucky divers at the unique destination of Sipadan and stay at a dive resort on a nearby island:
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It's also possible to visit these dive sites by liveaboard cruise, if you prefer.
Just a quick note to thank for arranging the dive trip to Sipadan ... We had a great time and everything worked out well. No hitches, no glitches etc!!!!
