The small oceanic island, Sipadan, is considered a titan amongst many in the diving world. Rising 600m from the Celebes seafloor, the island itself is a mere 0.5km long and 200m wide yet offers divers a smorgasbord of marine life below the waves.

This iconic Malaysian diving destination has received rave reviews from the who’s who of internationally recognised divers. Recently it made the cut and several scenes were included in the phenomenal BBC series, Blue Planet II. Sipadan’s inclusion in the series came as no surprise to divers who have been fortunate to personally witness the variety and abundance of marine life which calls Sipadan home.

Over the years various steps have been taken to protect the island:

• In 2004 all on-site dive and resort operators were instructed to remove structures from the island
• The following year permits were restricted to 120 per day
• Sipadan Island was gazetted a Marine Protected Area in October 2009, unfortunately, the protection only extended to the 13.5 hectares of land
• 2016, 4 dive marshals were tasked to ensure that divers do not damage the rich coral at the 12 sites surrounding the island. This was the first step toward gazetting the park as an officially protected marine park which came into effect in March 2016
• 6,846 hectares surrounding Pulau Sipadan are now protected

Revenue which is derived from diving the waters surrounding the island is collected by Sabah Parks, and the permit conservations fee is currently MYR 42.40 per day (approx USD 10). From the 14 August 2018, the cost per permit will increase to MYR 148.40 (approx USD 35) in accordance with the announcement made by Sabah Parks, the collecting agent for Majlis Keselamatan Negara (MKN).

If you are interested in diving here let us know and we will make it happen! send us an email.

Or you can contact Dive The World right away on +66 (0)94 582 7973 / (0)83 505 7794 or for other inquiries …

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