Sipadan is the only oceanic island in Malaysia, rising 600 metres (2,000 ft) from the seabed. It is located in the Celebes Sea east of the major town of Tawau and off the coast of Sabah, East Malaysia on the island of Borneo. It was formed by living corals growing on top of an extinct volcanic cone that took thousands of years to develop. More than 3,000 species of fish and hundreds of coral species have been classified in this ecosystem.
Sipadan is located at the heart of the Indo-Pacific basin, the centre of one of the richest marine habitats in the world. Sipadan has been rated by many dive journals as one of the top dive destinations in the world. Normally, rare diving scenes are frequently seen in the waters around Sipadan. Schools of green and hawksbill turtles nesting and mating, schools of barracuda and big-eye trevally in tornado-like formations, pelagic species such as manta rays, eagle rays, scalloped hammerhead sharks and whale sharks.
A Turtle Tomb lies underneath the column of the island, formed by an underwater limestone cave with a labyrinth of tunnels and chambers that contain many skeletal remains of turtles that become lost and drown before finding the surface. Scuba dive with the swirling tornado-like formation of Barracudas, the big-eye trevallies, the thousands silver jack fishes, the giant size parrot fishes, the numerous turtles and many others such as mantas, eagle rays, tunas, scalloped hammerhead sharks, whale sharks and 3000 more species of fish.
The amazing diversity and abundance of marine life found at Sipadan makes it one of the top world's top diving spots and without doubt the most famous scuba destination in Malaysia which is regularly featured in the world's top 10 dive spots along with other destinations such as the Galapagos Islands.
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 on nearby Islands still see plenty of guests at this time as the diving can still be performed.
Having now closed the island off to overnight stays, divers now stay at resorts on nearby islands such as Mabul Island, Kapalai Island and Mataking Island. Staying on these islands, divers can dive either in the morning or after lunch or opt to stay the entire day on Sipadan but sign up at your respective dive centres for separate dive groups, for the morning and the afternoon session. This will indicate to the dive masters that you wish to stay on the island for both dive times. However not all resorts have boats going to and from Sipadan twice a day especially during low season.
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